The core features are free and always will be. We want a place that is accessible for anyone in the community to report and know when the mountain is out. There is also an optional Super Watcher subscription that adds a few perks and helps cover our hosting and development costs, but everything essential stays free.
Basically we have built some software that allows you to send in a report of The Mountain out status and then we update the map based on recent reports. We have certain thresholds set in place and anonymize and randomize user data to keep everything privacy focused.
Yes we might, although based on usage to cover maintenance and upkeep costs it might cost money after a certain point.
Yup - and we will take that as a compliment!
No, we have build this with privacy in mind. We use an open source library (H3: Uber’s Hexagonal Hierarchical Spatial Index) to approximate your location. And further more we don’t send GPS information to server. We submit an approximate area of 100m² to the server with the report. Additionally, when displaying this on the map we use larger areas (2km2) until there are enough reports to break down the large area into smaller areas. We plan to use 3-5 resolutions of grainularity.
Yes. The iOS app is available now: download it on the App Store. Android is next on the roadmap; sign up for Android availability and app updates.
Pretty much what the website does, but native and faster on your phone. Submit reports with your camera, check the live hexagon map, browse webcams, and see the latest community reports, all in a few taps. iOS is first; Android is next on the roadmap.
Same deal as the website: we compute a coarse hexagonal location on your device (roughly 100 meters) and never send your raw GPS to our servers. Photos are stripped of all EXIF data (including any embedded GPS) before they leave your phone.
Just shake your phone. A bug report sheet pops up where you can describe what happened and attach a screenshot. It goes straight to us. You can also tap "Contact us" in Settings. TestFlight preview users can also use TestFlight's built-in feedback button.
Reporting, the map, status, and webcams will always be free. There is an optional Super Watcher subscription for people who want extra perks and to support the project. It is available now and includes First-out alerts and Mountain-out alerts (push notifications) plus theme options. A Super Watcher member badge and alternate app icons are coming soon. Everything core stays free.
We would love your financial help, this website has been years in the making and in 2022 alone we spent 100+ hours on it. Thanks for your help! If you have a github account, you can sponsor our sponsor our work there. We also design and sell mountain merch so you can rep your love for The Mountain! Check out The Rainier Watch Shop where we donate from every purchase to organizations that support and protect our National Parks!
We need your location to add your report to the map and sometimes this permission is disabled. If you’ve recently denied the request (or denied the request from another site), you will need to go into your browser settings to allow permission to share your location. Here's how to do that on iOS, and Android. Also you can have site-specific location sharing in both iOS and Android browsers.