10 Top Snowboarding Apps

Neil Skilton    snowboardingholidays, Top 10s     Apps, Snowboarding, Snowboarding applications, Snowboarding Apps, snowboarding holidays

How do you make snowboarding even more fun than it already is? Easy. Just add one of these apps to your phone before your next snowboarding holiday.

iTrailMap 3D, interactive 3D maps.

Snow forecasts, interactive maps, top speeds, step-by-step trick tutorials and built in compasses are just some of the features included to cater to freeriders, backcountry enthusiasts and freestylers alike.

Take a look at our top snowboarding apps – just don’t do it halfway down!

iTrailMap 3D – $4.60 / £2.99

No longer do you need to carry piste maps with this app. Covering over 650 resorts, the free version downloads and stores the maps you want on your phone, so no need to worry about connecting on the top of the hill.

The interactive 3D maps are addictive for planning where you want to go and viewing where you’ve been. You may find yourself absorbed in this app over lunch breaks or on the lift, and even after you get back home with the feature that lets you upload your tracks to Google Earth.

Ski Tracks – $1 / £0.69

Possibly the best app for tracking all the stats you’ve ever wanted to know whilst on your snowboarding holidays. Perfect for boarders who prefer to ride hard all day than mess about on their phones – simply switch on the app, stick it in your pocket, and forget about it.

Throughout the day it will record everything from top and average speeds, distance covered, and vertical skied, all the while somehow knowing and compensating for when you get on the lifts.

Snow Report by The North Face, snow conditions, weather forecasts and full trail maps.

Snow Report by The North Face – Free

A really comprehensive app here from The North Face. Tons of information is piled into a neat package letting you access snow conditions from all over the world from up to 72 hours previously. Best for those who plan on hitting up many resorts in one trip, the app allows you to add several mountains into one place called ‘My Resorts’ and access all this information at a glance.

It will also keep a log of expeditions you make throughout the season with any notes / highlights you wish to include.

Mammut Saftey App – Free

As a free application this should be on every serious backcountry snowboarders iPhone. The feature I like the most is the built in clinometer that measures the angle a slope. It also has a risk checker – basically putting all the things you should check before hitting a run into one easy place – reducing the risk of you missing anything.

The SOS button is also a seriously good feature, sending your location coordinates by SMS to rescuers if you get into difficulties, and the compass is handy for quickly checking for those dangerous south-facing slopes.

Learn To Ride Snowboard – $1.99

Your one stop shop here for everything trick related. Nitro pro snowboarders have gathered the wealth of their information to help you stomp that next trick.

Photo sequences and videos are including in the app, I especially like the videos with alternate viewing angles and slow motion options. Get a mate record you trying something out, then compare it to the apps version and see where you can improve.

REI Snow Report App, get push notifications when there is new snow.

REI Snow Report App – Free

The Snow Report App from REI is our favourite application focused primarily on snow conditions and forecasts from mountains around the world. Updated regularly, and even including firsthand reports of conditions at selected locations, the Snow Report will also ‘push’ notifications straight to your phone when there is new snow falling in your favourite resorts.

RealSki – Free

Unfortunately limited to North American resorts right now, the RealSki app lets you take a photo, then proceeds to name all the features in the scene.

It will name all the lifts, landmarks and restaurants in a picture, which we think is great for visiting new resorts, or when you’re not exactly sure what lift you’re on. The newest version also offers GPS-enabled trail maps and optional modes of viewing and navigation.

Rome – 100 Day Tracker

For all those lucky enough to spend the entire the winter in the mountains the 100 day tracker from Rome does exactly what it describes. “The online journal of your year on shred” can catalogue things such as the mountain you are riding, the weather, snowfall and a picture or video from each day’s session.

This is a great way to document your season snowboarding and your performances during snowboarding holidays. The shop finder is also a handy feature allowing you to locate your nearest snowboard shop.

Area 241, check out what Mike Basich is up to.

Mike Basich, Area 241 – Free

If you haven’t heard of Mike Basich or his Area 241, a ‘build-it-yourself’ mountain hideaway / playground, then you must have had your head buried in the snow. This app basically tracks Mike’s exploits at home, in his “off-the-grid” snowboard sanctuary, and on the road.

All his latest projects are showcased here as well as the inspirational award-winning documentary about his life and career ‘Open Space – The Untold Stories Of Mike Basich.’ As with the man himself, this app is so much more than just snowboarding, and is definitely worth the install.

Crazy Snowboard – $1 /£0.69

Not exactly an app, we’ve included this addictive snowboard game into the list anyway as a perfect way to kill time on your way to or from the mountains.

Intuitive controls and a huge list of features makes this the perfect game to just pick up and play, as well as keeping more seasoned gamers interested with 30 missions to unlock.

You can choose from 13 different boards, 13 different riders, and attempt to master 16 different tricks. This is a great game to play when you’re not in the mountains, however, we’d much prefer the real thing any day.

For more snowboarding guides and blogs, check out: The best freestyle snowboards of 2012 / Buying Snowboard Boots: Top Choices for 2012 / 2013/ Snowboarding in NZ: Top 10 spots

About the author

Neil Skilton wrote 16 articles on this blog.

"Snowboarding is just the tip of the iceberg of my passion for adventure sports and travel. Beneath also lies a love of rock climbing, surfing and mountain biking. Cooking, eating, reading and writing take up the rest of my time!"

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