“Vertical” doesn’t always mean the same thing
Some apps count only the downhill on your runs. Others add every descent, including walking and lift rides down. Neither is wrong, but they won’t match. Look for a tracker that says plainly what it counts.
GPS knows where you are better than how high
Phones pin down where you are far better than how high you are. Height from GPS alone can drift by tens of feet, especially under trees, beside buildings and right after you start, and small errors add up over a day.
A barometer helps
Most iPhones have a barometer, and air pressure changes smoothly as you go up and down the mountain. Trackers that use it tend to give steadier vertical than GPS height alone.
Lift rides shouldn’t count as runs
A chair going up is easy to spot. Flat lifts, mid-stations and gondolas ridden back down are harder, and a tracker that misses them can add fake runs or extra vertical.
Naming runs needs a real trail map
Any tracker can count runs. Telling you which trails you skied takes a detailed trail map of the resort.
Signal and privacy
Recording should never depend on cell service, which is patchy on most mountains. And a ski day is a precise record of where you’ve been, so it’s worth checking where your recordings are kept.
In GoSki
- “Vertical skied” counts the downhill on your runs only; lift rides never count.
- Steady, barometer-backed vertical on iPhone.
- Lift rides are recognized, including flat lifts and gondolas ridden down.
- Every run is named by the trails it followed, at all 43 resorts with a GoSki trail map.
- Recording and run naming work without signal.
- Recordings are encrypted on your iPhone and never uploaded.
See you at first chair.
GoSki is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.