Tracking cross-country skiing workouts with Apple Watch?

Training
1

Hello. I am dipping my toes in a new ecosystem, migrating away from Strava. I’d like to make intervals.icu my new home for workout data.

I am looking for advice on the best way to track cross-country skiing pieces using my Apple Watch. The problem is that the built-in Workouts app does not log GPS data for cross-country workout type. So if I use that app, I get the time, heart rate, etc., but no distance or pretty maps. (I find it incomprehensible and infuriating, since the device has GPS support… just Apple chooses to not enable it for certain workout types. This includes cross-country skiing and rowing, both of which are outdoor sports!)

What I’ve been doing so far is using the Strava app for the Apple Watch. This one has a Nordic Ski workout type which does include GPS data. I am happy with its functionality, but that app uploads to Strava, naturally. Since I am exploring intervals.icu, I’d like to find an app that has the same functionality but syncing to intervals.icu without going through Strava.

Can anyone suggest an app for the Apple Watch that supports cross-country ski workout type (among others hopefully), tracks ALL the data possible, and syncs with intervals.icu? Bonus if the app doesn’t try to do too much… I don’t want an account with the app, a training plan, or any other business besides the app collecting the workout data and uploading it to a destination of my choice.

2

Apple watch - the one that comes to mind is “work outdoors”
I read it’s good but can’t confirm. I don’t have an apple watch. (but I did release a companion apple watch app Looking for Apple Watch Users to beta test Apple Watch HR broadcast to iPhone App)

I read your link and alternative is just to use “run” workout type and manually changing it later in intervals. (a nuisance no doubt)

3

I think I’ve found my sweet setup. Indeed, WorkOutDoors is the one that allows capturing GPS data for any workout, plus I can configure all the data fields I want. This app makes my Apple Watch look and work like a Garmin watch when capturing workouts.

Second, I use HealthFit app to detect when workouts finish and sync them to endpoints of my choice. Today I have it configured for Strava, intervals.icu, and iCloud.

As a bonus, I’ve configured HealthFit to upload all activities to intervals.icu, but only activities I choose to Strava. This has always been a small point of friction for me, because on one hand I want to record all my workouts, but I don’t want to bother my Strava followers with trivia. Now I can upload to Strava only worthwhile activities, while intervals.icu gets everything so hopefully I get more accurate fatigue/fitness values.