Ski apps?

[dividedsky75]

Do you use a ski app to record your trails, speed, slope, etc.? I was just looking at Ski Tracks and thought it might be fun. It will likely make me go faster after I know I'm being tracked, but that's another story.

https://skiing.about.com/b/2012/02/29/ski-tracks-skiing-app.htm

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ski-tracks-gps-track-recorder/id365724094?mt=8

 

[Tvan]

I have Ski Tracks, and you will definitely have to fight the urge to "beat your time" run after run. On the other hand, if you're like me, you'll also have a lovely record of any falls you take, how fast you were going when you crashed, how far you slid before stopping, and how long you laid on the ground taking inventory of your body parts before you got up again. That was the day I learned not to use the straps on my ski poles.

In all seriousness, it is a fun app.

 

[Christy]

Does it drain your battery?

 

[geargrrl]

Yes.

 

[Owl]

I have Ski Tracks too. It's fun, but it does zap the battery so I only use it for a couple runs a day. You can set it to stop tracking if your battery hits a certain point (I have it set to 20%). And it means I'm taking my phone out of my jacket more often and the cold seems to affect my phone's battery too.

 

[kiki]

On Sunday I was using an app for the mountain I was at that tracks how far you skied and how fast you went and even shows a map at the end of the day showing where you went. Very neat, but my battery went from 97% -> 22% over a 4 hour time period, so then I had to shut it off (and the phone hoping to make it last to the end of the day.) It was really neat and fun to see :-) Wish my battery could handle it better :-(

 

[Emy!Dee]

I'll have to try Ski Tracks this weekend. I usually carry a spare battery inside in my jacket liner.

Any recommendations for tracking snow conditions? I have On The Snow.

 

[geargrrl]

I'm trying to remember if it will work on airplane mode using the GPS and not the data connection...?

 

[Emy!Dee]

According to its Google Play page: NO DATA OR PHONE SIGNAL REQUIRED FOR TRACKING
Unlike many other ski applications Ski Tracks does not require any data or phone signal for Tracking. So enjoy your skiing or riding without worrying about data costs. (See Note 2)

Ski Tracks uses GPS to collect date.

When phones are on airplane mode for iPhones, GPS is disabled. For Android, it depends on the make of your phone.

 

[CdnStix]

Ski Tracks is sooooo addictive!! I use it every time I go out and get seriously obsessed with the maximum speed, especially on those perfect days where the snow and visibility are both great and the hill isn't busy. Makes keeping track of your number of days on the hill in the season easy too!

I've tried Rockies Replay as well but I don't like it as much as Ski Tracks. The only thing it has that Ski Tracks doesn't have that I find kind of fun is it tracks your "air time". It's not fun because I'm hucking off big cliffs or jumps to catch air but it is the "inadvertent air" that is sometimes fun to see...

 

[Blondeinabmw]

I use EpicMix (exclusive with Vail Resorts) when we are at Breck. You register your pass in advance and it uses radio frequency scanners to track it as it passes through certain check points, like at the base of lifts. Some of the features are kinda dumb, like you earn "pins" for various achievements (such as distances, riding the same lift a certain number of times, riding all the lifts in a single day, blah, blah). It also links to social media like facebook, and you can connect to various friends and family to see where they are on the mountain, track their achievements/vertical feet.

 

[Liquid Yellow]

I love Ski Tracks, but the GPS really does rinse the battery.

It's great for days when you're doing big mileage, although I always think I've done more runs than I actually have!

 

[dividedsky75]

I think I will have to give this a try. I have a new phone coming tomorrow and a trip to Park City next week. Good timing!

 

[volklgirl]

I have Ski Tracks but haven't used it as I'm still on my subscription to Phresheez for another few weeks. One of the things I like about Phresheez is that it requires a 30 second continuous speed reading before it will record a max speed, so false max speeds are exceedingly rare. What sucks, though, is our runs are so short here, getting 30 seconds at any given speed is quite a chore.

