How to see how fast you are climbing on a trail

Why the usual way fails

GPS is much weaker at measuring height than position, so a climb rate worked out from GPS altitude bounces from one second to the next. Workout apps usually report total ascent after the session, which is fine for a log but no help for pacing the next stretch. A barometer reacts quickly to height changes, but it also reacts to the weather, so its altitude drifts over a long day unless you reset it. And if the numbers live on a phone in your pack, you will not look at them until the top.

How BaroGuard helps

BaroGuard uses the watch's barometer for a foreground-only vertical-speed session. While it runs, you see your current, 5-second and 30-second rates in m/s or ft/min, plus relative altitude, duration, total ascent and descent, the maximum climb and descent rates, and a compact altitude graph. Before you start, you can set your current spot as zero or enter a known altitude. The session stops if BaroGuard leaves the foreground or pressure readings pause, and results are not kept as workout history, so read them before you close the app.

Step by step

1. At the bottom of the climb, open BaroGuard and set your current position as zero, or enter the altitude from a trail sign if you know it.
2. Start a vertical-speed session and keep BaroGuard on screen.
3. Watch the 30-second rate for your steady pace and the current rate on the steep sections.
4. At a rest stop, check total ascent and the altitude graph to see how the climb has gone so far.
5. Before you close the app, note the numbers you want to keep, since the session is not saved.

Tips

• Reset at every trailhead. Pressure-derived altitude drifts as the weather changes, so zeroing at the start of each climb keeps relative altitude closer to what you actually gained.
• Pace by the 30-second rate. The current rate moves with every step and switchback, while the longer window shows the pace you are really holding.
• Write the summary down before you leave the app. Session results are not saved as permanent history, so if you want to compare this climb with next week's, note total ascent and the maximum climb rate, or take a quick photo of the screen.
• Keep it on the ground. The vertical speed is approximate, and BaroGuard is not a certified variometer, altimeter or aviation instrument, so use it to pace a walk or a climb and nothing that depends on exact numbers.

Questions