9 Best Ski Apps For Planning, Tracking & More In 2024

Ski apps are highly useful tools. Having one can help you orient yourself, find safer terrain during dangerous avalanche conditions, and track your ski day. They fall into three broad categories, backcountry, resort, and weather apps.

After skiing for 25 years, ski instructing for 7, and backcountry skiing for 6, I’ve found what I think are the best ski apps available today. Each app has a description below, which includes details, features, and whether it's best used at a resort or in the backcountry. 

Ski Resort Apps

Whether it’s your home mountain or a massive new resort to explore, use one of the skiing apps below to get the most out of your in-bounds ski day. 

Best Resort Data: OnTheSnow

Free Version: Yes

Premium Version: Yes

Compatibility: iOS, Android, Apple Watch 

Pros

• Information from over 2,000 resorts
• Store & Compare Features
• Accurate Ski trail maps
• Apple Watch compatible
• Free

Cons

• Weather forecasting can be inaccurate
• Snow Reports slow to update

The appeal of OnTheSnow is the size of its data bank. With information and snow conditions on over 2,000 resorts, you have stats galore. You can create a favorites page to monitor certain resorts, set up basic snow alerts, and compare historical data over time too.

The weather forecasts are sometimes inaccurate, more so than other apps, and the snow reports are slower to load. Negatives aside, it's free, apple watch compatible, and has detailed ski resort information on thousands of locations around the globe.

Best Ski Tracking App: Slopes

Free Version: Yes

Premium Version: Yes

Compatibility: iOS, Android, Apple Watch

Pros

• Useful free version
• Resort conditions/trail maps
• Daily stats summary
• Premium version has a wide range of benefits
• Interactive digital map at supporting resorts

Cons

• Can drain phone battery faster than other options

‍Slopes has nice tracking features on its free version but really shines in premium. You get interactive trail maps that can be downloaded for offline use, run-by-run stats, speed heatmaps, interactive replay, and apple watch compatibility. A premium Slopes app paired with an apple watch unlocks apple health stats, and Slopes can connect with Siri for voice commands.

The biggest negative with this ski tracking app is that it can drain your battery faster than other options. Battery life aside, Slopes currently has interactive resort maps for 40 major resorts. This means you can get maps that show where you are and where you’ve been in real time. 

Best Power Saver Ski App: Ski Tracks

Free Version: No

Premium Version: Yes

Compatibility: iOS, Android, Apple Watch, Android wearables

Pros

• Provides good statistics
• Less battery intensive
• No data is required to use
• Simple to use
• No preloaded resorts 

Cons

• Basic, utilitarian app

‍Ski Tracks is the workhorse of the resort apps. You get easy-to-read crucial ski stats (distance skied, vertical feet, runs, etc.), the battery usage is lower than competing apps, it doesn’t require data to record, and the interface is very easy to manage.

The app is pretty basic in appearance, and while you can plot routes on a map, it won’t list out resort trail names. However, if you want detailed stats, basic tracking, and information about your ski day or ski season, this is probably the easiest resort app to use.

Best Ski App for Groups: SkiLynx

Free Version: No

Premium version: No

Compatibility: iOS, Android, Apple Watch

Pros

• Great communication tool
• Interactive real-time maps
• Quick message settings
• iOS, iWatch, & Android compatible
• Basic but useful statistics

Cons

• No free version

‍Skilynx is great for skiing groups. It has fantastic communication tools, including one-touch messaging and interactive real-time maps, which can show you where your group is on the mountain. The app is also compatible with both iOS and Android, along with iWatch.

There isn’t a free version of the app, but for anyone traveling in a group, this is a must-have. Losing ski partners can waste time and energy, so knowing where everyone is, helps keep the group together.

Best Ski Coach App: Carv

Free Version: No

Premium Version: Yes

Compatibility: iOS, Android

Pros

• Great analysis of ski technique
• Useful suggestions and tips
• Connects to a ski boot insert
• Real-time audio 

Cons

• Expensive

‍Carv is a unique app for skiers looking to improve their skills. The app is paired with an insert loaded with sensors that you slip into your ski boots. Carv analyzes the data and gives you suggestions based on it. It’s a really cool and useful way to improve your ski experience.

