Why Did Google Remove Ski Lifts, Trails from Maps?

Originally posted on Powder | By Ian Greenwood | Last updated Dec 4, 2024 3:28 PM ET

Eagle-eyed skiers may have noticed that Google Maps, at least at major North American ski resorts, no longer features ski trails and lifts as it once did in the past.

The apparent absence, which we confirmed by checking a few ski areas on Google Maps—like Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Whistler Blackcomb, and Park City Mountain Resort—sparked a recent Change.org petition.

“As a skiing enthusiast and tourism professional, I passionately believe that ski lifts and cableways are far more than mere hobby gadgets; they serve as vital public transportation,” wrote the petition’s initiator, Donát Sugataghy.

Sugataghy believes removing maps of ski trails and lifts will significantly disrupt tourism and mountain dwellers. According to his petition, ski area lifts, slopes, and cable cars have been entirely wiped clean from Google Maps.

A handful of supporters who signed the petition noted that they used Google Maps to plan prospective ski trips. The ski trails and lifts, alongside the app's broader features, helped them determine where they wanted to stay in relation to a ski resort, they wrote. Since the petition’s founding, it’s garnered nearly 500 signatures.

The exact reasoning behind removing ski trails and lift features isn’t clear. On Google’s community forum, a user shared that what they said was a response from a Google product manager.

The response explained that the ski trails and lifts feature was implemented years ago as an experiment. But as time passed, Google found that users weren’t using the feature, instead turning to maps provided by the resorts themselves. This led Google to begin removing the ski trails and lifts that once appeared on Maps. “We now consider this matter to be closed,” the response reads.

We’ve contacted Google to ask about the reasoning behind the decision and will update this article if they respond.

The conclusion of Google Maps ski-friendly tools isn’t the only digital map hurdle skiers have encountered in recent months.

In 2023, the fitness-tracking social media app Strava purchased FATMAP. FATMAP, which provided users with three-dimensional maps featuring overlays like slope angle, was popular among backcountry skiers. However, on October 1st, 2024, Strava shut it down. FATMAP fans will be pleased to know that Strava plans to eventually offer FATMAP’s popular features as the two apps merge.

In the meantime, a suite of ski-friendly navigation apps remains, including Rakkup, Gaia GPS, OnX Backcountry, and Caltopo. Of these apps, POWDER’s Gear Editor Max Ritter said OnX Backcountry was the best, calling it “almost a direct replacement for FATMAP.”

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This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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