If you’re planning on hitting the slopes in Utah this winter, you’ll definitely want to install the official Ski Utah app on your smartphone before you go. Free for both iOS and Android, the app was recently updated ahead of the start of the 2016-2017 ski season, bringing a host of new features along with it and making the software an indispensable resource for the aspiring ski bum.
Amongst the key upgrades this year is built-in compatibility with another app called Snocru, which is also available for iOS and Android. Activating Snowcru on your smartphone turns it into a real-time stat tracker that is capable of monitoring speed, vertical gain and descent, current slope angle, number of runs, and more. That data can then be displayed within the Ski Utah app, gathering all of your important ski information in one place.
All of that Snowcru data is also analyzed by the Ski Utah app, which inherently tracks the amount of fresh snowfall at whichever resort you happen to be skiing at on any given day. It then keeps a running tally of the fresh powder you’ve skied all year long, providing digital bragging rights between you and your friends as the season progresses. So for example, if you happen to ski Snowbird after a storm drops 8 inches on the slopes, and then head over to Solitude to take a few turns in 6 inches of new powder there, you’ll add 14 inches to your “Personal Powder Counter” for the season. Frequent skiers will no doubt enjoy seeing their PPC grow larger as the season progresses, and may even find themselves hitting the slopes more regularly in an effort to boost that number.
Of course, all of this stat tracking is in addition to the app’s other features, which include current snow totals for all of the ski resorts located within the state of Utah. The app also features an animated Doppler radar to check the progress of winter storms, and it can provide updates on road conditions, extended forecasts, projected opening and closing dates for the ski hills, and more. There is even a database for each resort that provides the number of chairlifts that are currently in operation, how many runs are open or closed at any given time, access to any active webcams, and high resolution trail maps as well. In short, it pretty much provides all of the information you could possibly need if you want to ski in Utah, and then some.
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