My boyfriend, on the other hand, is a skier. Gliding this way and that, effortlessly, over powdery snow, sloshing pretty streams of it in either direction, he just exudes lithe grace and expertise. A familiarity I do not possess. His father took him often to the slopes of Mount Shasta and Mount Lassen, where he learned from a young age – age four, tucked between his father’s knees – how to don those frumpy snow pants and goggles without looking silly. When I hold ski poles, I do not look elegant and keenly aware, I look clumsy and unsure, the poles jutting at inharmonious angles like barbed, insect limbs. Last year I had my first bout with cross-country skiing, which left me permanently, for the rest of the trip, with a surly, angst-ridden expression on my face. No, I am definitely not a skier. But, I would like to learn.

It’s finally getting chilly in northern California, enough to see your breath around 5pm and to want only soups and hot cider drinks. My boyfriend’s dad calls me every now and then, asking, “Hey! So, when are we going skiing?” A few murmured hesitations are my usual answer, but I am determined to hit the slopes this year. Yes, I’ll even rock the jargon with my hit the slopes. Much like how WeatherBug is useful in preparing for weather conditions, there are three snow/skiing apps for the iPhone that despite their individual flaws, are great when used in tandem with each other. They’re far better than the other skiing apps out there; besides, they’re all completely free. For both the fledging skier like me, and the gelding, these apps are a great asset to any skier’s iPhone. These apps are The Show Report by The North Face, Ski Report, and iTrailMap.

The Snow Report by The North Face definitely has the prettiest interface out of the three: it’s easy to be partial to the charcoal gray and Christmas red theme, and the app itself is easy to navigate. The Snow Report opens to a summary page of five default ski resorts, including Whistler/Blackcomb of Canada; Chamonix of France; Snowbird of Utah; Kirkwood of California; and Stowe of Vermont. Beside each resort name is the current snowfall within the last 24 hours – currently, none of the stock sites have experienced snowfall, but if you switch the gauge to 48 and then 72 hours timeframe, then you’ll see that Whistler/Blackcomb experienced 33 inches of snowfall. Going back to the resorts, I’m not entirely sure what their reasoning was for including these particular places. With big names like Chamonix, I’d expect to see Aspen and Tahoe included, perhaps a few places in Alaska and Montana, Jackson Hole of Wyoming or Squaw Valley, even. You may add additional sites by tapping the plus symbol in the upper right, but this isn’t a surefire way to get information. I added Mount Shasta, but the app was unable to find Mount Lassen, and a few other smaller California resorts, like Heavenly, Gold Mountain, and Cedar Pass. More resorts are included in the Global Top 10 tab, which generally includes places outside of the U.S, far away from here.

Tapping on any of the resort names takes you a report page with in-app links to weather forecasts, snowfall, trail maps, and a “locate resort” map button (to access another resort, simply flip through or go back to the summary page). There are also tabs at the top indicating “Details” and “Twitter,” – just in case you need to keep tabs on people currently skiing who feel the need to tweet. Almost too much information is given on the forecast page, it seems – while it’s good to know what times sunrise and sunset happen, and what the UV index and wind speeds are, I don’t necessarily need to know that the moon tonight at Chamonix will be Waxing Crescent. The Satellite imaging is not quite up to par with WeatherBug’s, but it works in a pinch, and there’s no reason to snub your nose at any app that includes satellite imagery. It’s only too bad the trail maps featured on The Snow Report are woefully lacking. They’re pretty to look at from afar, like a Monet painting, but once you try to zoom in, the low resolution takes a toll and everything being a mishmash of blurred lines and words. It’s absolutely useless unless you want a general overview of the area.

But, other information peppered throughout the app is more helpful. Tap on the “details” tab to check out when lifts and runs open, what the average snowfalls of the area is, or what the elevation top and base are. There’s even a handy webcam to check out live conditions (maybe even a skier!), and a phone to get you immediately in contact with the resort. Some additional features of The Snow Report include finding a North Face store (that was a given), a North Face news feed (another given), an avalanche advisory panel (good thinking), and an image gallery showcasing the wild talent of both snowboarders and skiers, taken with wild, highlighted colors on the photographer’s part (glam factor). Overall, though, an excellent app for skiers.

