How to Read the Elevation Profile After a Recorded Run

You have just finished a big ski day. You recorded the whole thing with Bonvo.Ski. Now you are sitting in the lodge with a warm drink, and there it is — your elevation profile, a beautiful line chart showing every peak, valley, and descent of your day. But what exactly are you looking at? Let us break it down.

Understanding the Graph

The elevation profile plots your altitude over time (or distance). The peaks are the tops of lifts — where you reached maximum altitude before skiing down. The valleys are the base stations where you started your next lift ride. The descending lines between them are your actual runs, and their steepness on the graph corresponds to the steepness of the terrain.

Key Metrics to Look For

• Highest point — the peak of your graph shows the highest altitude you reached all day
• Longest descent — look for the longest unbroken downward line. That was your biggest continuous run
• Total vertical — the sum of all your descents. A good ski day might be 5,000–10,000+ vertical metres
• Flat sections — horizontal lines mean you were traversing or waiting. They reveal where you lost momentum or queued for lifts
• Steep drops — near-vertical downward lines on the graph mean you were on seriously steep terrain

What the Profile Reveals About Your Day

The elevation profile is an honest mirror of your ski day. Did you spend the morning on big vertical runs and fade in the afternoon? Were you exploring different altitude zones or repeating the same circuit? Did you take a long lunch at altitude or down in the village? It is all there in the line.

Next time you finish recording a day, spend a few minutes reading your elevation profile. It turns a collection of runs into a complete story of your day on the mountain — and it might just change how you plan your next one.