Highgear Alterra Altimeter Watch - 2006 BCS

Navigation through the different menues is straightforward, the altitude sensor is quite accurate, even thouh it tends to overestimate the actual height.I used the watch a lot for ski touring and mountain biking. A major drawback is the mediocre qualitiy of the attachements of the wristband to the watch. Without applying too much force when putting on the watch it ripped out of its fixations. Due to the fact that it is all plastic it can not be be fixed. And this is already the second watch of this type I bought. With the first one the experience was similar: both metal and plastic parts loosened an fell off. Overall not a watch which I can sincerely recommend.

Okay, I got this altimeter because the price was right and for my job in Colorado, it was going to do me just fine. The timekeeping works well. Of course, it's kind of hard to screw that up but a lot of other things on this watch need work. My first weekend with the watch, I did 'the decalibron' near Alma, CO. This required me hitting +14K 5 times. According to this watch, which I calibrated at the trailhead, and then again on top of Mt. Democrat, the highest point I encountered was 14, 148 (altitude of Democrat). I was higher than that in the saddle of Mt. Lincoln.
After I came back down, the barometric pressure remained at the level I had started at, but at the trailhead standing at the same spot next to the sign, I was a full 250ft lower than I had been 6 hours previously. My elevation also changed from when I went to sleep at 11,500 and when I woke up 10,900. I don't know if I took a sleep hike, but I'm pretty sure it was the watch's mistake.
The thermometer works pretty well so long as it's not on your wrist. Sitting on your wrist, expect to be 10-15 degrees (F) warmer and it takes a while for the temp. to be updated.

Overall: If you're looking for a cheap approximation of an altimeter, this is the piece for you. If you want some form of accuracy, keep on lookin.

I have both the Alterra graphite and Alterra shadow watches and I'm very satisfied with both. The Highgear Alterra watch is easy to program and extremely accurate. The time, altimeter, barometer, and compass modes have all worked well with no problems. The Alterra is not excessively large like other watches in this category. It is also very comfortable on the wrist. The battery is easy to replace. The quality of the Alterra is also excellent. It also has a mineral glass face instead of plastic which scratches easily. The price is excellent for all the data this watch has to offer. I own most of the watches Highgear produces and the Alterra is my favorite. Highgear has a winner with this watch.

I love this watch.

Durability: I have had this watch for about a year and a half now and it is rock solid. I am pretty much a klutz, so it has taken its share of abuse against rocks, trees, falls, and in various weather. I compare this to other watches I have worn. Typically the first thing that goes for me is the face or the band. Both of these have held up well on the Altera.

Barometer reliability: I live in Colorado, so I hit a variety of altitudes and it tracks well. I regularly go from 5500 feet to 10000 plus feet in a couple of hours and it tracks right on. Certainly, weather can alter this a bit, but the largest variance I have seen is 200 feet. In any case, I find the elevation readings to be as accurate as GPS systems - and this is less costly. In one case I traveled all day from CO to NH, stood on the deck of Pinkham Notch AMC lodge and the Altera matched the advertised elevation there within a foot. Pretty reliable!

Size: Plus - it is a watch! Unlike the similar in cost GPS systems, I can wear this thing without having to worry about recharging it or feeling like I have a Wonder Woman braclet on my wrist.

On top, several other very cool features like temp, compass, altimeter log, ski chrono along with all other standard digi watch features.

This is the second Alterra I've owned. The first one had cosmetic issues with the soft rubber sides coming off but the new version has hard plastic sides that stay put. The face is large enough to see for 50+ eyes even without readers. If you actually know how an altimeter works you'll find this watch to be highly accurate. The dual time zones and seperate alarms are easy to set and switching between them is a breeze. The compass is quite sensitive and works well as a backup to get you home in any winter whiteout. It has the usual chronograph and timer functions. Mine has remained water proof after several hours in the Green River in Utah during a five day canoe trip. Well worth the money spent.

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!

I purchased this watch after having many higher priced altimeters. The Alterra is very impressive!!! Track your accent, descent, rate per min, provides weather forecast (that appears to be dead on). I think it is the only product on the market that allows the user to view current rate of assent and descent and elevation in the altimeter log mode. Feature rich but I found it super easy to use. I would suggest this to anyone looking for a multi function altimeter.

