Winter vacation and skiing have been an incredible bond for a long time. Whether it’s a family picnic or an adventurous trip with friends in winter, skiing hits the top of the list. As skiing is seasonal, no one would choose to miss this experience. Skiing has been gaining popularity recently as it is fun, challenging, and easy to learn simultaneously. Furthermore, it is also known that skiing helps to keep our minds and body more productive and active. We can conclude that skiing is a great sport to experience and spend time with our loved ones. Planning a skiing trip with family or friends may sound tricky, but it is worth it and will give you the best experience. Today in this blog, we will discuss some of the best skiing apps to help improve your skiing experience.
What is Ski App?
Ski apps are specifically designed for skiers and snowboarders to help them with essential data like maps, weather forecasts, tracking speed, distance, etc. However, all apps have unique features and functions to make them more user-friendly and helpful.
Benefits Of Using the Ski Apps
As we are clear about ski apps, let’s discuss the benefits of using ski apps.
Effective Planning for Trips and Vacations
Trips and vacations aren’t a piece of cake. One must make sure about the location, place to live, check the temperature of that place, and more. On top of that, we know planning winter vacations are way more tricky than summer trips. If you are planning skiing, you should be extra attentive about the planning. That’s the time when skiing apps come to the rescue. Most Skiing apps come with weather forecasts and help you find the best skiing locations nearby.
Communication Management
Skiing apps help a lot when it comes to communication. Many skiing apps have features that can help you to track your friends’ live location and send quick messages. Besides this, a few apps are also available on Apple Watch, which can save your phone from damage without disconnecting you from your friends.
Activity Tracking
Skiing apps allow you to keep track of your speed, the distance you cover, and more. You can also share this data with your friends through the same app in just a few clicks.
Precise Weather Information
As we know, winters are very unpredictable and make it difficult to enjoy your skiing experience. These apps provide weather forecasts of not only one day but up to 7 days to help you plan everything accordingly.
Features That Your Ski App Must Have
Ski apps are developing with time and adding more advanced features to make their app more useful and take this outdoor activity to a different level. But before you blindly choose a skiing app, make sure they have a few essential features like those mentioned below to make it worth it.
Tracking Movements
The skiing app must have a tracking feature that measures your daily activities, including speed, distance, calories burned, etc., and provide you with daily or weekly metrics regarding your improvement and achievement. This feature is beneficial for both professionals and beginners. However, most skiing apps have this feature but do confirm once for a better experience.
Weather Forecasts
Skiing is an outdoor activity that entirely depends on the snow conditions in that area, and the weather is unpredictable. What if a sudden storm, slippery slope, or any other hazardous condition is further away? That’s where this feature helps. Weather forecasts are essential for safety purposes. This feature helps the skiers to know which place or mountain they should avoid for skiing or snowboarding.
Booking
This feature allows you to book accommodation, skiing essentials, snowboards, lessons, etc. This feature is important to not fall into trouble at the last minute. Skiing is a seasonal sport, and there are high chances of not getting accommodations there on time. Hence, choosing a skiing app that can help you find the best resort and accommodation in the same place is essential.
Safety
The last feature is the safety kit, which every skiing app must include. The primary reason for this feature is to keep the rescue team connected with the skier and safely bring them back from skiing. This feature records the skier’s live location and frequently updates it to their friends. This helps them to locate the skier more efficiently in case they go missing for a long time. Besides this, many more necessary features, like maps, live streaming, communication, etc., must be checked before choosing an ideal skiing app for your journey. Let us look through the list of some of the best skiing apps to try out.
OpenSnow
OpenSnow is an old and reliable app with millions of users. The reviews of this app tell us about all the positive impact it has created among its customers over 10 years. Moving to its features, OpenSnow has given the privilege to both Android and iOS users. OpenSnow is widely known for its weather forecasting feature, as they have a team of local experts who update the forecast daily for its users’ convenient skiing experience. It is a user-friendly and easy-to-understand app. The developers have invested efforts to make the interface attractive by adding forecast animations in their high-resolution maps. This app’s maps help you track wildfire smoke, wind gust, precipitation, etc. Furthermore, you can track today’s and the past 7 days’ forecasts in just a few minutes. OpenSnow offers 12 unique features to make your skiing experience safe and beautiful. You can access all of them only if you pay for subscriptions. The only downside is that it merely provides 4 features to the free users, and to make the best use of the app; you have to pay $29.99 to $39.99 (may vary) for a yearly subscription.
