SkiBuds questions and answers

No release date has been announced yet. Read the latest launch update, and follow @skibudsapp on Instagram for news.

Not from SkiBuds yet: the app is being rebuilt and is not in the app stores. Ski buddy apps you can download today covers what each store listing says it does and costs, and where to find ski buddies covers groups, clubs and threads that work without an app.

Follow @skibudsapp on Instagram or SkiBuds on Facebook. No social account? Read launch news on the blog, which also gives a feed address to copy into a feed reader app (RSS).

No web version of the SkiBuds app has been announced. The app is being built for iPhone and Android phones, and this website has no sign-in, rider search or chat. You can still use the website's free planning tools and resort forecasts now; see Use the website now.

We'd love to work with you. Email powwowllc1@gmail.com or see our Partners page.

You can use this website now to browse resort guides and forecasts, draft a message with the free ski buddy meetup planner, and split fuel, parking and tolls with the free carpool cost calculator. These tools help you make a plan to share; they do not find or message riders for you.

SkiBuds is an app for skiers and snowboarders that is being rebuilt for iPhone and Android. The rebuilt app is planned to bring mountain weather, rider discovery, maps, messaging and GPS tracking into one place: check the forecast, find people who share your riding style, see friends on the mountain when they choose to share, and save a recap of your day. See the feature overview.

The app is planned for skiers and snowboarders 18 and older, from beginners finding their feet to experienced riders planning their next powder day. Profiles and Discover filters are planned to help you find people with a similar skill level, riding style and availability. You decide who to connect with and what to ride together.

Today, start with how to find ski buddies, which covers ways to meet riders without the app. In the planned app: You'll open Discover to browse riders and filter by skill level, availability and interests such as groomers, park, powder, moguls, trees or backcountry. You'll be able to view a profile, send a friend request and use chat to work out the day together. Availability will come from riders' profile preferences.

No. SkiBuds is not a dating app, and it never has been. It is for finding people to ski and snowboard with and to share the drive to the mountain. Is there a dating app for skiers? covers the small ski dating apps that do exist.

Agree on ability, pace, terrain and a plan before the day. Meet in a busy, public spot in daylight, such as the base lodge or the bottom of a main lift, and get yourself there if you can. Tell a friend who you're riding with, where and until when, and agree that anyone can split off at any point. Our safety guide to meeting a new riding partner covers each step, and the first meetup checklist turns it into a plan you can send.

The rebuilt app is planned to let you start tracking from the mountain map and record your day with GPS. It will separate runs from lift rides and record distance, vertical, speed and duration. When you stop, you'll see a summary of the day, and saved days and their routes will stay in Activity History. Tracking will need location permission, and recording while the app is in the background will also need background location permission. More on ski and snowboard GPS tracking.

Partly. You'll be able to download a mountain's base map before you lose service. GPS and a downloaded base map are planned to keep working without a connection, but trail and terrain overlays, weather, friend locations and messaging will still need one. A base map download will not include every live layer.

The app is planned to let you search its resort catalog and save favorites for quick access. Features will vary by resort: some will have detailed trail and lift overlays, while others will have a base map only. Weather sources, elevation forecasts and other mountain information will also depend on local coverage. You can already browse every supported resort, with its snow forecast, on the resorts page.

Trails and lifts where coverage is available, with details such as difficulty when you tap a run, and terrain views with topography, hillshade (shading that shows the shape of the slopes) or 3D terrain. The map is also planned to show your GPS position, tracking controls and friends who have chosen to share their location. Map layers and details will vary by mountain.

Location sharing will be off by default, and only your friends will see it. You'll be able to choose live updates or an update every 30 seconds in the map settings, and turn sharing off whenever you want. A resort's Friends Here Now view is planned to show friends who are sharing there. Updates will need a connection, location permission and a fresh GPS fix.

A Day Recap is a planned summary of a saved day of riding: time, distance, vertical, runs and lifts. You'll choose whether to include the resort name or your top speed, then share it to Chat or Stories. The recap will leave out your GPS route and your precise start and finish locations.

Private messages and mountain conversations are planned for making plans and keeping in touch, with photos, replies and reactions in chat. Stories will let you share a photo from the mountain with its mountain name and a caption, and review it before publishing. You'll also be able to start a Story from your Day Recap.

Only as reports from other riders. The planned status feature lets riders who are checked in at a resort, or within five miles of it, report a lift or trail as open or closed, with report counts and how recent the reports are shown alongside. These are not official resort updates, and the original app's automatic lift-status notifications are not coming back. Check the resort's own website or app for what is actually running.

Each resort is planned to have hourly, daily and weekly forecasts, with snow totals for the next 24 hours, 48 hours and seven days, counted in the resort's local time and including the current day. Temperature, wind, gusts, precipitation and storm timing will sit alongside the snow forecast. Where available, nearby SNOTEL stations (automated snow measurement sites run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture) will add measured snow depth.

Planned forecast sources include the National Weather Service, WeatherAPI and MET Norway. Which sources a mountain gets will depend on coverage and on each service being available. Weather details will show the source, when it was updated and how confident the forecast is, and say when backup data is being used, so you can see what the forecast is based on.

Powder alerts will be opt-in. You'll choose favorite resorts, a snowfall threshold, wind and confidence preferences, and quiet hours. The app is planned to check alerts when weather refreshes and when you return to the app, so alerts depend on the app's forecasts being current; they are not a promise of constant background storm monitoring.

On this website, Google Analytics counts visits using cookies, and the planning tools keep what you type in your browser tab only; nothing you type into them is sent to SkiBuds. In the planned app: Only what's needed to make the app work: account info (email, username), location (with your permission, for mountain features and run tracking), usage analytics, and content you create (messages, photos). Read our full Privacy Policy.

Never. SkiBuds does not sell your data to anyone. In the planned app: Location will support mountain features, GPS tracking and optional sharing with friends. You'll control location permission in your phone's settings and sharing in the app.

The app is planned to use Firebase Authentication, Google's sign-in service, to handle sign-in and passwords, with access controls on account data. You'll be able to reset your password from the sign-in screen. Read our Privacy Policy for more about how your information is handled.

When the app launches, you'll be able to delete your account from its settings. You can also email us at powwowllc1@gmail.com. We process deletion requests within 30 days.

For the app, yes. An account will let you connect with riders, use chat, save preferences and keep a history of your tracked days. You'll sign up in the app when it launches. The guides and planning tools on this website need no account.

Yes. The app is planned for iPhone and Android, and your run history, friends and preferences will follow your account to each phone you sign in on.

Every profile and message in the app is planned to have a Report button, and you'll be able to block any user. Reports are planned to be reviewed within 24 hours and acted on, including removing content and banning users who break our Terms of Service. Read how SkiBuds handles safety.