Where to Ski And Snowboard - Piste maps added to Google Maps

Piste maps added to Google Maps

10th February 2013, by Abi Butcher

Google has added piste maps of 38 US ski resorts to its collection

Piste maps from Aspen and Vail in Colorado, Sun Valley in Idaho, Squaw Valley and Mammoth Mountain in California and Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont are among some of the 38 US ski resorts added to Google Maps last week.

The piste maps are available through an app for free with Android devices and iPhones, bolted on to the launch of Google’s Street View collection of 90 global ski resorts that the search engine added to last November.

So rather than get your piste map out on the lifts, Google hopes you’ll just pull out your smart phone and find your bearings — provided you can make the battery last in the cold. All runs are marked, with their colours of green, blue and black in the US, and lifts are shown as red dotted lines.

In November, Google launched its collection of 90 Street View ski resorts, which includes more mainstream destinations such as Zermatt, Arosa, Les Deux Alpes, Chamonix and target=“_blank”>Sölden along with smaller and more obscure ski resorts from Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Spain and the US.

“You can view some of the world’s best runs right on Google Maps before you get there,” wrote Google Street View program manager Ulf Spitzerwrote, when launching the ski resort collection in November. “Whether you’re looking to discover a piste you’ve never tried before, or just want to take in some winter wonderland scenery, we’ve added Street View imagery for resorts across Europe, Canada, and the US.”

No piste maps for European resorts are available yet, and whether the Street View ski resort collection will actually be used is debatable — with virtually every resort now running webcams with up-to-date weather information.