3D ski touring map of the Alps

What the map shows

The Alpine map combines our five country maps into one map. Summits, huts and wildlife feeding sites at the borders appear only once. For each country the same sources and limits of the data apply as on the respective country map: Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France.

Base maps

“Winter relief” shows the same terrain relief with towns and lakes everywhere, without breaks at national borders. “National maps” combines the freely usable official maps: swisstopo, IGN (France), basemap.at (Austria) and the Bavarian Surveying Administration. There is no freely usable national map for Italy; there and at the edges of the map sheets the relief remains visible, and edges can appear at the borders of the map sheets. “Satellite (2016)” is a cloud-free satellite mosaic from 2016 – without current snow cover.

Summits, huts and search

10,836 named summits from 1,000 m, 4,073 huts and 1,700 bivouacs or self-catering huts from OpenStreetMap. The search finds summits and huts by name – only from these entries, without an external search service. Huts and bivouacs: entries from OpenStreetMap – incomplete, not official. Check with the operator or the Alpine club in advance whether a hut is open or has an open winter room.

Lifts and car parks

Lifts from a medium zoom level (only their position, not whether a lift is running) and 168,499 car parks from OpenStreetMap in the Alpine area. Car parks: publicly accessible entries from OpenStreetMap (private, customer and residents' car parks and garages left out) – incomplete and not official. Check access, fees, parking rules and winter clearing on site.

Slope angle and aspects

Yellow marks slopes of 30 to 34°, orange 35 to 39° and red 40° and more. In addition, single aspects (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW) from 30° slope can be highlighted in blue – you choose which yourself, for example according to the aspects named in the avalanche bulletin. The map suggests no aspects and rates no slopes. Slope angle calculated from a public terrain model: in Austria from the official 10 m model, in the rest of the Alps from coarser models (EU-DEM or SRTM, about 30 m). Steep steps, gullies and cornices are often missing there or look flatter; the actual slope can be considerably steeper. No clearance and no assessment of avalanche danger.

Blue: selected aspects of 30° and more, calculated from the terrain model.

Measure distance and elevation profile

With “Measure distance” you tap points along your planned line on the map. Below it the elevation profile appears with length, ascent and descent in metres, highest point and the steepest calculated terrain slope. Elevations come straight from the terrain model, without the map's 3D exaggeration. The profile is coloured by the slope of the terrain at each point (30–34°, 35–39°, 40° and more), not by the gradient of the line – a flat traverse through a steep slope therefore shows as steep. Slopes above and beside the line are not assessed. There is deliberately no walking time, because it depends on the conditions, no download and no saving. The values are guidance for preparation, not a clearance.

Snow depths of the measuring stations

On request the map shows the snow depths of official measuring stations from Lawinen.report, the SLF and GeoSphere Austria – the same values as in the snow view of our avalanche bulletin map (page in German), taken over unchanged and retrieved hourly. Only measurements from the last 24 hours are shown; new snow only where it is measured. No dot means: no current reading, not “no snow”.

Protection zones with one shared legend

Yellow are zones whose publishers recommend voluntary avoidance: 836 forest and wildlife protection zones in Tyrol, recommended wildlife rest zones of the Swiss cantons and forest and wildlife protection areas of the DAV in Bavaria. Red are 735 zones with an entry ban: designated wildlife rest areas in Tyrol, wildlife rest zones and closed areas in Vorarlberg, legally binding wildlife rest zones in Switzerland and two DAV areas whose data states an entry ban. When tapped, period, rule and source appear in the wording of the respective publisher; pale areas do not apply today according to their period.

Protection zones in our 3D maps: Austria only Tyrol and Vorarlberg, Germany the DAV forest and wildlife protection areas in Bavaria (without the statutory wildlife protection areas of the district offices), Switzerland the wildlife rest zones of the cantons with freely usable data. For Italy, France and the other Austrian states we have not found open data we may show.

Ski touring routes (optional)

Two separate layers, both switched off when the map opens and only visible when zoomed in: 10,696 ski touring routes from swisstopo, created with the Swiss Alpine Club SAC, in Switzerland and the neighbouring border areas (turquoise) – according to swisstopo checked for wildlife compatibility by the cantonal hunting authorities and updated every year; according to the dataset, some border routes come from DAV, ÖAV and AVS, the Petzl Foundation / Skitourenguru or topo.verlag. Plus 1,797 ski touring routes from OpenStreetMap in the Alpine area (pink) – entries by volunteers, unchecked and incomplete. Tap a route for name, destination, source and disclaimer; “Analyse in elevation profile & slope check” hands the line to the elevation profile with calculated terrain slope. No walking times and no GPX download.

All route lines serve solely as a digital frame of orientation while preparing at home. They are neither an official route clearance nor a recommendation by BACKLINE. In high mountains in winter there are no fixed paths – avalanche conditions, snowpack and visibility on site decide where the track actually goes. Missing lines do not mean a tour is impossible or not allowed there; existing lines do not mean a route is passable or allowed.

Avalanche conditions

The map shows no danger levels. You find the current official bulletins on our avalanche bulletin map (page in German, bulletins available in English). Read the complete original bulletin of the warning service before every tour.

More 3D ski touring maps: Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France.