The relationship between skiing and technology is an ever-growing one. Talk of E-goggles, heated clothing and custom foot beds that monitor your movements all sound a bit ’out there’ for most of us. But there are other ways that we can use tech to compliment our days out on the mountain.
If you’ve ever been to the app store on your smart phone and typed in ski app, you will have likely been overwhelmed by choice! Weather, maps, webcams, advice, tracking, games -pretty much anything ski related and someone has made an app for it.
So which ones should you chose to accompany you this season? Here’s our favourite five:
- On the Snow (Top all rounder)
This great all round app covers snow reports, weather, webcams, resort profiles and more. You simply tell it which resorts you are interested in and the rest comes easily. It’s free to download and pretty easy to navigate around. The ski areas are rated, priced up and mapped alongside galleries and stats like elevation and open lifts.
- Ski Tracks (Statistics)
For the competitive skier within. Ski tracks has long been a favourite of those wanting to track their own skiing performance. From within your pocket this app will measure your speed and distance travelled around the mountain. It will also let you know how much elevation you have gained and lost and let you map out your day from start to finish. The danger comes when trying to max out one’s highest speed (so please use responsibly!)
- Adventure Sport network. (Inspiration)
The ASN app is a hub of inspiration for all outdoor enthusiasts. Like a Youtube for adrenaline junkies you can find endless resources no matter what your sport and no matter what the season. So to fill the time between now and your next adventure and take a scroll through this well polished community app.
- Bergfex/Ski. (Weather)
Finding a good weather app can be harder than you think. But it’s a good idea to do some digging. Some snow report apps can be frustrating, letting those little snowflake predictions hang, just out of reach at the end of the week. Then as those days approach the incoming snow gets pushed back again and again. No one likes false promises. But the weather is a tough thing to predict so any snow report has to be taken with a pinch of salt. That said Bergfex has always been a reliable favourite. Their ski specific app comes in a free lite version or the highly rated full app at a small fee which is well worth it.
- Ski fit. (Fitness)
It’s a funny sport skiing. How many sports do you do intensively for a week, five hours a day (with a bit of après on the side) and then leave again, untouched for the rest of the year? Seems only fair to prepare with a bit of ski related fitness. The ski fit app introduces the user to a number of stretches and exercises that will not only prepare them for their holiday but help to prevent injury.
So there you have it, make space on your phone for those and head out onto the hill safe in the knowledge that you are the most up to date! If you fancy seeing how far you can travel with your Ski tracks app or testing your ski fitness on that carefully planned bluebird day why not book with one of our experienced instructors? Check out our booking page here.
