GPS Training

Transcription

1 Garmin Ski Bundles - Garmin with Mountain Dynamics SnowRanger Maps Several years ago Garmin and Mountain Dynamics launched SnowRanger maps for both North America & Europe that included information regarding chairlifts, trails, terrain parks, lodges and parking; unfortunately Garmin no longer retail this product and the guys from SnowRanger have now moved on, they are now part of the AllTrails portfolio of maps and apps. Although SnowRanger for Garmin is no longer available, you can continue to enjoy the magic on your iphone or Android smartphone with the AllSnow app. We've left this lesson in our resource for those who may be using legacy devices & maps SnowRanger maps by Mountain Dynamics include chairlift, trails info and much more However before you download maps directly to your device; its worth knowing that there are actually three ways to obtain SnowRanger Maps. How you obtain your maps will seriously affect the way you can use your maps particularly in the area of route or ski run planning. By Download directly to your device this is the method you are led through by default; it s easy straightforward and places the maps in a folder on the internal memory of you your device. You must be familiar with copying files to your GPS or Memory-Card to use this method. By choosing to have you maps on Memory-Card we find that many users don t want the hassle of copying maps etc and prefer to have the maps pre-loaded to SD card allowing them to simply plug & play there may be an extra charge for this service as in Europe the SD cards are sourced & fulfilled by a European partner By choosing to have maps on CD-Rom the maps come on CD-ROM; once again in Europe the CD s are sourced & fulfilled by a European partner. Once you have installed the SnowRanger maps to your PC and licensed the product you will be able to copy the SnowRanger maps and transfer data like routes & ski runs to your device. Using this method opens the door to viewing the maps on your PC and pre-planning routes & ski runs on your PC. You will also be able to use the maps on your PC to create turn by turn directions for on mountain navigation, manage data and review your performance in both MapSource & BaseCamp.

2 GPST Tip if you simply want the ski maps on your device and think you will never need to see the maps on your PC for route planning etc then one of the first two options will work for you; however if you wish to view maps on your PC for route & ski run planning then opt for having your maps on CD-ROM even if it takes a little longer and costs a little more. SnowRanger maps by Mountain Dynamics show details of ski runs and ski lifts SnowRanger Turn by Turn Directions SnowRanger North America & Europe maps for Garmin offer turn-by-turn directions for on-mountain navigation. Cleverly they make use of the Auto Routing feature found in most Garmin GPS devices by making the SnowRanger trail maps act like street networks; however they have had to work within the capabilities of Garmin s system set up with on road navigation in mind this has imposed some restrictions or limitations on the how it can be use for on mountain ski navigation such as: Most Garmin new generation devices are compatible with SnowRanger maps (etrex LegendC & VistaC, GPS Map60C & GPSMap60CSx, Dakota 20, Oregon 450,450t, 550 & 550t and GPSMap62s & GPSMap62st and Nuvi Ranges) Turn by turn prompts in all the above units is usually announced by beep the exception being the Nuvi which offers voice prompts The GPS does not know what level of skier/snowboarder you are. The map data is arranged to direct you on to green and blue trails/pistes, but it might try to send you on a red or black trail if it cannot find a better route. Conversely, it might send you on quite a long, safe, green route, while you would prefer to take some shortcuts along the way down runs (pistes) that you know are within your abilities. The GPS treats most of the lifts and trails as "one-way streets". This makes sense, as you nearly always go "down" trails and "up" lifts (with some lifts, such as gondolas, being two-way). If you are at a trail junction, or at the top of a lift

3 where multiple trails go off in different directions, the GPS may think that you already "on" the nearest trail and committed to going down it, even though the best route is actually for you to walk a few seconds towards another trail. Lifts and trails might be currently closed, especially near the beginning and end of the season. Sometimes you might be told to turn left when actually you need to turn right (or vice versa)! This may happen when you are approaching the bottom of a lift that you are to get on, for example. If the trail on our map approaches on the right side of the lift station you will be told to turn left onto the lift. However you might be skiing along the left hand side of the trail, coming more to the left of the station, and so for you it's to your right! It also may occur based on where the ski resort arranges the entrance for the lanes for waiting to load the lift. The key message here is to pay more attention to the name of the lift or trail that you are being directed to, rather than it being left or right when you are getting close to it. If you start a new route while you are standing on the slopes under or near the path of a lift, the route might start by putting you on to the lift. The GPS does not know that you cannot just jump onto the lift in the middle. If the GPS cannot create a proper route from here to there, it will show a simple "as the crow flies" straight line to guide you towards your destination. SnowRanger feel they ve done their best to implement this feature within the framework of Garmin s routing system: and ask the user to allow some tolerance of these issues by considering the turn-by-turn directions more of a "suggestion" than the definitive routing you might get in your car. Routes can also be created on your PC if you choose the CD-ROM version. These routes can be reviewed on the PC, include looking at their elevation profiles, and then downloaded to your GPS Zoom in to see Maximum detail

