5 Cool Winter Apps
By Mike Agerbo
February 09, 2016
Lifestyle
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Last week, we received conflicting predictions about spring’s arrival from Canada’s furry forecasters, Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam and Ontario’s Wiarton Willie. Shubenacadie Sam predicted an early spring while Wiarton Willie is calling for six more weeks of winter. Whether you’ve put your money on Sam or Willie’s prediction, you should probably settle in for at least a few more weeks of winter weather. To help you enjoy the cold weather and stay safe, I’ve collected five winter apps.
Android, iOS | Free
Designed to help you get the most out of your days on the slopes by tracking your activity, Trace Snow was ranked as the #1 winter sports app by Men’s Health Magazine. The app measures your speed, airtime, distance, calories, and more. You can also track your runs and lifts using the app’s interactive GPS maps. A social component lets you connect with friends and share your stats.
You can view basic stats right on the app or see your progress over the season using the Trace web interface.
Android, iOS | $4.65, $6.99
For beginners, getting out on the slopes can be an intimidating experience, even with a qualified instructor. Ski School Beginners complements your ski lessons with high quality video lessons that help to clarify the basics to make you feel more confident. The carefully designed lessons cover basics such as putting on your skis, straight runs, and turns. Once your comfortable with all the concepts presented in the app, you can work through several other levels of ski lessons with the Ski School Intermediate, Ski School Advanced, and Ski School Experts apps.
iOS | Free
The Winter Survival Kit app might seem a bit like overkill for a lot of people, but if you live in an area that experiences extreme temperatures or heavy snowfall, it could become life-saving tool. At the very least, the app can give you some peace of mind when you or your family members are driving in bad weather. The app lets you store important insurance and emergency contact information. If you’re stranded, the app will help you determine your location and contact emergency services. It also has a gas calculator that will help you determine how long you can run the engine before you run out of fuel. Perhaps the most useful feature of the Winter Survival Kit app is its timed alerts, designed to remind you to turn off your engine every once in a while to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Android, iOS | $5.99
Again, this one might seem like overkill but people who find themselves in situations where they need survival skills don’t often expect to. Every year, I read a number of stories about people getting lost in the out of bounds areas on Vancouver ski hills. A tool like the SAS Survival Guide can help you navigate this and many other situations with guides on building fires, finding water, and navigating using the stars.
The SAS Survival Guide app is based on a best-selling book on survival. The full text of the book has been optimized for this app and is supplemented with videos, photo galleries, and checklists. Hopefully you’ll never need to use any of the information you find within the app but it’s definitely a worthy investment in safety, especially during a harsh winter.
iOS | Free
There are a lot of weather apps out there but this one has some impressive features. It can provide you with minute-by-minute precipitation forecasts for the next two hours using your exact GPS location. Push notifications alert you of severe weather events, such as storms. You can also share your own weather observations and report hazards like slippery roads to help people in your community stay safe.
1. Trace Snow – Ski + Snowboard Tracker
Android, iOS | Free
Designed to help you get the most out of your days on the slopes by tracking your activity, Trace Snow was ranked as the #1 winter sports app by Men’s Health Magazine. The app measures your speed, airtime, distance, calories, and more. You can also track your runs and lifts using the app’s interactive GPS maps. A social component lets you connect with friends and share your stats.
You can view basic stats right on the app or see your progress over the season using the Trace web interface.
2. Ski School Beginners
Android, iOS | $4.65, $6.99
For beginners, getting out on the slopes can be an intimidating experience, even with a qualified instructor. Ski School Beginners complements your ski lessons with high quality video lessons that help to clarify the basics to make you feel more confident. The carefully designed lessons cover basics such as putting on your skis, straight runs, and turns. Once your comfortable with all the concepts presented in the app, you can work through several other levels of ski lessons with the Ski School Intermediate, Ski School Advanced, and Ski School Experts apps.
3. Winter Survival Kit
iOS | Free
The Winter Survival Kit app might seem a bit like overkill for a lot of people, but if you live in an area that experiences extreme temperatures or heavy snowfall, it could become life-saving tool. At the very least, the app can give you some peace of mind when you or your family members are driving in bad weather. The app lets you store important insurance and emergency contact information. If you’re stranded, the app will help you determine your location and contact emergency services. It also has a gas calculator that will help you determine how long you can run the engine before you run out of fuel. Perhaps the most useful feature of the Winter Survival Kit app is its timed alerts, designed to remind you to turn off your engine every once in a while to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
4. SAS Survival Guide
Android, iOS | $5.99
Again, this one might seem like overkill but people who find themselves in situations where they need survival skills don’t often expect to. Every year, I read a number of stories about people getting lost in the out of bounds areas on Vancouver ski hills. A tool like the SAS Survival Guide can help you navigate this and many other situations with guides on building fires, finding water, and navigating using the stars.
The SAS Survival Guide app is based on a best-selling book on survival. The full text of the book has been optimized for this app and is supplemented with videos, photo galleries, and checklists. Hopefully you’ll never need to use any of the information you find within the app but it’s definitely a worthy investment in safety, especially during a harsh winter.
5. AccuWeather –Weather for Life
iOS | Free
There are a lot of weather apps out there but this one has some impressive features. It can provide you with minute-by-minute precipitation forecasts for the next two hours using your exact GPS location. Push notifications alert you of severe weather events, such as storms. You can also share your own weather observations and report hazards like slippery roads to help people in your community stay safe.