These days smartphones are pretty much a must-have bit of kit on the slopes. From taking photos to measuring your speed, contacting the emergency services to accessing resort information and snow reports – apps really can enhance your skiing experience.
Here's a list of our 20 favourite ski-related apps! (The resort links below will redirect to our sister company, Peak Retreats
1. Echo112 – The Pocket Lifesaver by MobileMed Sarl
- Available on Android and iOS
- Free
- This essential lifesaving app sends your location to local emergency services across the globe
Activate the app in an emergency and it will detect your location and call the relevant local emergency services, providing them with your location details. No data? No problem: your location is sent by SMS. This app has been field tested by Swiss Emergency services for the last four years, it's now available worldwide.
2. mPassport by HTH Worldwide
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
- Brings you destination-specific information about the best local doctors, hospitals and resources – wherever you are in the world
Not only can this app be used to view safety alerts and locate your nearest emergency services, you can also schedule appointments, translate medical terms and locate medication brands!
3. Ski Tracks by Core Coders Ltd
- Available on Android for £0.79 and iOS for £0.99
- Claims to be the world's most downloaded ski and snowboard application!
Ski Tracks allows you to record your day on the slopes – just press the record button, put your phone in your pocket and your day’s movements will be recorded! Just a few of the stats recorded include maximum speed, distance covered, altitude reached and number of runs. It claims to have low power and data requirements. This app also supports Pebble, Android Wear and Apple Watch products.
4. GoPro by GoPro
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
- Acts as a remote control for a GoPro
This is the essential app if you're taking your GoPro to the slopes this season. On the move you can use your phone to frame shots, start/recording and adjust the settings. Afterwards, footage can easily edited with music and effects, then shared socially with friends and family.
5. Les 3 Vallees by Terrascope
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
The official app for the largest ski area in the world provides detailed information about the ski area and the eight resorts within it: Courchevel, La Tania, Méribel, Brides-Les-Bains, Les Menuires, Saint Martin de Belleville, Val Thorens and Orelle. The primary function is, what the app claims, as 'the most detailed interactive 3D piste map in the world'. It also shows the opening/closure of ski runs/lifts, weather forecasts, webcams and locations of the high-altitude restaurants.
6. Ski Pursuit by Rossignol
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
- Allows you to track and record all your runs during the season and provides you with a complete analysis
This app will record your runs throughout the season and allows you to share your stats with your friends! Statistics covered include maximum speed, average speed, duration, distance, ascent and descent. It also provides a global recap of your season. Although this app is similar to Ski Tracks, the emphasis is more on social sharing (as of January 2018 they have over 66.7k active members).
7. Paradiski YUGE by Skiplan Lumiplan Montagne
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
- Works in real time providing essential information on Paradiski
The YUGE app provides real-time information on Les Arcs, La Plagne and Peisey Vallandry including weather forecasts, how busy the area is/lifts are, snow condition info, and upcoming activities and events. It has a ski map that also works in real-time so it's easy to find friends and family, to plan routes and have answers about local points of interest. YUGE also records your skiing, you can even complete fun challenges and earn badges.
8. Ski & Snow Report by On The Snow
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
- Hugely popular app
This app provides information on current snow conditions at more than 2000 ski areas worldwide, complete with powder alerts, opening dates and weather forecasts. It also lets you see live webcams, piste maps and find nearby resorts using GPS. Plus read reviews, gear guides and news from their team of experts.
9. SkiTips by Red Team Productions
- Available on iOS for $4.99
Based on Martin Heckelman's renowned "Ski Tips" series of Books, Videos and DVDs, this app (and the other apps created in this series) is a full immersion video and audio course to help with skiing technique. It's been created as a self-teaching aide, as a supplement to ski lessons. Read the background, context and logic of a particular lesson (there are 25 in total); you can then watch a video clip that teaches how to perform the technique and then put the device in your pocket & practice it yourself with the aid of an 'Audio Loop' which guides you down the mountain repeating the instruction.
10. Courchevel by Courchevel Tourisme
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
Courchevel’s new app has been specially designed to make your stay easier, smoother, and provide you with personalized content and relevant information depending on your needs.
You can have access to live weather forecasts, webcams, events, activities and things to do, locations of nearby shops and restaurants, and shuttle timetables. It can also map your route and calculate your estimated arrival time, record your runs, and notify you about nearby attractions.