If you find your battery draining very quickly, make sure you turn your wi-fi off. It really, really makes a difference. I can get a whole ski day using Motion X GPS, MapMyRide, or Phresheez as long as I do that. And no, none of the iPhone GPS apps work in airplane mode.

 

[dividedsky75]

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Emy!Dee]

Just had a friend recommend AlpineReplay: https://www.alpinereplay.com/landing

Now I have two apps to try out this weekend!

 

[maggie198]

We just tried Ski Tracks, and it worked really well! Plus, it was a lot of fun.

 

[mahgnillig]

I use EpicMix as well... mostly just look at it after I'm done for the day though. I like that it doesn't chew through the battery as it relies on RF sensors and the chip in your pass to get your vertical feet, amount of runs etc. for the day. I use my phone for music with bluetooth headphones, so that chews through the battery as it is (even with a handwarmer in the same pocket and wifi turned off). I'd probably only get 3hrs out of it if I had the GPS on as well.

 

[shima]

Epic Mix tracks me at the vail resorts, but you don't need it running during the day as it's all RFID data they're collecting, phone or no phone.

I was using Ski Tracks for a while but recently started trying out Alpine Replay and I have to say I really like it's format a lot. Used it for the past three days at Northstar, Squaw and Alpine. Going to keep trying it out for a few more days but so far I think it's a little neater than Ski Tracks. Very feature rich.

 

[Emy!Dee]

Went to Stowe this past weekend and tried out SkiTracks & AlpineReplay for the first time. Here's an objective review of both apps on my Samsung Galaxy S3. I was able to use both apps on Airplane mode with my GPS enabled.

I used SkiTracks (99¢ one time app purchase) on my first day of two. I was at the resort just under 6 hours, and was able to pause tracking during my lunch break. Battery life was at 71% when I was done with my day. While it was tracking, you were able to see time elapsed, max speed, distance, etc. Here are some screenshots of the saved data:

The only thing that looked funny here is that short dip in between 10-15miles under profile... I did not go on any mid-mountain lift. This may be a GPS signal error.

The map is really cool... This is default map + mile markeer view. Here are the options on the right hand side in this order: default map, satellite, satellite w/o labels, terrain map, display lifts/runs, display mile markers, display...? (not sure what this is), display every 15 minute marker.

This chart displays altitude and speed, I think where the flat line is on speed is when I was learning to go through moguls for the first time!

You can also view your data separate by the hour, lift/run, and every 5 miles. You can also tap into each one and get an expanded summary (like the main screen) for each entry.

With SkiTracks, you can export and share a KMZ file, for use in Google Earth and Maps.

AlpineReplay (free app and account; need to pay for premium account), I used on my 2nd day. That day was much shorter (thanks daylight savings! ;] ), but still used a bit more battery than SkiTracks... my batteries were at 68% when I finished recording on day 2. We did not stop for lunch during our ski runs, so I can't testify if there's a pause/resume function.

After I finished recording, here's the summary I get...

The view is a simple list. It does include some new info like Calories, Resting Time, Air Time and Jumps (1 jump for .9 sec!? I don't even remember it! ;] ) You can click into # of runs to see your different runs, and each one will lead to another list identical to this, with data pertaining to that particular run.

AlpineReplay does give you a web view of this data: https://www.alpinereplay.com/stats/u?uId=230646&vId=378482 but as you can see is still much simpler than SkiTracks. AlpineReplay has a lot social aspect on their website, but it's not a selling point for me.

The cool thing about AlpineReplay is that the resort info is very well managed. It knew which mountain I was at. However, if I want the app to identity each lift name, trail name, and run angles, I will have to pay a premium subscription.

I personally prefer SkiTracks. I like that I can download a KMZ file for my own records. I was unable to find that on AlpineReplay... I also really like to be able to toggle, in SkiTracks, the same data into different views and units. It's a very powerful app. I really wish they had a web view to go with their app.

I'll definitely be using SkiTracks on my next snow day!

Until I get to Vail that is. Then I'll have to try EpicMix. ;] I'm loving their design.