Highgear Alterra Altimeter Watch

 Brand : Highgear
Item : HIG0050
The High Gear Alterra Altimeter Watch is a wrist mounted computer for tracking fun. Whether trail running, skiing, climbing or mountain biking, this High Gear watch keeps track of your progress. An altimeter with Ski Chrono function automatically calculates your total vert and speed of descent, and then saves the info so you can rub it in to your friends. For runners there is a 50 lap chronograph and split timer that remembers the fastest laps and average times. Despite its high-tech features, the Alterra Altimeter doesn't forget that it's an outdoor adventure watch. It is loaded with dual time zone functions, multiple alarms, a barometer, thermometer, and compass. The Alterra Altimeter Watch is a serious piece of equipment that provides the vital info you need to get the most out of an epic day in the mountains.
Price: $159.95
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Product Reviews
Highgear Alterra Altimeter Watch



Alterra watch
Programming this watch is pretty difficult, you do not want to set a certain barometer and also the altimeter. Once you have the correct barometer set then the altimeter is fairly accurate. If you want to watch to remain accurate the barometer has to be updated fairly often, about twice a week. I would recommend updated it right before you head out to use it to be the most accurate. There are a lot of nice features on this watch though, graphs of barometric pressure and change in altitude is really nice. Also an altimeter alarm so you know when you hit certain height with out having to always look at the watch. The thermometer is very accurate also. The watch is water resistant to 50 meters, but anyone who would need a watch like this would love to see it be waterproof. The customer service was great though when I had a question about how to initially set the watch functions.


Setting Altimeter vs Barometer
As a follow-up to the review posted by Schott5504, setting the Barometer is less accurate than setting the altimeter to a known elevation. Most NWS barometer readings are ~30min old, and the barometer can change enough in 30 min to affect the accuracy of the altimeter. Since the altimeter and barometer work together, i've found that setting the altimeter to a known altitude (http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=151:1:7302452860451648895::NO:::) is a much more accurate way to calibrate this watch. Setting the correct real altitude will also auto-adjust the MSL Barometer reading as the local barometer reading is determined by the watch and should not be adjusted. Great watch overall!


fun for the first week.
The backlight on my alterra stopped working after about two weeks of ownership. They tell you not to set the barometer unless you REALLY know what you're doing, and the altimeter (probly since i haven't REALLY set the barometer) has been nice as a ball park figure, but I wouldn't trust it in any situation where I was relying on a certain altitude to know I was in the right place. The watch is also fairly bulky and not too comfortable to wear with ski gloves. I had it attached to my bike handle bars for a while this fall, but it got ripped off by accident (don't ask how, I'll admit, it wasn't easy) and broke some of the rubber/plastic so now it's pretty useless as a watch and I have an excuse to get a suunto. It was fun for the first week or two at least.




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