Strava VS Ski Tracks Vs Slopes

Picture this…You straight-lined down the steepest part of the slope and must have broken a world speed record right? Well, now you can know for sure with Apps such as Strava, Ski Tracks, and Slopes.

These amazing and fun apps have been around for a long time now but are constantly updating. Adding new features and giving more detailed and accurate data, especially when you pay for the premium subscription.

In this article we will look deeper into the different apps, focussing on their functionality and finding out which is the best one for your specific needs.

So buckle up and let’s ride!

Strava

Strava is by far the most popular of the 3 apps with over 95 million registered users.

This is due to the fact it is designed for lots of different sports and can be used as a general fitness tracker. Whether you are a cyclist, a skier, a runner, or a cross-fitter, Strava will provide you with useful data and connect you with friends, clubs, and like-minded people.

While Strava is a versatile app and does have a skiing or snowboarding feature. It does not give detailed skiing metrics like Ski Tracks or Slopes.

However, Strava’s social and community aspects, as well as its integration with other fitness platforms and wearables, make it a popular choice for sporty types, who engage in a wide range of activities, including winter sports.

Cool Fact – Tour De France winner Jonas Vignegaard was discovered and signed by his team Jumbo-Visma after achieving the fastest time ever recorded (The KOM) on a climb in Spain.

GPS Tracking

Strava utilizes your smartphone’s GPS to track your movements while skiing or snowboarding. It records your route on the map, including distance covered, elevation changes, and average/ maximum speed during your activity. With connected HR monitors it can also offer heart rate data and training load for your day, giving you an indication of how hard you were pushing.

Segment Tracking

Strava offers segments, which are specific sections of a route where users can compete for the fastest time.

While skiing or snowboarding, you can create or discover segments for particular slopes or trails and compete with other Strava athletes for the best times. As well as the all-over fastest time on each segment, Strava Premium will let you find out:

Your daily rank
How do you rank against your friends
How you rank in your age group
How you rank in your weight range

A premium subscription, paired with a smartwatch or GPS device will also tell you when you start a segment so that you know to go for it!

Activity Statistics

Strava provides detailed statistics for your winter sports activities. This includes total time spent skiing or snowboarding, average speed, maximum speed achieved, elevation gained and lost, and more.

Heart Rate Monitoring

If you have a compatible heart rate monitor connected to your smartphone or wearable device, Strava can incorporate heart rate data into your activity analysis, offering insights into your exertion levels during the session.

Photo Sharing

Strava allows you to add photos to your activity, which is a fun way to share your skiing or snowboarding experiences with your friends and the Strava community.

Challenges and Achievements

Strava often hosts challenges and achievements related to various activities, including winter sports. Participating in these challenges can add an extra layer of motivation and competitiveness to your skiing or snowboarding adventures.

Clubs

Strava has lots of clubs that you can join, these form great communities where athletes can compete against each other, ask advice or meet up to go on an adventure.

Integration

Strava will let you integrate your GPS data from the most popular health-tracking apps including Ski Tracks and Slopes. Helping you to build a year-round picture of your activities.

Ski Tracks

Tailored exclusively for winter sports, Ski Tracks is the go-to App for over a million skiers and boarders looking for a more in-depth look into their on-piste achievements for the day.

The features include:

Skiing and Snowboarding Tracking

Ski Tracks uses GPS and other sensors in your smartphone to accurately track your skiing and snowboarding activities. It records your routes on the slopes, including distance covered, vertical drop, maximum speed reached, and duration of each run.

Detailed Metrics

Ski Tracks provides specific metrics tailored to skiing and snowboarding. These metrics may include maximum speed, average speed, total runs, total distance skied, time spent on lifts, and more. This level of detail allows you to analyze your performance and progress over time.

3D Maps and Replay

The app offers 3D maps of your skiing or snowboarding routes, allowing you to visualize your runs dynamically and interactively. You can also replay your runs, seeing your speed and route on the map as if you were reliving the experience.

Battery Saving Mode

Ski Tracks has a battery-saving mode that optimizes GPS usage, ensuring your phone’s battery lasts longer during a day on the slopes.

Offline Tracking

Ski Tracks allows you to track your skiing or snowboarding activities even in areas with limited or no cellular network coverage. The app stores the data offline and syncs it when a network connection is available.

Some other features include:

Attach photographs to track.
Comprehensive Ski Stats and Graphs.
Run by Run Analysis.
3D Map *
Export to Google Earth.

Slopes

Slopes is a direct competitor of Ski Tracks and has been produced specifically for skiing and snowboarding.

The app has some cool features such as:

Piste and Resort Maps

Slopes provide access to digital trail maps for thousands of resorts worldwide, ensuring you never get lost on the slopes.

With over 200 supported resorts, you can go beyond the official trail maps and explore interactive digital trail maps to track your location and progress during your day on the mountain.

GPS Stats

Slopes offers detailed performance tracking, allowing users to monitor their progress and improvements across seasons.

The stats included are:

Top Speed
Lift vs Run Time
Vertical
Distance
Average Speed
Calories
Elevation
Heart Rate
Season Totals
Lifetime Totals

Find Your Friends

Slopes offers interactive digital trail maps to track your friends’ locations on the slopes, making it easy to plan meetups if you get separated.

After your day on the slopes, you can compete against 8 different stats on private leaderboards throughout the season, adding a fun and competitive edge to your skiing or snowboarding.

Live Resort Info And Conditions

Slopes serves as your pocket guide both on and off the mountain.

It allows you to check real-time feedback from other skiers about the current conditions. Additionally, the app provides easy access to essential resort data, such as weather forecasts, trail statistics, ski patrol contact information, and more, ensuring you have all the information you need before you go.

Automated Strava Posting

All of your data can be instantly transferred to Strava, helping you to better track your activities and fitness throughout the year.

Strava VS Ski Tracks Vs Slopes – The Conclusion

After using, reviewing, and enjoying all of these apps on the slopes. (whilst having an amazing time) We would be happy to use any of these on our phones or smartwatches.

Each App has its own special benefits which might appeal to different people.

Here is our summary of what you should download:

You should download Strava If…

You are into year-round fitness and want to add your day on the mountain to your bank of activities.

As a Skier or boarder, you might not care about the names of pistes, how long you spent on chair lifts, or how wide your carves were. But you do want some great stats, to compete against your fellow skiers and boarders and to share your photos with your year-round fitness community. Receiving kudos for your efforts

You should download Ski Tracks If…

You are a skier or boarder looking to improve your riding and track the names and gradients of the slopes you have carved up on your day.

When you get back to the ski lodge or are in the bar with your friends, you want to re-live your day, with some interactive maps. Finding where you hit your max speed and how much faster you were than your mates.

Ski Tracks also allows you to do all of this and have some battery left at the end of the day to call anyone who will listen and tell them about how rad you got.

You should download Slopes If…

You want to track your day on the hill whilst keeping up to date with in-resort snow conditions and what runs are open.

Whilst out on the mountain, you also want to keep tabs on your friends and family, pinpointing them if you get separated (providing they also have the app turned on)