sledgps.com

Choosing a GPS for your Snowmobile

Picking a Garmin GPS for your sled can be difficult, both because of the potentially harsh conditions it needs to survive and because of the sheer size of Garmin's product line. Here's a quick guide to the models that we think are most suitable.

The key question is whether you have a convenient 12V DC outlet that you can use to power it. If you do, then you can mount a GPS on your handlebars or dashboard, power it from the outlet, and not worry about battery life. Also, since you can keep the screen and backlight turned on all the time, these will keep the GPS much warmer. A recommended model for this setup is the Garmin nuvi 500 ($299.99), which not only works with our SledGPS maps but also comes with full street and topographic maps built in. Use it in the truck on the way to the trail head, and use it year-round for travel and adventure. The zumo series of motorcycle oriented units are also good choices.

If you will be using it off batteries then the life of those batteries, particularly in the cold, needs to be considered. The nuvi 500 mentioned above remains a good choice BUT will only get around 4 hours use per charge, so you'd need to switch it off part of the day or take spare batteries. (It uses a special Garmin battery, but is easy to swap with a spare.) A better option is the Garmin Oregon 300 ($379.99), which can get a couple of days use out of a pair of rechargeable NiMh AA batteries. The Oregon is an "outdoors" GPS unit, waterproof and rugged, but has a large touchscreen and a very easy to use, and either be kept in a pocket or mounted.

A lower cost alternative to the Oregon is the Garmin eTrex Legend HCx, an older unit with a smaller screen, but available for just $199.99. You also may want to consider the Garmin Rino series (model 130 and above), which combine a GPS with a radio. Not only can you talk to other members of your group, but the Rino can show on the map screen where they are!

Finally, so long as you can keep it warm and dry (in a pocket), any of Garmin's nuvi series of vehicle navigators work great with SledGPS maps. Except for the nuvi 500 mentioned above, the nuvi models are not rugged or waterproof, but if you look after them just like you would a cellphone they will be ok. Battery life can be a problem--only 2-3 hours--but these nuvi models are great for using in the car too, and start from just $159.99 (nuvi 205).

To mount your GPS we recommend RAM Mounts and Touratech.

The nuvi 500, Oregon 300, and Legend HCx can be purchased when you buy your SledGPS map. Just press Buy Now next to the map set you wish to buy and the GPS options will be shown on the next page.

Montjoux, Mountain Dynamics Team Leader

SledGPS now available on Garmin MapSource CD-ROM

Thanks to our development partnership with Garmin, Mountain Dynamics and SledGPS.com are proud to announce that our SledGPS snowmobile trail maps are now available on CD-ROM, complete with a copy of Garmin's MapSource PC software.

You can preview the maps on the big screen of your PC before transferring them to your GPS, and this also allows us to support GPS models that do not have a memory card slot, such as the value priced Garmin Venture HC, since you can now load the maps across a GPS's USB or serial cable.

The CD actually contains the locked maps for all 27 states that SledGPS covers, and if you initially buy one region, for example Great Lakes, then you can purchase an additional unlock code online and get immediate access to another, for example Upper Midwest.

The SledGPS maps integrate with any other MapSource maps that you might own, such as Garmin's Topo and City Navigator so that you can create combinations to download to your GPS.

The CD-ROM is available now, and, of course, SledGPS continues to available on memory card, which offers a plug'n'play convenience that most users will prefer. CD-ROM versions are also now available for Mountain Dynamics' SnowRanger North America and SnowRanger Europe GPS ski resort maps.

Montjoux, Mountain Dynamics Team Leader

Garmin adds Mountain Dynamics to Third-Party MapSource Developers Program

We received confirmation last week that we have been accepted into Garmin's Third-Party MapSource Developers Program. A very select program, with only a handful of other members, none of them in the USA, this gives us access to Garmin's full array of development tools.

Of particular note is that starting in the fall (2009) we will be offering new CD-ROM based versions of all our recreational map series (SnowRanger GPS ski resort trail/piste maps for North America and Europe, and SledGPS GPS snowmobile trail maps for 27 US states) that include a full licensed copy of Garmin's MapSource. As well as fully integrating with any other Garmin MapSource maps that a customer may have, this will let the skier or snowmobiling enthusiast plan their adventures more easily on their computer ahead of time, and manage their GPS track logs afterwards.

As we approach the end of our fourth season of SnowRanger, and our first with SledGPS (an instant hit--snowmobilers seem to be spending their way out of the recession!), we are very excited about the future opportunities that this partnership brings.

Montjoux, Mountain Dynamics Team Leader

Preview SledGPS maps online

We've now added online previews for our SledGPS maps, by taking the exact same snowmobile trail data as appears in the GPS maps for Garmin and drawing it on top of Google Maps. This lets you use the familiar Google Maps interface to zoom and pan (drag) the maps to see your areas of interest. Click on a state name to get started:

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Vermont
• Washington
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Welcome to SledGPS!

December 2008 brings the launch of SledGPS - the first detailed, nationwide, commercially-supported series of snowmobiles trail maps for Garmin GPS.

Although the maps are new, the companies behind them are not. U.S. TrailMaps, Inc. has addressed the complex issues surrounding creation and management of GPS grade trail information by forming a team of industry professionals highly skilled in Geographic Information System (GIS), to create a massive geo database populated with trail data from various sources. This team rectifies the raw information with proprietary analysis techniques developed by U.S. Trailmaps to obtain the high degree of accuracy demanded by location based navigation systems such as GPS. Essentially they are using the same type of technologies employed by civil engineers and municipalities used years to document underground utilities and mechanicals, applied to recreational trails.

Mountain Dynamics Inc. was founded in 2005 to publish and support recreational GPS maps. Although there's a thriving "cottage industry" of GPS mapmakers and hobbyists--to whom we all owe a debt of thanks--Mountain Dynamics saw the opportunity for professional quality map products with the level of support, ease of purchase and ease of use that technical and non-technical consumers alike expect. SnowRanger ski resort maps were launched for the 2005-06 ski season, initially as North American maps for Garmin, and were followed by Magellan versions, and by an enormously successful series of European ski resort GPS piste maps.

The two companies have joined forces to create SledGPS. By taking US TrailMaps' snowmobile trail and points-of-interest data, and publishing it through the proven Mountain Dynamics platform we can bring an unusually high level of maturity to what would otherwise be a raw new product.

If you're a snowmobiler, you need SledGPS on your sled now! The maps start at just $49.99 and work on a wide variety of Garmin GPSes. If you are looking for a new GPS for your snowmobile we particularly recommend the motorcycle-oriented zūmo series, followed by the ruggedized 500/550 nüvi models, the large touchscreen Oregon series, or the inexpensive eTrex Legend HCx.

Contact us if you have any questions--we're here to help, and we know our stuff!