Unfortunately, getting the app alone won’t do much; you need the inserts to provide the data. This means that the cost, even for the cheaper version, will be significantly more than other ski apps. However, the benefits are innumerable and over time Carv can drastically improve your skiing game.

Weather Apps

There are a ton of weather apps out there, in fact, many listed above have weather components. However, these forecasts are often slow to load or reliant on ski resort reports. Take a look at my favorite winter weather app below to stay ahead of the storms. 

Best Ski App for Weather: Opensnow/Opensummit

Free Version: Yes, but limited features unlocked

Premium Version: Yes

Compatibility: iOS, android 

Pros

• Lots of weather data
• Forecast anywhere feature
• Thousands of specific mountain forecasts
• Easy-to-read graphs
• Digestible regional snow news

Cons

• No ski tracking
• No in-house avalanche info

‍Opensnow has become a leader for snow reports. What started as a local resource for Colorado has morphed into all things weather. Combining Opensnow and Opensummit gets you detailed weather rundowns, mountain conditions for specific peaks, daily snow reports, easy-to-read graphs, powder potential, wind speeds, and more. 

There is a basic version, but it only gives you two days of snow forecasts. If you spring for the premium, you’ll get five-day forecasts and a ton of useful weather data. You’ll also get a forecast anywhere feature that lets you drop a pin anywhere on earth, and it’ll pull up a forecast. 

Backcountry Ski Apps

Backcountry skiing is a different animal, and you need the best skiing apps to successfully explore and plan your future routes. The options below will aid in planning but should always be used in combination with forecasting and avalanche apps.

Best Backcountry Planning App: Caltopo

Free Version: Yes

Premium Version: Yes

Compatibility: iOS, Android

Pros

• Advanced mapping tools
• Multiple overlays
• Slope angle shading
• GPX compatible
• Best Free version of any ski app

Cons

• Hard to use at first

‍Caltopo is the ultimate backcountry planner. The excellent list of features, including map overlays, slope shading, route creation, and terrain statistics are best in class. You can also import routes via tracking apps or smartwatches. Perhaps best of all, most features are available for free!

The amount of data and mapping power can be overwhelming, and it's going to take a while to get used to. You also can’t download maps for offline use without paying for the premium version of the program. Once you figure out how to use Caltopo and its accurate and detailed features, there’s no finer choice for backcountry skiing.

Best Ski Mapping App: Fatmap

Free Version: Yes

Premium Version: Yes

Compatibility: iOS, Android

Pros

• Great 3D mapping
• Fantastic custom filters
• Decent overlays
• Good zoom detail
• Visually engrossing

Cons

• Can take a bit to load

It’s hard to beat Caltopo’s complete grasp of backcountry data. However, Fatmap takes mapping to a fantastic 3D level that’s fascinating to look at. This 3D mapping app offers competitive overlays, filters and looks amazing.

The 3D mapping can take a bit to load because of the data involved, but it isn’t much of a downside. If you like the backcountry functionality of Caltopo but want to get immersive maps akin to Google Earth and track lines in a sleek and modern format, Fatmaps is the way to go. 

Best Avalanche Ski App: Avalanche Forecasts

Free Version: Yes

Premium Version: No

Compatibility: iOS, Android 

Pros

• Accurate forecasts
• Covers a large area
• Explanations of data
• Free

Cons

• Only covers North America
• There are more detailed regional versions

This is a critical app to have in the backcountry. Granted, there are many backcountry locations where cell service is an issue, but with this app, you can check forecasts and avalanche danger right until you hit the trailhead. The forecasts are accurate and pooled from regional forecasting centers, and the app covers a large geographic area in North America.

Unfortunately, the app is only North America based at the moment, and some regional forecast centers have their own apps, which may provide faster updates. However, if you need one avalanche app to cover a wide swath of terrain, this is the one.

Summary

Ski apps unlock a ton of potential. If you’re headed out to the resorts, set powder alerts with Onthesnow, and track your stats with Slopes, and Ski tracker. If the backcountry is calling, check Avalanche Forecast first; then, try Caltopo and Fatmap to plan your routes. And, for those keen to work on their skills, it's hard to go wrong with Carv.