Ski Report has a few definite edges over The Snow Report. As soon as you open the app, Ski Report prompts queries you about GPS, and if you select yes, then Ski Report shows you all the resorts in your given area. For someone like me – i.e. someone who never skies – it’s incredibly helpful to know where all the nearest resorts are. For my position in Petaluma, the app shows Bear Valley, Royal Gorge, Kirkwood, Soda Springs, Sierra at Tahoe, Sugar Bowl, Boreal, Homewood, Donner Ski Ranch, and Alpine Meadows. I haven’t even heard of half of those. As indicated on the main page, all these resorts are currently closed but will be opening soon, some with specific dates (November 25 for Sugar Bowl), and the amount of snowfall and projected snowfall is given. As with the Snow Report, you may add additional resorts by tapping on the informative “i” in the upper right, and you may view forecasts and a webcam. I may actually prefer the forecast information through Ski Report – it’s less involved and convoluted than The Snow Report, and is more direct in its detailed blurb, covering the basics over what you should expect. Unless you’re a competitive skier, there’s really no need to know about wind speeds and dew points, humidity levels and what not. So, you’ll sweat a bit more in your suit, or lean a little more into the wind than usual. No big deal. First hand ski reports by people currently on the snow are a small point of amusement, with their posts like “Bear Valley is the best!!!!!!!!!!” leaning a bit in the direction of hyperbole, but some posts actually give a good impression of what the scene currently looks like.

Unfortunately, Ski Report doesn’t even have trail maps to compare to The Snow Report’s low-res ones, so this is where iTrailMap comes into play. This app is straightforward and simple: it provides ski trail maps. Excellent ski trail maps. After checking to see if the resort nearest you is open with Ski Report, and after checking out snowfall rates and weather patterns with The Snow Report, open up iTrailMaps and start downloading the map to your resort. Trust me, iTrailMaps is bound to have it (it has Heavenly, Cedar Pass, and all the other resorts I mentioned The Snow Report didn’t recognize). Once a map is downloaded, you view it in its grand entirety, then pinch and zoom wherever you please, getting so far in you can distinguish the individual paths on Aspen. Now, tell me that isn’t completely zoomed in. Since the maps are downloaded to your iPhone, you need not fret about losing wireless connection. The screen is a bit small to look at a map, in general, but it sure beats carrying around different trail maps all the time. If you want, you can upgrade to iTrailMaps 3D, but I find the free version suits just fine – the 3D version lets you check out the resort’s topography, which could be useful if you’re planning a course around a severe drop, but skiers have always done just fine without this kind of routing technology. Big Air Software is constantly adding new resorts to the app, but it seems the North America section is pretty complete.

Now, all of the above are excellent apps that serve their purpose with recent accumulation, weather forecasts, community banter, resort information etc., but as I looked over the recent snow/winter app list to see what was new, one caught my eye. I’m familiar with the Skullcandy brand on a superficial level, seeing their highly regarded headphones for sale on Steep and Cheap and WhiskeyMilitia constantly, but I am also aware that they have some of the most creative and viral ad campaigns in the action sports industry, and the fact that the app is free made me really want to check it out. Skullcandy has really created a great app. The features are too numerous to name, but some of the highlights are as follows (from their site): Surf reports so you know when and where to rip; to the minute snow reports plus a 5 day forecast; a skate park finder for nomads who have to try them all; free music player; video from Skullcandy TV loaded with shorts featuring Skullcandy athletes and musicians; a dealer locator feature will find the nearest shop for instant gratification (very nice); a mobile Skullcandy store that allows you to buy new headphones, backpacks or other Skullcandy gear (even nicer); a fresh selection of continually updated wallpapers designed by Skullcandy fans that allow users to defy genericism (can’t retain your indie cred otherwise); and, finally, access to all Skullcandy happenings through the Skullcandy blog. The app also works with your phones mapping functionality to get you to any of the surf skate or snow spots you might find. Basically it does it all. It gets you stoked via its music, video, and photo content, then keeps you informed with their blog’s connection, and the best part is it wraps it all in a beautifully designed interface that is simple to use. If you’re looking beyond a strictly skiing app, this is a surefire win.