Ski Tracks
Core Coders’ Ski Tracks app has fantastic features and tracking information. It is an advanced application specially designed for skiers and snowboarders for location tracking. In terms of key features, what I liked the most was its battery, recording, and photographs feature. These features make it stand out from other apps and are reliable. Ski Tracks are designed according to the modern iPhone and have worked on battery consumption. The app hardly drains 4-5 % of battery every hour which is very low compared to other apps. In addition, you can also take photographs while skiing, save location, and record your speed and high-quality location with the help of a GPS indicator. Ski Tracks records and keeps your ski stats even if the screen is locked or the app is in background use. However, you have to save the data after pausing the recording. Furthermore, you can also share your records and locations with your friends through this app. Ski Tracks is a paid app available on both iOS and Android versions.
OntheSnow
When you plan a skiing vacation trip, choosing a resort is a big task. This is where the OntheSnow app comes to the rescue. The “snow near me” feature in this app tracks and compares all ski resorts around you and tells you about snow conditions in that place. The app provides snow reports of more than 2000 mountains like Telluride, Jackson Hole, etc. OntheSnow app is available on both Android and iOS devices. The app also provides regional weather forecasts from its experts. The webcam feature allows the users to see current and live pictures of other fellow skiers while skiing. This free app has been improving its features with every update. The new lodging widget and resort trail maps have made it more convenient for users.
Ski Tracker
If you are a person who likes to keep records about your skiing speed, distance, and the location you have visited, then Ski Tracker is perfect for you. The app allows you to keep complete track and mark the slope on the map with complete statistics of your winter adventure. One can also use this app to track their other winter activities like ski touring, skating, snowboarding, etc. Ski tracker has been found helpful for both professionals and beginners. Additionally, the “Fast ride” feature has made it more popular. This feature allows the user to track their fastest speed, time, and distance separately, regardless of which section it was recorded. Furthermore, you can also share this recorded data and information with your friends in no time. You can use the Ski Tracker app on both Android and iOS devices. The app allows you to try the premium version for free for 30 days and make in-app purchases for additional functions and features.
SkiLynx
SkiLynx app is very well known for its communication feature. The app works precisely like a social communication app that allows you to make groups, chat with your friends, and track the location of each other in just one app and a few clicks. The SkiLynx app allows users to create a private group and track every other member’s live riding location. Its existence and usability in the Apple watch make it more special. You can enjoy the entire app on your watch without fear of damaging or losing your phone in the snow. The app isn’t just limited to this. They have extra features like tracking speed, the distance you have covered, etc., and at the same time, staying in touch with your friends. Overall if you are going on a skiing adventure with a group of people, this is a must-have app for Android and iOS users.
Snowledge
The primary purpose of the Snowledge developers is to provide ski and snowboarding lovers with an app that brings all their requirements under one roof without any effort. This app is a combination of all features skiers and riders ask for. From planning the trip to tracking location, this app gives you all. This app offers various features like researching snow conditions, searching nearby resorts, keeping you updated about current contests, etc. Besides this, the other feature that made it more lovable is communication with friends like SkiLynx. But what makes it unique is you can not only connect with your family or friends but also with other skiers and riders around the world. You can see their pictures, location, and more. As you can connect with other skiers, you can also upload photos and customize your profile. This is why Snowledge is famous as a skiing social media app. You can download it on your iOS devices.
Jollyturns
Jollyturns is an out-of-the-box app. Unlike other apps, it provides maps and information about all resorts, mountains, etc., to help you take the right turn or visit the right place. Jollyturns is available on browsers, iOS, Android, and Apple Watch. The app offers 2D maps of 2500+ ski resorts worldwide on your device. They also show other essential locations of ski runs, ski lifts, restaurants, etc. Jollyturns is a fantastic app to get detailed information and great experiences on the mountain slopes without extra effort. You’re mistaken if you doubt you have to download another app for tracking and communicating while skiing. Jollyturns provides additional features like sharing with friends, tracking your speed, the distance you covered, etc., all in one place.
FATMAP
FATMAP is suggested for mountain sports like cycling, biking, hiking, etc., and not just skiing. I like the offline map most about this app if we talk about features. You can search for the location you want, download the map and use it without an internet connection. This helps to save battery and reach your destination without any restrictions. Furthermore, FATMAP gives 3D outdoor maps with live information, including peak names, rivers, footpaths, etc., to navigate and locate quickly. Additionally, if you are a person who loves to record your journey, this is best for you, as you can register your adventure in the app. FATMAP also offers features to connect with other skiers or riders and keeps you updated about the resorts, lifts, etc. The app has in-app purchases for additional functions and is available for Android and iOS users.
Conclusion
Skiing is a sport that has been popular for a long time. It completes one person’s desire for adventure and fun simultaneously. Several skiing apps online provide similar features and a few unique functionalities to the skiers. But what matters the most is which feature you prioritize more. Wrapping up the blog with a keynote that most skiing apps use GPS for tracking location. This drains the battery faster. Hence, choose an app wisely to avoid too much battery draining your device. You may also explore some trip-planning apps for your next vacation.
