Extending your phone’s battery life on the slopes

There are lots of different apps that you can use while snowboarding to track your vertical descent, average speed, top speed, and so forth, but the best app won’t do you any good if the phone runs out of juice.

Using a phone in the cold weather will drain battery life quicker than usual, so what can you do?

A simple and cheap solution is to use a spare toe or hand-warmer packet. Instead of putting it into your glove, mitten, or boot, stick it into a coat pocket along with your phone. The warmth will extend the battery life. Be warned, though, this approach could prove problematic. As Eastern Mountain Sports says, “it probably isn’t a good idea for your phone to be in direct contact with a hand warmer. What you can try, however, is putting your phone into a small sock, then putting it in your pocket with a warmer.”

Another approach is to take with you an extended battery pack, either snapped into your phone, or attached via cable. I use a Motorola P4000 portable charger. Verizon sells it for about $80, but you can pick it up now at Amazon for $66. Though I bought it for an iPhone, it also works with a number of Droid phones.

In my experience, it has worked well. Just be sure to take the appropriate cable with you to the mountain!

From my limited experience, either option will serve you well.