Finally got a chance to use this bad boy on the slopes last weekend and it rocked! The Ski Chair setting is great for calculating vertical feet skied/minute and seems to be very accurate (I double checked the true vertical feet of the resorts base and summit and it was within about 10 ft). It is big, so people with small wrists/women beware. But its nice that it is big with a large band so you can wear it over your jacket so you don't have to constantly take your gloves off and roll up your sleeves to start/stop the functions. Should be fun this summer on the hill to see how fast I can bike the same terrain. The barometer is also very accurate and was spot on with the current weather conditions and it is super user friendly. I usually rock a Tissot T-Touch but this thing goes above and beyond on the mountain. Well worth the money especially from SAC.

The Alterra IPT is the lastest version of the Alterra styles. A great improvement was made on the casing of this watch which makes it quite durable being able to withstand the harsh change in elements from heat to cold. Any past isuues have been addressed making the Alterra, once again, the best altimeter watch I've ever used. As in the past, the accuracy and memory of the barometric pressure altimeter make this watch a great tool for the serious hiker as well as a nice g book for the data it's capable of recording. Highgear stands behind this and all their products with a full 2 year warranty. We expect our products to meet your expectations as well as ours.

I've had this watch for 5+ yrs and have had absolutely no issues. Been in extreme cold skiing and climbing and extreme heat (temps up to 129º during summer deployment to the middle east). I've replaced the battery a couple of times, but everything still works great. It has taken an absolute beating, would definitely buy again and recommend to others.

Let me first say that this watch has been a great watch. I have had it for over 3 years now and it has done very well for me. First with the good: The altimeter does a great job, the ski chrono works awesome, the 2 time settings is nice to have, the chrono/lap works great, the compass is a nifty feature, and the barometer does a good job at letting you know when weather is coming in. The bad: the face plate is huge (I get made fun of a lot, but who cares right?), you have to calibrate frequently to keep your altitude correct, this thing eats batteries for breakfast, and worst of all, the construction is not the greatest. I have reattached both metal plates above and below the face plate and the button covers keep coming loose from the sides of the face plate.

I know there was a lot of bad in this review, but this watch has worked great for over 3 years. Overall, I am satisfied with this purchase. Would I buy this specific watch again?? Probably not.

Loved the features on this watch-- unlike a couple of previous reviewers, I found it quite easy to program. It's also good looking, sturdy, all around a good value for the price. Also, as noted by a previous reviewer-- if you set the altimeter first it's an easier way to calibrate the watch. The ski features, in particular, are impressive.

However, I am a small woman, and like most altimeter watches, this is a BIG timepiece. I didn't mind the weight or the look of the size of the face, but I returned it because I was unable to adjust the strap in such a way that the watch fit correctly, due to the diameter of the face.

One note-- in the photo the graphite watch looks grey all over, but in fact it is a silver face on a truly black strap.

The Highgear Alterra will certainly do its job. However, I returned the product because (1) it felt large and uncomfortable on my wrist, and (2) I found the altimeter function slightly inaccurate and hard to use while running.

The watch is definitely bigger than it looked online...and it looked pretty big online. Also, I bought the watch to measure altitude gain while trail running. It would work, but I felt it was very confusing when trying to extract data. Taking the time and vertical gain of each split was quite a task, and I never knew if I had it quite right.

The altimeter also needs to be calibrated from time to time. Maybe this is typical of all altimeter watches, but I found it to be a hassle.

Overall, it may do the trick for a climber or hiker, but I feel it's not the best tool for trail running, much less road running.

I've been using and near-abusing this watch for over two years and it has never let me down. It's easy to set, reasonably accurate and rock solid. Others have expressed quality concerns. Perhaps there was a bad batch that went out, but mine has been great and it's been dropped, soaked, hard whacked against rocks and trees (not on purpose!) and it still holds up.

Bought this watch and within 10 days a plastic piece below the face fell off. Highgear was 100 percent helpful with the return and repair/replace. But, less than a month after getting the replacement...the battery went dead. Bottom line: I should read the reviews before buying the watch because eating batteries and parts falling off are two common themes.

Company seems to be very professional, just quality control issues with the watch would prevent me from buying again. Only owned it for a couple months though, so a good couple years could change my mind.

This is the second Highgear watch I've gotten my husband in the last 2 months. The first one was the Terratech from the outlet which had a plastic face and scratched after the first week of light use around the house. I then returned that and got the Alterra thinking the quality would be better. Husband noticed that indeed, the electronics the digital display were a notch up from the terratech, and I believe the watch face is more durable mineral glass instead of plastic. Initially he was very happy with the watch. A week after receiving it, we left for two weeks in the mid-east. Mid-trip, one of the plastic buttons popped right off, leaving the spring underneath exposed. He was therefore unable to set the alarms and times for the rest of the trip. I should have heeded the reviews on rei.com about this exact defect with this watch. Overall, we are very disappointed with Highgear products and would never purchase this brand again.

