SARL Peak Transfer
44a Chemin du Lai
Chamonix Mt Blanc
74400
France
Excellent service. Our driver, Kirsty was a mine of information and pleasant company for the drive. The vehicle was spacious and comfortable. Would.recommend and use again.
read moreHitting the white fluffy stuff this winter? Well, there’s an app for that! In fact there are hundreds in fact. But Peak Transfer have done all the hard work for you and put together a list of the ‘Must Have’ Apps on (and off) the piste this season for both Android and iOS platforms. Mobile apps are getting more and more sophisticated by the minute and with many of them competing against each other can only be good news for the consumer as we are getting the latest technology and information at our fingertips at a competitive price tag.
Mobile apps are by far the most convenient way of accessing essential and most up to date resort information as well as ski tracking, snow reporting, technique analysis and even finding the best après hot spots or spot of lunch on the mountain. There’s literally an app for everything these days, but here’s are top download recommendations this season.
Our first category of App are resort specific so you can get the most out of your winter ski or snowboard holiday. So here is are advise on how to ‘App’ like the locals.
Most substantial resorts have jumped onto the ‘App Bandwagon’ and have produced their very own free resort specific app. These tend to include all the vital information that you would want to have in resort such as essential lift, piste and snow information across the whole resort. Most of these actually providing real time snow conditions, lift operation and webcams. These resort specific apps of course differ from resort to resort and how much time and funds they have dedicated to their app technology but most also provide additional information such as upcoming events, places to eat on the mountain and where the best apres is at!
Some of the larger resorts even have the ability to GPS track not only your immediate location for instant recognition of your exact location but also your days or weeks adventures enabling you to compare your detailed statistics by simply inputting your ski pass number into the app. Resorts such as Verbier’s 4 Vallées contain interesting features like ‘Find your Friends’ where you can locate your fellow comrades via a GPS map and latest the avalanche risk information for those wishing to go off-piste
MeteoSwiss and Météo-France are the official national weather service in other words their equivalent of the met office. Each provide the most accurate and reliable weather, snow and mountain forecasts without question. Both the Swiss and the French have been kind enough to put all this information into the palm of our hands in the form of a handy app. Both boast clear graphics, useful information and resources and ease of use.The French even have a mountain specific Ski Meteo App (Météo Ski) which is invaluable when planning to ski off-piste as it contains the latest avalanche bulletin complete with advice on faces to avoid and current snow pack conditions. All this meaning that you never have to step into the mountains uninformed or unprepared again!
For those heading to the Swiss slopes can get your daily avalanche bulletins from the SLF Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research via the White Risk App. Before heading off-piste in the Swiss mountains the White Risk App makes life simple by providing access to the local avalanche bulletins. Bulletins contains vital information like previous conditions and their effect on the current snowpack in addition to current assessment of avalanche risks. A fantastic feature of this app is the ‘Tour’ function. Those looking at exploring new terrain via splitboarding or touring can take advantage by plotting your routes on maps with associated slope angles offline. We would say a small price to pay for such essential safety information…..but it’s FREE!
There are more and more unique apps coming onto the market that us snow sport lovers can take full advantage of. Whether that’s to compare today’s ski stats with friends via smart activity tracking apps, to plot your next adventure on sophisticated GPS maps, or even just a nifty photography app to catch that perfect holiday snap. Here is Peak Transfer’s favourite apps for the slopes this winter.
Track your daily ski activities and compete against friends and strangers alike for the king of the mountain crown with SNOCRU the award winning social snowsports app. It’s unique selling point is the fact that the app can work offline without the need of wifi or data connection, a huge bonus for those of us on a budget or perhaps not a very flexible mobile network provider. SNOCRU allows you to track your daily activities including speed, altitude, runs, vertical distance, slope angle data plus mapping your entire day’s skiing or boarding. Once you have all your data you can simply admire your days work and perhaps share pictures and stats of your day’s adventures easily over social media, we all need to boast a little sometimes right?
But if the competitive side of your personality can’t help itself then you can pit yourself against friends or connect with other skiers and snowboarders around you using the ‘Near me’ function. These can be in the form of ‘DAYCRU’ challenges where you can compete in tasks such as who can ski the most vertical distance, get the highest max speed, or compete most runs in a day!
3D mapping has been all the rage in the technology field and Fatmap have used this ingeniously to revolutionise the winter sports scene. Fatmap provides fantastic 3D ski mapping using high-resolution satellite imagery to offer a previously unobtainable unique understanding of mountainous terrain. This not only includes awesome visuals but also vital physical stats such as slope angles and known lines. Scope that line you have always wanted to hit, or just a recce of the next day’s ski safari itinerary like never before.
For those that are looking to use this app for off-piste routes can take advantage of the apps ability to identify avalanche and crevasse risk zones as part of the terrain intelligence function. Users can negotiate their way around popular ski areas or in the far lonely expanse of the backcountry with ease through GPS-enabled navigation.
Okay, so it’s not the most exciting app we can think of but it’s likely to be one of the most important. Somehow we all think that we can do nothing most of the year and then wonder why we are struggling on the slopes with the dreaded deep burn and jelly legs so quickly. For those wanting to get the most out of their ski holiday probably need to think about a pre-season/ pre-holiday training regime. With the SkiFit app you get your very own pre season physio workout led by renowned physiotherapist in elite skiing and ski mountaineering disciplines Neil Maclean-Martin.
The SkiFit8 App will help you get your body prepared and primed for the ski season ahead by following an 8 minute workout comprised of exercises that are ski specific. All the exercises require no special equipment and are adapted to be done anywhere. For those more dedicated pre-season advocats looking for something a bit more extensive might be interesting in buying the full SkiFit app which includes a detailed 8 week training programme.
Sick of blurry action shots? Well then Action Snap is the answer to your prayers! This must have photography app makes capturing those ‘sick’ moves and ‘rad’ lines childsplay. The app allows you to choose shutter speed and number of shots per burst so you can capture the perfect action sequence in high definition. One click allows you to take multiple shots which can then can be easily edited or arranged to produce the montage masterpiece of the season.
So there you have it our must have apps for this winter. Get downloading and share the love for all things snow related this season. Why not share it on the Peak Transfer Facebook page? We would love to hear about your adventures with the pictures to prove it!