The Best Watches to Track Your Ski Day

Whether you’re chasing first lifts, recording your vertical descent or simply wanting to know how many kilometres you’ve skied, today’s sports watches offer an incredible amount of data. They can track everything from your heart rate and altitude to speed, ski runs completed and even your recovery after a big day on the mountain.

Here’s our guide to the best watches for your next ski holiday in Châtel and the Portes du Soleil.

Garmin Instinct® Crossover AMOLED
Combining the rugged durability of the Garmin Instinct range with a stunning AMOLED display and traditional analogue hands, it’s built specifically for life in the mountains. Whether you’re skiing first lifts, heading out on a ski touring adventure or enjoying a trail run in the summer, it’s a watch that performs brilliantly in every environment.

Designed to cope with snow, ice, freezing temperatures and demanding alpine conditions, the Instinct Crossover AMOLED delivers exceptional GPS accuracy, impressive battery life and detailed activity tracking without compromising on style.

Why We Love It
Rugged military-grade construction
Bright AMOLED touchscreen with analogue hands
Outstanding battery life
Accurate GPS and altitude tracking
Tracks skiing, ski touring, trail running, hiking and cycling
Heart rate, sleep and recovery monitoring
Water resistant to 10 ATM
Looks just as good in the chalet as it does on the mountain
Perfect for Tracking Your Ski Day

The Garmin Instinct Crossover AMOLED automatically records:

Vertical metres skied
Number of runs
Maximum speed
Distance travelled
Time on the slopes
GPS route
Altitude gained and lost
Heart rate
Calories burned

At Nine & Tenne, we love looking back at the end of the day to see how much ground we’ve covered across the Portes du Soleil. It’s a great way to compare ski days, discover your favourite runs and even compete with friends and family.

Apple Watch Ultra 2
Offers excellent ski tracking when paired with apps such as Slopes or Ski Tracks.

Its bright display works well in snowy conditions and the dual-frequency GPS provides excellent accuracy across large ski areas like the Portes du Soleil.

Highlights include:

Automatic run detection
GPS mapping
Heart rate monitoring
Fall detection
Emergency SOS
Sleep and recovery tracking

Best for: iPhone owners wanting an everyday smartwatch that also excels on the slopes.

What Can a Ski Watch Track?
Total vertical descent
Distance skied
Number of lifts
Number of runs
Maximum speed
Average speed
Altitude
Heart rate
Calories burned
GPS route mapping
Time spent skiing
Weather conditions
Recovery and sleep metrics

Many can even distinguish between lift rides and downhill skiing automatically.

Pair Your Watch with the Right Apps
Slopes – Outstanding ski tracking and 3D run maps
Ski Tracks – One of the most popular ski recording apps
Strava – Perfect for sharing your adventures
Garmin Connect – Comprehensive training and recovery analysis
Health / Apple Fitness – Daily activity tracking

Our Pick: After years of skiing in Châtel and the Portes du Soleil, the Garmin Instinct® Crossover AMOLED has become our watch of choice. It’s reliable, incredibly tough, packed with useful features and equally at home on the mountain, in the gym or out trail running. If you’re looking for one watch that can do it all, this would be our recommendation.