11. Trace Snow by AlpineReplay
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
Trace gives skiers and snowboarders ultimate bragging rights. They measure speed, airtime, vertical, calories, distance and more, on any mountain in the world. Compare and compete with anyone, including yourself, with the click of a single button. The app records detailed stats, allows you to compare and compete with friends, push stats to Facebook and Twitter, or even virtually compete against your friends in 3D. You can also challenge your friends on Trace using the 'Head to Head' feature that lets you compare your trip side by side.
12. Find My Friends by Apple
- Available on iOS
- Free
- Has been optimised to avoid drainage of your battery
Although not specific to ski, this app may come in useful if you get separated from friends and family on the slopes, particularly useful if you are in a mixed ability party. Simply install the app, add your friends using your contacts, when your friend accepts your invitation using the app on their device, you will each be able to track each other’s location. If you don’t want to follow each other all the time, you can put it on a temporary setting – ideal for a ski holiday.
13. Les 2 Alpes by Skiplan Lumiplan Montagne
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
Brought to you by the Tourism Office of Les 2 Alpes and the ski lift company (Deux Alpes Loisirs), this app gives users access to a dynamic map of the ski area, GPS localization in the resort, detailed weather forecasts, a complete address book of all the stores and services available in Les 2 Alpes and emergency phone numbers
14. Chamonix by Skiplan Lumiplan Montagne
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
- GPS tracking
Find all the practical information about Chamonix with this app, brought to you by the Chamonix Tourist Office, the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc and la Chamoniarde (mountain safety and rescue organization). This includes piste maps, opening of pistes and ski-lifts in real time; weather forecasts, on-site webcams, positioning of the mountains by augmented reality; resort map, events, activities and entertainment; bus and train timetables; reports of road conditions, information on cross-country skiing - plus you can use the app to top up your ski pass!
15. Restaurants Ski by BPSA
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
An experimental app offering information about restaurants in French ski resorts including Tignes, Val d’Isere, Les Arcs, La Plagne, La Rosiere, Sainte Foy, Meribel, Courchevel, Val Thorens and Les Menuires.
16. Skiresort.info by Skiresort Service International
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
- Provides information about 4800 resorts worldwide
Created by a market leader in snow reports and ski resort data, this app supplied information about ski passes, opening times, trail maps, test reports, current snow reports, weather reports, webcams, photos and videos. It has 3000 trail maps, 500 test reports, 1000 current snow reports (updated daily), 3800 weather reports (updated four times daily), 4100 webcams, and a route planner for 4000 ski resorts across the world. You can even save your favourite resorts and with them without an internet connect.
17. Les Menuires by Skiplan Lumiplan Montagne
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
Brought to you by the tourism office of Les Menuires and the ski lift company (SEVABEL), this app enhances your skiing experience by providing a dynamic map of the ski area, GPS localization in the resort, a detailed weather forecast of the ski resort, a complete address book of all the stores and services available in Les Menuires as well as emergency phone numbers.
18. Portes du Soleil by Skiplan Lumiplan Montagne
- Available on iOS and Android
- Free
This application contains everything you could possibly need to know about the ski area: an interactive piste map detailing slopes that are open, skiers’ GPS location on the slopes in real time, weather forecasts, restaurants, webcams and emergency numbers. You can also watch the best film clips about the ski area, browse the events diary, make full use of the augmented reality software to explore the Portes du Soleil mountains and make use of the bespoke route planner for an ideal ski back to your apartment.
19. Ski Mate by Afflerbach.Informatik
- Available on Android
- Free
- GPS based tracking
Interactive trail maps for skiers and snowboarders, including ski runs and lifts as well as other points of interest such as restaurants and toilets. The app currently features over 80 international ski resorts including Courchevel, Flaine, La Plagne, Les Arcs, Les Menuires, Meribel, Tignes, Val d’Isere and Val Thorens. It also has a weather report feature.
20. Tignes by OPENIUM
- Available on iOS
- Free
As well as keeping you up-to-date with all the latest resort information, news, activities, bus timetables, events, weather forecasts, resort map and ski itinerary suggestions; this app also provides you with discount vouchers for the local shops, bars and restaurants. It includes social media feeds so you can keep in the loop about everything Tignes.
