I took the Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs Garmin Instinct 3 snowboarding — and there was one clear winner

(Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom’s Guide)

As an avid snowboarder with more years of experience than my whacky riding style might suggest — shredding both the icy, rocky wonderland that is the Northeast U.S. and the fluffy, free-spirited mountains of the Pacific Northwest — I’m nothing short of obsessed with tracking my winter mountain efforts with the latest, greatest wearables.

Apple Watch Ultra 3

Garmin Instinct 3

Strava

Total vertical descent

7,610 feet

13,957 feet

13,948 feet

Max speed

n/a

30.0 mph

34.3 mph

No. of runs

8 runs

8 runs

8 runs

Total ride time

1 hour, 54 minutes

2 hours, 34 minutes

2 hours, 34 minutes

Average heart rate

142 bpm

134 bpm

n/a

Max heart rate

179 bpm

176 bpm

n/a

Total calories burned

1,132 calories

1,043 calories

n/a

Device battery usage

24%

1%

n/a

As is likely evident from the chart above, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 did’t quite track my entire day of riding, despite clocking the same number of runs and almost the exact same amount of vertical descent as the Garmin Instinct 3 and my control, Strava.

It wasn’t until taking the lift up for what would be my final run that I noticed the Apple Watch had stopped tracking my snowboard session and instead, for some reason, started tracking a walking workout instead. Had I taken a long break between runs, say, to enjoy some hot cocoa, this might make sense, but that wasn’t the case.

Obviously, there are ways to lock your Apple Watch to avoid such hiccups, which I have to assume resulted from unintended button mashing while putting on and taking off my gloves.

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Nevertheless, the Garmin Instinct 3 recorded my entire day of riding while the Apple Watch Ultra 3 fell short.

(Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom’s Guide)

At the end of an epic day of snowboarding, there are generally three metrics I care about most: total descent, total ride time, and my top speed. Unfortunately, the snowboard tracking in the standard Apple Watch workout app neglects to make the final data point easily viewable.

Garmin and Strava, meanwhile, present your top speed front and center and even make it easy to figure out where and when on the mountain you achieved such quickness. Both options additionally provide data points for your average moving speed and total elapsed speed for those trying to maximize runs.

(Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom’s Guide)

The Garmin Instinct 3 is an undisputed battery life king. And even though I was using the AMOLED model versus the solar-powered option, over the course of my 2.5+ hours of riding, the Instinct 3 used just 1% of its battery.

By comparison, despite clocking out early on the tracking, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 managed to burn through nearly a quarter of its total battery capacity.

(Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom’s Guide)

Ultimately, with a longer-lasting battery, a greater variety of post-workout metrics, and a design that’s less prone to accidental button-pressing, when it comes to tracking a day of snowboarding with Apple Watch Ultra 3 versus the Garmin Instinct 3, I’ll almost certainly be reaching for the Garmin the next time I hit the slopes.

What’s your favorite smartwatch for tracking ski and snowboard adventures? Let me know if the comments below.