As others have written, the features generally worked well. However, after about a year the backlight failed. Thanks to Backcountry.com's 100% return policy, I was able to return it with no hassles. Still, I would hesitate before recommending this watch to anyone.

After two seasons of sporadic use, this really doesn't cut it as a ski watch. The altimeter/baro function quite well. The ski chrono function is cool (shows elapsed time between user-defined elevations), but there's no memory for tracking multiple descents. The cumulative gain/loss function is also very cool, but again, no memory. Given the watch's bulk (massive, not for the ladies), I'd never use it as a running watch, so why does the plain chronograph have an extensive memory is pretty useless. I haven't had any of the QC problems that others have (bad outsourcing, no doubt), but the thought process that went into the watch seemed to be add features without assessing the utility of them to the user.

I have just initiated my third RMA request on this watch.
The first one the watch started falling apart. Weatherproof plastic on the side fell off and the buttons came loose - Less than 1 season of use.
They sent a replacement and before the end of the second season the pin assembly sheered off the watch so the strap fell off.
They replaced it again. The current watch has not been used this season and the display failed and it is useless.
Highgear has been responsive and done a good job with the replacements, but I'm not a fan of replacing an outdoor sports product every half season because it can't hold up to what I consider reasonable use.

After only 8 month the watch started falling apart, first the rubber casing started falling off, then the watch band broke off. I would never recommend this watch to anyone else.

Bought the watch in spring of 2007 and worked great until a small problem occurred later in the summer when I had forgotten the watch in the car for 10 mins. The problem was the small rubber piece that wrap around the buttons on both sides had deformed slightly(wave like feature) under high temperature(~40C or 104F). The rubber piece was deformed and the watch was still functioning so I decided I would wear it for the next hiking trip. Unfortunately for me, the rubber piece got caught on my jacket and the rubber piece completely tore right off. That rubber piece is not very durable against temperature change and I think the design could of been designed better. The connection holding the rubber piece to the watch is so small and not strong enough that I am surprised that I don't hear more complaints about it. In the end, after losing the rubber pieces on both sides, the main "function" button on the left side got caught and has completely broken off from the watch. Now I have a watch that is useless and collects dust on my desk. I am disappointed by the quality but think the problem is more related to the design and the material used. My only advise is to avoid this watch. I don't have personal experience but the "axio max" loos like it is designed better as the rubber piece is one continuous solid piece surround all the buttons instead of the two separate piece like the "alterra". Acutally, I just remembered that a co worker had the same watch with the same problem with rubber piece deforming. Now I have to remind him of the problems before it is too late.

Had the watch for 4 weeks and never saw the weather icon change in the face of real weather variations. Watch was rebooted with great help from BC and Highgear techs over the phone but no change with weather icon. Altitude could be 800-1200 ft off true elevation even with daily calibrations. Barometer was fairly accurate. Compass has a funky display to indicate lead point; a series of vertical lines interfaced with compass-face letters. As reviews noted, thermometer is markedly affected by body temp. It’s difficult to see bezel markings in the sun on graphite model (silver bezel). Although reviews suggested accuracy not to be spot-on I was expecting a bit more from the altimeter and weather icon functions. Perhaps I was still expecting too much from the watch or perhaps I had a lemon… right now it’s on its way back to BC for a refund.

Barometer/altimeter have been quite accurate; elevation lock for barometer is also very good.
Mineral glass face has survived with no scratches with many rock encounters.

Watch has considerable number of functions, but setup can be a bit complex. Particularly nice is the ability to track all elevation gain/loss.

Overall build quality, however, is lacking. Alarm no longer works, plastic casing is separating from watch body. I have also had problems with condensation occluding the LCD readout at high elevations/cold temperatures.

Thus, even though I find functionality to be very good, I cannot recommend this watch due to both electronic and build failures.

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.

This watch is sturdy and has a nice easily read display.
The major drawback is that it is quite large and thick.

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.

Functions are awesome ... used it in Japan, shreddin gnar, great altimeter barometer etc... wore it everyday for 4 months and then it fell apart... the top half of the metal casing just fell off.. admittedly i could have glued it back on but why should I have to? ... my Suunto should be arriving any minute