Best Apps/Sites for Alpine Weather + Water Fountains?

[joshkingsbury]

Hey all,

I’m heading out on a bikepacking trip across the Alps soon and was wondering if anyone had recommendations for the best apps or websites to check weather conditions at the top of alpine passes ahead of time? I want to avoid getting caught out by sudden storms or freezing temps (probably less likely given the time of year I'm going)

Also - any tips for finding public water fountains en route? I know they’re pretty common in some regions, but is there a reliable way to locate them (apps, mapping layers, local knowledge)?

Would really appreciate any pointers - trying to stay as self-sufficient and safe as possible!

Cheers
Josh

 

[chriswoody]

With regards weather in the Alps I use the Meteoblue app, which I find to be really good and accurate. Before I go I'll keep a close eye on weather trends by looking at either the German Alpine clubs website or the Austrian equivalent. Then I'll just keep a eye whilst I'm cycling on the skies and keep observing the clouds and wind were I can.

Water fountains I've not found an app for. When I was in the Swiss Jura there was water fountains in every town and it wasn't too difficult to find. Just one town's water fountain had run dry, but I was able to find a mechanic in a garage who let me replenish my bottle in their garage sink. Eastern Switzerland was no issue with water though. I'm going to be crossing the Alps next month from Southern Germany through to Italy and I'm confident I should be able to find water whenever I need it.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Cycle.travel shows water points on the map. I believe the source data is OSM, so presumably there are other ways to get to it, and it depends on users inputting the data. We've found it fairly reliable but by no means complete.

Eg here on the ascent of the Grosse Scheidegg in Suisse. They only show above a particular zoom level.

 

[chriswoody]

Cycle.travel shows water points on the map. I believe the source data is OSM, so presumably there are other ways to get to it, and it depends on users inputting the data. We've found it fairly reliable but by no means complete.

That's brilliant, thanks for pointing that out, it's something I should have known but somehow didn't

For those like me that use RWGPS, the relevant layers that contain this detail are the OSM layer and the OSM cycle layer. Another cool thing is recently RWGPS added a feature whereby you can create waypoints on your map, which will then show up as points of interest on your Garmin.

https://ridewithgps.com/news/11178-introducing-waypoints

 

[joshkingsbury]

These are both great, thanks guys. I will take a look at Meteoblue and cycle.travel

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Almost every alpine village will have a water fountain and usually in a central place. As to freezing temps, it can and does snow on Alpine passes at the height of summer. Most alpine storms are in the afternoon , do pay attention particularly if forecast has lightening in it.