Import of Apple Workout Strava Changes Elevation Gained

[David-N]

22 Dec 2023 I recorded a ride with two devices: Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Garmin Edge 830.

The Apple Watch workout recorded 569m altitude gain. While the Garmin Edge 830 recorded 566m altitude gain. So they are comparable. 

Both recordings were imported into Strava.

In Strava App the Garmin Edge 830 showed 566m altitude gain - no change.

But in Strava App the Apple Watch workout showed 694m altitude gain - an increase of 125m.

The Apple Watch (incorrectly) import shows Strava increased the altitude gain by 125m.

To make things worse, I am unable to adjust the elevation to fix any incorrect altitude readings for the workouts imported from my Apple Watch, but I am able to adjust the elevation of the correct altitude gain readings from workouts imported from the Garmin Edge.

Is there anyway an end user can stop Strava from modifying Apple Watch elevation gained from imports?

Is there anyway of getting Strava to allow end user edits (corrections) of the elevation gained for Apple Watch activities?

[Andreas007]

Hi, I also have this elevation issue. The Apple Watch has the correct elevation gain using the stock fitness app. Importing to Strava sometimes tripples the elevation gain! 

[Dustyrunner]

Same here, I have been doing the same walk with my dog for 3 years with my Apple Watch 4 which did not have a barometric altimeter and always got around 40ft(12m) of gain, it is flat here in New Jersey. I got an Apple Watch 9 in March which has the barometric altimeter and now get an average of 427(130m) of gain!!! This happens every walk and it is insane. I use the Apple watch Workout app to record my walks and the Apple Health app to sync my data to Strava. The workout app is correctly recording the gain but when it transfers to Strava is gets convoluted.

 

 

[Dustyrunner]

And yes I know I can use the 3 dots at the top to edit the elevation to use Strava maps own data but I shouldn’t have to do that for every single activity. I have done either a walk or run 6 days a week for the past 13 years, Strava is a huge platform and needs to figure out how to play with Apple…

[mitchsun]

I am also very concerned about this issue. I can not see why Strava does not use the barometer data from Apple watch. Is there any reason about this?

[Jane]

Hello @David-N 

Thanks for posting about this.  I've escalated this to Strava Support so our Devices and Connections Team can take a closer look.  This may be related to the Ultra 2 Version of the watch.  Please be patient and someone from Strava Support will be in touch.

**This post has been escalated to our Support team. If you have a similar question please submit a support ticket and we will investigate further.

[Jschloss]

I am having the exact same issue with a series 6 Apple Watch. Elevation gain is consistently over reported by 15-20%.