Strava Is Turning Off Fatmap - What That Means For Skiers

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Early last year, you might have noticed that FATMAP, the powerful 3D mapping software and digital guidebook platform, was bought by fitness tracking behemoth Strava. Love it or hate it, the move was made to combine two very similar platforms that did different things into a one-stop-shop for all your fitness and outdoor activity tracking needs. Since its initial release, I’ve been a huge fan of FATMAP for backcountry skiing navigation since it offered quite a few features that competitors like OnX, Google Earth, Gaia GPS or Caltopo didn’t, not to mention the user experience was something I just enjoyed.

Having a mini model of the mountain range you’re moving through on your phone is maybe the best thing that’s happened to skiing since the invention of fat skis. The interface was really easy to learn and use in the field, and the winter satellite imagery had impressive resolution. It’s saved my ass multiple times skiing in unfamiliar areas, and I’ve definitely spent my fair share of time mind surfing through faraway ranges where I hope to ride someday.

Since the acquisition, little has changed in FATMAP, but this week Strava dropped the news that the FATMAP app and website will be shut down on October 1st, 2024. Strava says they plan to make “several” FATMAP features only available in Strava following that date, but so far it’s unclear what that actually means.

Currently, the Strava app and website do not offer the full suite of FATMAP functionality, particularly the easy-to-use web and mobile 3D winter map mode or the guidebook functionality that offers excellent user-generated beta on backcountry routes. In many areas, particularly the Alps or the PNW, these routes were uploaded and maintained by local guide services and offered really good, print guidebook-quality beta. It was the first tool I would turn to when planning a ski trip into a new and unfamiliar area. I’ve used it to navigate ski traverses in the Alps , and this past spring, it was incredibly useful to plan a few weeks of skiing in the PNW and the Eastern Sierra .

If you use FATMAP to store data like routes and waypoints, you’ll need to manually download them to save that data before October 1st. It’s possible to upload some of it into Strava to continue using it, but so far I haven’t been able to pull the same functionality out of it. FATMAP has developed a tool to assist with that migration. Find it here .

Strava is really good at what it does and enjoys a massive 100 million+ users , but it’s a social media app, not a mapping app. Keeping those things separate was a good thing, and I’m kind of bummed they’re being forced into the same bucket. Right now, the ski community is losing an invaluable tool that has made mountain travel easier, safer, and more accessible to a wider audience.

Perhaps it’s a great time for someone to come up with a better idea to fill the hole?

For more information on the migration, here’s Strava’s info page on the matter .