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Adding Cross Country Skiing (Nordic Skiing) would be a huge addition. It may make sense to differentiate Classical from Skate forms. I currently record my Skate skiing sessions as "Hiking" and import the results into Strava and modify the activity. This way I do get "steps", but more imporantly I have the GPS record, speed, HR, and Calories. Having dedicated activities within the Surge would be far more functional.
FYI, I really hope Fitbit adds skiing... I couldn't help but notice the Vivoactive HR Garmin just announced adds this activity... That won't come out until April, but I would think the Surge has every sensor / etc it needs to add it now with a software update...
As Snowboarding Instructor I can say that most health professionals say that Snowboarding is an identical activity to Skiing, and carries the same caloric value.
You should investigate that further , because I can attest that when Skiing most people wear double layers of clothing, while in snowboarding that would be way to hot.
As instructior I wear only 1 tee under my coat , with no undershirt, while if I would be skiing I have to wear a Hoodie , a sweater or something else.
My guess is that you can not use Skiing for Snowboarding, the activity does not carry the same values for the actual exercise.
How accurate the Exercise mode is then also to be seen.
I use a Surge, and will be testing this out with some data, and if valuable update this forum.
I agree snowboarding is not the same as skiing. We have 2 skiers and 2 snowboarders and we snowboarders definitely expel a lot more energy than our skiers. Mainly because we don't just race to get to the bottom. We take advantage of the whole surface with tricks jumps etc.
I'll be honest, I've been using the Surge for months and without this option, I'm going to buy the Vivofit HR that Garmin announced. Looks like it's not shipping on Amazon yet, but this is a real need. For some reason I just assumed the Surge tracked this... unfortunately not.
I have benn waiting for Cross Contry skiing for a long time now. It`s embarrassing that Fitbit havent created this exercise yet. If nothing happends soon, i will give up my my Surge and buy a Polar watch instead.........
Any chance we could have a "ski runs" mode / with accumulated vertical (or runs) and perhaps an altimeter display mode on the watch face while mode is active?
Thanks to previous posters in this thread for noting the Ski Tracks app. I have a Blaze and was requesting an alpine skiing option for the exercise menu.
I agree with everybody. I would REALLY like to see options for "downhill skiing" and "crosscountry skiing" (and maybe "snowshoeing") added to the menu. I would bet there are many more people who ski than engage in martials arts, yet there is a martial arts option. My understanding from reading most of the blogs is that using the generic "workout" option is the best nfor now. Any GPS recording activity not recognizing skiing as such would give out results that would be insane concerning total ascent, speed and distance.
Skiing hard provides a lot of exercise and that is not captured well at the moment. In addition, I would think that, after a full day of skiing, very few folks would want to go on a 5 mile walk or run so they can put in "steps" that would contribute to their daily goal...
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