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SnowRanger on Garmin® MapSource® CD-ROM

Thanks to our membership of Garmin's Third-Party MapSource Developers Program we can now offer SnowRanger North America and Europe on a CD-ROM that also includes a full copy of Garmin's MapSource PC software. Garmin MapSource

Choosing between the Memory Card or CD-ROM Version

SnowRanger normally ships on memory card. This offers instant "plug and play" installation on nearly all recent Garmin GPS models. However if you would also like to view the maps on your PC using Garmin's MapSource software, or if your Garmin GPS does not have a memory card slot, you should choose the CD-ROM option.

(SnowRanger is also available as an instant download, but you MUST be familiar with copying files to your GPS or to its memory card to use this option.)

The CD-ROM requires a PC running Windows (any reasonably recent version). If you own an Apple Mac we recommend you select a Garmin model that has an SD or microSD memory card slot (nearly all recent models do) and select the corresponding memory card option when you purchase SnowRanger. There is, however, now a procedure from Garmin to put SnowRanger onto your Mac.

Advantages of the Memory Card

  • "Plug and play" instant installation
  • No Windows PC or Internet connection needed
  • Easy to move between different GPSes
  • Cheaper (CD-ROM version costs $20 more)
  • Some GPS models (eg eTrex Legend HCx) have a memory card slot but need a blank card in the slot before you can even use the CD-ROM version.

Advantages of the CD-ROM

  • Supports Garmin GPS models without a memory card slot
  • View maps and routes on the much bigger screen of the PC
  • Plan routes (including our new turn-by-turn directions) ahead of time and download them with the maps to your GPS
  • View route elevation profiles - no more finding yourself on a flat cat-track!
  • Choose which map regions to download to GPS (in case GPS has limited memory)
  • Create combined map downloads with other MapSource maps (such as Topo or City Navigator) to put more than one kind of map data onto the GPS
  • Map data also works with Garmin's new BaseCamp software.


Unlock Codes

When SnowRanger is purchased on CD-ROM, the maps are locked until you enter an unlock code that corresponds to the "Unit ID" of your GPS. This is a ten digit number beginning with a '3' that can be viewed in the GPS's Setup | About or Version Info screen, or MapSource itself can show you it when the GPS is connected to the PC (Utilities | Get Unit ID...).

Your Unlock Code can be obtained right after you purchase the map, or when you install and run the Garmin MapSource software that the CD contains, and can be managed at your My Page on this site. All our CD-ROMs come with two unlock codes so that you can use your maps with up to two personal GPSes. You only need to enter the Unlock Code once to see the maps on your PC.


Combining SnowRanger with other MapSource Maps

You can put more than one kind of MapSource map onto your GPS at the same time.

  • Start by selecting one product in the products dropdown list (or View | Switch to Product) and choosing map tiles using the Map tool (Tools | Map).
  • These are added to the Maps panel on the left.
  • Switch to another product.
  • You can now continue to add map tiles to the list, so that you have both types of map.
  • Download to your GPS as usual

Note that a map download always replaces all the previously downloaded maps on the device (this does not affect built-in ones, such as the street maps on a nuvi) so you need to build this combined list to download at one time rather than downloading each type of map separately.

Having more than one type of map loaded onto your GPS might adversely affect route calculations. If you have streets and ski data loaded together for example, the GPS will not know that you only want to route on the ski trail network. Go to the Setup | Maps page on your GPS to disable and enable different types of maps.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Mountain Dynamics Inc. is not affiliated with some of the ski resorts mentioned herein.
SnowRanger is a trademark of Mountain Dynamics Inc.
Garmin and MapSource are registered trademarks of Garmin Ltd.