4 Free Colorado-centric apps to prep for the upcoming snow season

Vices By Brian Frederick

There you are, layered up on the slopes and just getting down the run with the softest of flakes piled high on your gear from taking in the freshest of face shots. You jump on the lift beside a talker and can’t for the life of you find a way to turn down Dre’s new album before missing out on the opening greeting entirely. You look like an ass, because taking off gloves, digging for the phone and finding a volume button is a goddamn process. With NoisApp, the ridiculous annoyance of it all is gone.

Creator Michael Kabatek says he developed NoisApp — a volume automator that turns the volume down when you’re stationary and up when you’re mobile — for snowboarders and skaters alike, but the applications of it are endless. Using various smartphone sensors (the app is available on iOS, Android and Windows), it detects motion on all fronts. It’s fully customizable to suit users’ needs, whether they’re in motion from running, biking, boarding, rocking back and forth during a self-pitying episode of regret or just walking to get the mail. It’s a simple hands-free solution to a frustrating problem.

Instant updates on the gnarliest of the pow, detailed trail maps and other shred related resources to keep you on the up and up. 14ers.com