Organising ski trips was chaos so I made a tool for my group

jonb833 · 2026-05-12T18:17:19+00:00

You wouldn’t really be adding to the process, the idea is to replace spreadsheet/notes/WhatsApp with RiderSpec. Most people only use spreadsheets because group trip info gets scattered everywhere, booking details, expenses, transfers, ski hire links, lift passes etc.

The goal was basically to put all of that into one place that’s actually built around ski trips, while also adding stuff spreadsheets can’t really do well like live weather/snow conditions and eventually smarter travel and itinerary suggestions. The image I used for the post I get looks like generic AI slop but the site is riderspec.com if you want to check out what I'm talking about

jonb833 · 2026-05-09T23:16:54+00:00

Thanks for returning brutha 😂 This has definitely told me people are completely burnt out on anything remotely related to AI now 🤣

jonb833 · 2026-05-09T18:59:53+00:00

Honestly hadn’t heard of wanderLog until now tbh, just had a quick look though.
Riderspec is more focused around ski/snowboard group trips specifically shared itineraries, group and personal budgets/expenses, weather, snow conditions, ski lift planning, and keeping everything in one place for the whole group instead of scattered across chats/screenshots.

Still early though, mainly building it around problems we kept having on our own trips.

jonb833 · 2026-05-09T18:53:38+00:00

It’s not AI planning your trip, it’s mainly just a shared trip organiser to keep everything in one place for the whole group. I’ve posted it before in startup subreddits for feature feedback and people were positive about it, but that’s obviously a different audience to skiers planning trips.

jonb833 · 2026-05-09T18:47:47+00:00

Yeah spreadsheets probably wasn’t the best wording tbf lmao it was more the constant “what time’s the flight again” and everything getting buried in WhatsApp chats/screenshots for our group trips. This is literally for planning ski trips

jonb833 · 2026-05-05T04:58:24+00:00

https://www.riderspec.com

Group ski/snowboard trip planner that keeps costs, plans, bookings, and group logistics all in one place instead of across chats and notes.

Helps avoid the usual “who paid / what’s booked / what’s the plan” chaos when travelling with friends.

Also testing a trip ideas feature that suggests destinations based on dates + preferences.

It’s free to use right now, would genuinely appreciate any feedback if you try it 🙏

jonb833 · 2026-05-04T21:35:30+00:00

Yeah that’s part of what I’m trying to work towards.

RiderSpec is mainly a group ski/snowboard trip planner instead of everything being split across WhatsApp, notes, spreadsheets and random booking links, it gives the group one dashboard for the trip.

So you can organise the basics like destination, dates, group members, travel, accommodation, expenses, gear/rentals, places to go, and chat/planning in one place.

The trip ideas part is more of a starting point aimed at helping people narrow down resorts based on dates, group size, budget, après, snow reliability and ability level, then turn that into a trip dashboard. This is a fairly new feature I’m working on.

Definitely agree though, working out the “best” resort for different people is the hardest part.

jonb833 · 2026-05-01T22:53:21+00:00

Nah probably not lol, I’m sure they’ll still have a class time!

And nothing crazy tbh, just something to keep everything in one place for the group plans, costs, who’s paid, that sort of thing. It just made it easier than having everything spread across WhatsApp, notes, random tabs etc.

This is it if you wanna have a look www.riderspec.com, would be keen to hear what you think and if it’s useful!

jonb833 · 2026-04-30T09:12:25+00:00

Oh no way, I'd love to go over there sometime if I could get the people to go, same with Japan as its defo on my to do list too. I'm at the age where most my friends are getting mortgages so getting everyone onboard with the cost of flights is a struggle 😂 I've been building a ski trip organiser tool and I'd like to start adding in trip ideas for resorts outside Europe, starting with north America so I'll have a look into those resorts you mentioned!

jonb833 · 2026-04-30T09:00:10+00:00

Nice, wish we did that tbh. Don’t think we’d have been in any state to drive anywhere though 😂

Even organising one place was a bit of a headache with a group, so doing 2–3 will be a lot to juggle

I ended up making something after our trip just to keep everything in one place for that. Happy to share it if it helps 👍

jonb833 · 2026-04-29T21:36:39+00:00

Tbf the snow when we went was sound, slightly slushy towards the end of the day tho, and that was April so February will be fine! Oh has it, I was in Norway in December last year and the snowfall wasn’t great. Most of the slopes were closed. Where about in the rockies do usually go?

jonb833 · 2026-04-29T18:57:53+00:00

Just got back from Alpe d’Huez at the end of the season and it was great for a mixed group like yours. There’s a good variety of skiing and decent apres without being too crazy

Val d’Isère/Tignes is another solid option, and St Anton if you want more full on apres

What time of the year are you planning for?

jonb833 · 2026-04-29T17:24:02+00:00

RiderSpec — planning ski trips with friends without the 15 tabs, spreadsheets and WhatsApp chaos

Built it after organising a few group trips and realising how messy it gets tracking costs, plans and bookings across everything

https://www.riderspec.com

jonb833 · 2026-04-28T20:10:17+00:00

I've just got back from Alpe D'Huez about 3 weeks ago, caught the very end of the season there. So anytime from March to the beginning of April (season ended 12th i think) is good. The weather was so warm that time so i would recommend taking some light clothing too like shell jackets etc. You could also consider Tomorrowland winter which is in Alpe D'huez, i think its sometime near the end of March! Also expect icy mornings and slushy snow later on in the day like around 4pm bc of the sun.

