For the past several seasons, a host of app makers have been begging skiers and snowboarders to look at their phones more while they're on the hill. Whether for measuring total vert, fastest speed, meeting up with friends, or even 3D trailmaps, it's only now that Google is stepping into the mix by putting up trail maps for 38 resorts across the country on Google Maps. From Steamboat to Stowe to Whistler to Wildcat, the maps cover most of the ski areas covered on Curbed Ski.
Gizmodo seems to think the biggest advantage is not needing those dumb paper analogs called trail maps that soggy, wrinkled, and then blow away in the wind. However, they're a lot cheaper to replace than when your smartphone gets soggy, runs out of battery, and then you drop it off the chairlift. Curbed Ski also has a soft spot for the brush-painted trail maps of the James Niehues genre, and many of the trail maps now on Google feature the resort in the spring, summer, or fall with patches of snow and lots of brown... not the best way to get fired up for your vacation to Schweitzer. Regardless, the coolest feature may be the streetview mode that Google captured by mounting their 360-degree camera on the back of a snowmobile and riding it up and down resorts across the US.
Here's the full list of Google Maps-enabled resorts:
Alpine Meadows - CA
Alyeska Resort - AK
Aspen Highlands - CO
Aspen Mountain - CO
Attitash Mountain Resort - NH
Big Sky Resort - MT
Big White Ski Resort - BC
Breckenridge Ski Resort - CO
Brighton - UT
Buttermilk - CO
Copper Mountain - CO
Crested Butte Mountain Resort - CO
Deer Valley Resort - UT
Granite Gorge - NH
Heavenly Mountain Resort - CA
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort - WY
Lake Louise Ski Area - AB
Mammoth Mountain - CA
Mount Bachelor - OR
Mount Shasta - CA
Okemo Mountain Resort - VT
Panorama Mountain Village - BC
Park City Mountain Resort - UT
Revelstoke Mountain Resort - BC
Schweitzer Mountain Resort - ID
Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort - CA
Snowbasin - UT
Snowmass - CO
Squaw Valley - CA
Steamboat Ski Resort - CO
Stowe Mountain Resort - VT
Sugar Bowl Resort - CA
Sun Valley Resort - ID
Telluride Ski Resort - CO
Vail Mountain - CO
Whistler Blackcomb - BC
Wildcat Mountain - NH
Winter Park Resort - CO
· Hell Yes: Google Maps Has Ski Mountain Maps Now [Gizmodo]
· Ski Resorts Now on Google Maps [Google]