4 SnowRanger Route/Trail Planning on your PC In essence the instructions for on-piste trail creation are the same as on-road route creation. Select any ski map section; Zoom in until you get a useable map then use the exercise below to practice create a ski trail. Unlike OS Discoverer maps the contents of SnowRanger maps installed to your device by download or on MicroSD card cannot be viewed in BaseCamp; at present to view SnowRanger maps they must be installed to your PC from a CD-ROM. Once MapSource and the SnowRanger maps are installed to your PC you will be able to view the installed maps in BaseCamp. The end result of all this installation is that you will end up with both MapSource & BaseCamp applications on your PC. Many users might wish to supplement their SnowRanger maps with BirdsEye Select mapping map credits are available in Europe for Austria & Italian Tyrol, France and Switzerland. Exercise 9 (follows on from BaseCamp exercises) - Create Ski Trail with Auto- Routing, send to GPS - Instructions Open new list - go to File > and click on New List this will clear the screen - open a new list > rename the list Test Ski Trail 1 Set routing options the default routing setting for your device & BaseCamp is Use Direct Routes. Before the software can calculate a route on-road you must change the routing options > in toolbar go to Toolsand select Options > select Routing > change the Route Style to Use Auto-Routing. Select Map to view SnowRanger maps you must edit the Select a product tab to reflect the map product you are using in this case > SnowRanger Europe Create Ski Trail we are going to create a ski trail at a location of your choice. To start work; go to > New and click on the downward arrow next to New it opens a dropdown box > select Route and follow instructions below. Create Ski Trail with your routing options set to Use Auto-Routing and the Route tool active move your cursor to the point on the map where you wish to commence your trail a left click will create a waypoint now move the cursor to the end point of your route a left click creates a waypoint > ESC ends route BaseCamp will now automatically calculate the route and route instructions.

5 Send route to Device to send Test Ski Trail 1to your Garmin device > highlight Test Ski Trail 1 > right click and select Send To and your device (identified by model & ID number) Navigate Ski Trail in Device remember if you want to navigate your auto-route with guidance you will have to change your routing options in the device (the default setting is Off Road) Change Routing Guidance method in device in your device go to Main Menu > Setup > Routing > Guidance Method > and select either On Road for Time or On Road for Distance (personal choice) Change Profile in Device you may wish to setup a new profile in your device for use when following a Ski Trail as you are in effect using the on road auto naviagation feature you may find naviagtion easier if you change the Profile to Automotive > go to Main Menu > Setup > Profiles > Automotive. Ski Trail highlighted with Route/Trail Properties & Profile displayed SnowRanger Snow Days Uplink Once you are up and running with Ski Run planning you may want to take a look at this neat SnowRanger feature available via the Mountain Dynamics website; Snow Days is the only GPS tracking and statistics site where you can view and share your GPS tracks overlaid on top of detailed trail maps of over 500 top ski resorts worldwide, logging your vertical feet, number of runs, and other statistics is easy with Snow Days SnowRanger Uplink. While you are out skiing or snowboarding with your GPS; it records a "breadcrumb" track of where you go, including your elevation. When you get back to your computer you can upload this track to our website and view where you went, and see your GPS performance statistics such a vertical feet skied, average and maximum speeds, and miles covered. You can also share them (if you want) with the rest of our website community.

6 For more information this subject or about visit our website courses.gpstraining.co.uk or call us on Congratulations you've completed the lesson! Now that you've completed the lesson; remember that you can come back to it as often as you wish. You have unlimited access to the lesson, step by step guides and exercises think of the resource as a reference book you can pick up whenever you feel the need. However you can only take the test once. Once you have completed and passed the test you can print off a personalised certificate.we hope you have found this lesson useful and that you go on to complete the full course. In the fullness of time there will be a portfolio of courses all available OnLine. We have done our best to make sure the information provided is error free and technically correct. If you find any errors or omissions please contact us at this address office@gpstraining.co.uk. We for our part undertake to make corrections asap. GPSTraining are now a GPS resource for you going forward - if you have a burning GPS question you need the answer to simply contact us by phone or and we will do our best to help. If you found this course useful why not consider attending one of our GPS, Navigation, Digital Mapping or Hillwalking courses? Our courses are held at selected venues nationwide, are reasonably priced and practical - for more information visit our websitecourses.gpstraining.co.uk. If you are considering purchasing a GPS there is loads of information on our website or if you would like to speak to a real person then call us at on where you can chat through your requirements with a friendly GPS expert from the team. We always have great deals on Garmin handheld outdoors GPS, Accessories and Garmin

7 mapping products all backed up with on-going technical support from the GPS team for the lifetime of the unit. Thank you for reading this lesson Peter -