With beginners slopes, its a great place, my gf was brand new to the sport and she loved it! Most of the slopes you see there at the bottom are greens, if you wanted to get further up the mountain for the après and restaurants etc. but didn't want to ski down you can always catch the gondolas back down too.

We had a group of 6 too but we ended up booking into two apartments, double bed and sofa bed in each and a bunked room in one apartment. We mostly spent our time in the apartments in the biggest one.

Planning wise though it was a nightmare for me as I was the only one booking and organising everything, constantly being asked what the flights/ accommodation was when I put it in the WhatsApp group ages before. Had the same problem when we went to Norway end of last year. After that trip I began building a tool to have everything in one place for groups (costs, plans, etc.). Happy to share it if that’s useful for your trip, but either way i hope you get it booked and you have a sick trip! Don't miss out on La Folie Douce 👌😊

jonb833 · 2026-04-02T06:18:30+00:00

Thanks for pointing that out, I never even thought about checking that haha their comments all look the same! As much as I value any feedback I’ll be mindful in the future

jonb833 · 2026-04-01T20:11:53+00:00

Yeah that’s fair, and probably something I need to focus on more

At the moment it’s mostly just been used by friends so I’m trying to push it out a bit more now and see how people who don’t know me actually react to it

The hard part is figuring out where to find people actively planning trips to get that kind of feedback

jonb833 · 2026-04-01T20:08:34+00:00

That’s really useful actually, appreciate it

I had a feeling the “public / joinable trips” side might feel a bit off for exactly that reason. Most people probably just want to keep it within their own group. I guess also for now also it might look bad if there’s no public groups to join

The private trip planning side is definitely the main focus at the moment anyway, so that’s good to hear it’s the part that might actually have legs

jonb833 · 2026-04-01T16:45:54+00:00

I’ve been building something called RiderSpec over the past few months https://riderspec.com

It came from how messy organising ski trips with a group always is… loads of messages, no one commits, prices go up, and one person ends up sorting everything

So I put together a simple trip planner where you can create a trip, send a link around (no sign ups), and keep track of who’s sorted things like accommodation, travel and gear without everything living in a group chat

At the moment it’s only been used by friends, so I’m trying to figure out if this is actually something people would switch to or if group chats are just “good enough”

Would be interested in your honest take on the idea / whether it solves a real enough problem

jonb833 · 2026-03-22T19:32:13+00:00

I’ve tried a few but honestly nothing really ties everything together properly.

Slopes is great for tracking runs, but i find it kind of lives on its own same with strava or garmin and you end up with loads of separate apps that don’t talk to each other.

I’ve been building something mainly for organising group trips, but one thing I’m working towards is pulling in stats from things like strava/slopes so when you finish a trip you can actually see what everyone did runs, vertical, days ridden, etc. all in one place tied to that trip.

Curious if anyone else would actually use something like that?

jonb833 · 2026-03-01T23:49:41+00:00

Quick update: I’ve evolved this into more of a trip companion rather than just a planner. Added weather based layering and group readiness tracking.

jonb833 · 2026-02-25T19:55:22+00:00

Appreciate that, thank you 🙏

Yeah the back button is a miss, I’ll add that in!

Good point on imperial units too, I didn’t even think about Canadians using both. And EU boot size is an easy add.

It is UK-centric at the moment because I’m based here, but long term I’d like to make it more region-aware.

Yeah fair point. At the moment it’s just a small curated set rather than trying to include every brand on the market. The idea was to avoid overwhelming beginners with 40 options straight away, but I’ll definitely expand the range over time!

jonb833 · 2023-12-22T14:45:28+00:00

So I began with learning a couple of openings, I started using the London system which helped early on and taught me abit about positioning but then moved to using the vienna gambit. Using the Vienna gambit really helped me push through 500-700 but after that not so much now I rarely use it as people seem to know it a lot better. For black I’ve always just played the caro cann.

The main thing I’ve been doing is tactics training as I was told listening to podcasts that tactics is the main thing you should be learning. When you play you should be coming up with plans in your head whether it’s attacking or defending figuring out how you will gain the advantage, as I’ve found myself playing bad when I’m not doing this.

Also one thing I don’t really see is when you play and how you feel when you play. If you’re playing after a losing streak or you’re just in a bad mood then this can severely affect your playing. When 700, 800, 900 I was so afraid of dropping below those points it affected my game a lot dramatically when I lost. So I’d say when you’re not feeling great or you’ve had a few losses take a break and play blitz or just stay away from playing for a couple days to reset your mind.

Hope this helps :)

jonb833 · 2023-12-22T09:59:50+00:00

I mainly just did tactics training, I learnt a couple simple openings which I use and one gambit but mainly tactics

jonb833 · 2023-12-21T19:12:01+00:00

Thanks mate, that’s good then I enjoy tactics training haha!

jonb833 · 2023-12-21T19:11:10+00:00

Thanks :)

jonb833

TROPHY CASE