I actually can’t wait to try out skiing again – the plan is to go this next coming weekend, hit the bunny slopes for a good hour with other n00bs, then try my newly instated poles and skies onto bigger, badder slopes. I may have spent my childhood on the snowy, bitterly cold east coast, and I may have shoveled many driveways and enjoyed many episodes of ice skating, but I had absolutely no introduction to skiing. Maybe it’s just not in my blood. But, with these 4 apps on my side I can at least pull my weight with my boyfriend and his dad. It won’t improve my skiing, but at least I’ll be more informed.

Alright, so compared to yesterday’s Survival Guide, the WeatherBug app seems a little trite, a little less mind-blowing. But, as any outdoor enthusiast knows, preparing for whatever weather lies ahead is tantamount to a good trip – and your safety. With the way California weather has been going lately, with hot days lasting into November, it’s all too easy to assume random showers won’t strike at the least opportune moment. Or, you might find yourself stuck in an unforeseen, but nevertheless awesome lightning storm, as we Bay Area residents experienced out of the blue back in early October. When it comes to snowfall, and extreme temperature changes, these are weather patterns you want to be prepared for. Wearing those Hunter Wellies in the rain won’t cut it in hard ice – you’ll need to break out the Adirondack and sherpa-lined boots with duck fronts for that.

More involved than other weather apps for the iPhone – including the stock weather widget – WeatherBug gives you a vast array of information, maybe more so than you really need. What really sets WeatherBug apart from other apps is it gives you live, local weather conditions and forecasts from both NWS (National Weather Forecast) weather stations and WeatherBug’s own proprietary weather stations. This means you pick the nearest weather station to you rather than simply selecting a town, which is pretty limited in the grand scheme of things. This means if it is hailing in your neighborhood, yet sunny across town, WeatherBug will help you to determine this. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve checked the forecast for Point Reyes, had it read a very chilly 55 degrees F, only to begin my hike with sunny, blazing skies and warm enough weather for a tank top even before my heart rate starts pumping. Phooey.

Some key features of the app include 7-day and hourly forecasts; daily national weather outlook video; radar maps with zoom feature; live weather cameras of which you may view 5 at a time and view in time-lapse mode; cached weather data for offline viewing (of particular use for we, hikers); National Weather Service alerts, touch map interface that allows you to view weather conditions for any location touched; and -way cool – temperature contour and satellite infrared maps. Phew! Think that’s enough to keep you busy?

When you first open the app, the most basic and necessary information is given up-front – the current temperature with hi and lo of the day, along with a weather description for the day (“party cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly sunny…”). It’s nice that Weatherbug includes on the first page other details like wind chill, humidity and dew point, and if you want to see more specific details on any of these, just tap the arrow pointing to the right – you’ll be taken to a page of “current conditions” detailing wind gusts, rain rates, and everything else so far occurring on that day. Funnily enough, despite all these details, there’s no way to change the temperature reading from Fahrenheit to Celsius. Too bad for the Canadians, eh? Should any weather concerns be pressing, the center of the main page has a bar indicating those NWS alerts I mentioned earlier – if you’re in Pennsylvannia and a tornado warning is issued, you’ll be sure to see it blazing in that bar.

I have my WeatherBug following Petaluma, CA; Point Reyes Station, CA; San Francisco, CA; and New York, NY, but you can set WeatherBug to follow up to 10 separate locations if you wish. Flipping through these locations is just a matter of using the navigation bar along the top of the main screen, which reads “Petaluma, CA,” or whichever location you’re currently viewing. The Forecast button in the bottom navigation bar is self-explanatory – check out the written forecast blurbs, and tap on them for more detailed blurbs. The Maps page is where things get exciting. Powered by Microsoft Virtual Earth, you’re able to navigate with your finger, much like Google Maps, only this one contains weather pattern imaging; satellite, radar and temperature views; and an opacity setting (whatever that means, just pretend you’re a forecaster). You may watch live weather videos if you ever want an immediate, personal connection to your weather updates, conducted by the less-lusty-than-usual Rachel, with her dark lipstick, highlighted strands, and cat eye glasses.

Definitely worth it for outdoorsmen in the long haul, WeatherBug will keep you up-to-date with detailed information of weather patterns and forecasts from anywhere in the world. At no cost to download, it’s a small price to pay for being prepared.