Before you drop in

SkiBuds brings mountain weather, rider discovery, maps, messaging, and GPS tracking into one app for skiers and snowboarders. Start with 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.

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

Open Discover to browse riders and filter by skill level, availability, and interests such as groomers, park, powder, moguls, trees, or backcountry. View a profile, send a friend request, and use chat to work out the day together. Availability comes from riders' profile preferences.

Start tracking from the mountain map to record your day with GPS. SkiBuds detects runs and lift rides and records distance, vertical, speed, and duration. Stop the session to review its summary, then revisit saved days and their routes in Activity History. Tracking requires location permission; recording while SkiBuds is in the background also depends on background location permission.

Download a mountain's base map before you lose service. GPS and a downloaded base map can remain useful without a connection, but trail and terrain overlays, weather, friend locations, and messaging may still need one. A base map download does not include every live layer.

Use Mountains to search the resort catalog and save favorites for quick access. Available features vary by resort: some have detailed trail and lift overlays, while others have a mountain base map. Weather sources, elevation forecasts, and other mountain information also depend on local coverage. You can browse every supported resort, with its snow forecast, on the resorts page.

Explore trails and lifts where coverage is available, tap runs for details such as difficulty, and change terrain views with topography, hillshade, or 3D terrain. The map also brings together your GPS position, tracking controls, and friends who have chosen to share their location. Map layers and details vary by mountain.

Location sharing is off by default and visible to friends. In Map Settings, choose Live or updates every 30 seconds, then turn sharing off whenever you want. A resort's Friends Here Now view helps you see friends who are sharing there. Live updates require a connection and location permission.

A Day Recap turns a saved activity into a shareable summary of time, distance, vertical, runs, and lifts. Choose whether to include the resort name or maximum speed, then share it to Chat or Stories. The recap leaves out your GPS route and precise start and finish locations.

Use private messages and mountain conversations to make plans and keep in touch. Chat supports photos, replies, and reactions. Stories lets you share a mountain moment by choosing a photo, adding its mountain and a caption, and reviewing it before publishing. You can also start a Story with your Day Recap.

The resort status feature uses community reports. Riders who are checked in or within five miles can report a lift or trail as open or closed. Report counts, freshness, and confidence help give those reports context. Check the resort's official information for its current operating decisions.

Open a resort for hourly, daily, and weekly forecasts, with snow totals for the next 24 hours, 48 hours, and seven local days, including the current day at the resort. Explore temperature, wind, gusts, precipitation, and storm timing alongside the snow forecast. Where available, nearby SNOTEL stations add measured snow-depth context.

Enable multiple elevation forecasts to explore base, mid-mountain, and summit views. Available temperature, snowfall, and wind detail depends on the source and mountain. Some providers do not supply a distinct forecast for each elevation, so selecting an elevation does not mean conditions were measured there.

Ski Signal highlights a suggested riding window using the available forecast and shows its confidence. It helps you compare timing around snow, wind, and other conditions. Use it alongside the hourly forecast and the mountain's current information when deciding when to go.

Configured forecast sources include the National Weather Service, WeatherAPI, and MET Norway. The sources available for a particular mountain vary with coverage and service availability. Weather details show source attribution, update times, and confidence, with information about fallback data when applicable, so you can see the basis for the forecast you are reading.

Optional views go deeper into snow quality, snow-to-liquid ratios, freezing levels, wind exposure, storm timing, and model comparisons. Day-planning and atmospheric insights add context to the forecast. Turn on the details you find useful in Advanced Weather Settings; individual views depend on available data.

Radar playback uses recent RainViewer imagery to show how precipitation has been moving. It is a look at recent conditions, not a forecast animation of where the storm will go next. Use the hourly forecast and storm timing views for the outlook.

Powder alerts are opt-in. Choose favorite resorts, a snowfall threshold, wind and confidence preferences, and quiet hours. SkiBuds evaluates alerts as weather refreshes and when the app returns to the foreground. Keep the app's forecasts current; alerts are not a promise of continuous background storm monitoring.

Confidence gives context about the available forecast information. Model comparisons can reveal agreement or differences between sources, while timestamps show how recently information was updated. Conditions can still change, so confidence is not a guarantee of a particular snowfall total or riding outcome.

Only what's needed to make the app work: account info (email, username), location (with permission, for mountain features and run tracking), usage analytics, and content you create (messages, photos). Read our full Privacy Policy.

Never. We don't sell your data to anyone. Location supports mountain features, GPS tracking, and optional sharing with friends. You control location permissions at the system level and sharing in the app.

SkiBuds uses Firebase Authentication for account sign-in and password handling, with access controls for account data. You can reset your password from the sign-in screen. Read our Privacy Policy for more about how your information is handled.

Yes. Go to Settings → Account → Delete Account in the app, or email us at PowWowLLC1@gmail.com. We process deletion requests within 30 days.

Yes. An account lets you connect with riders, use chat, save preferences, and keep a history of your tracked days. Sign up with your email in the app.

Yes. Your account syncs across iOS and Android. Run history, partners, and preferences follow you.

Every profile and message has a "Report" button. We review reports within 24 hours and take action — including removing content and banning users who violate our Terms of Service.

The app is being rebuilt from the ground up and is not in the stores while that happens. We're targeting 2026 for iOS and Android. Follow @skibudsapp to hear the day it lands.

Follow @skibudsapp on Instagram and read launch news on the blog.

SkiBuds is mobile-first (iOS/Android). A companion web dashboard for viewing stats and managing your profile is planned for post-launch.

We'd love to work with you. Email PowWowLLC1@gmail.com or see our Partners page.