Upwild Safety Disclaimer

Effective date: DRAFT, not yet in effect. Pending review by counsel.

Draft notice. This is a working draft written before launch and has not yet been reviewed by a lawyer. It will be replaced by a reviewed version before Upwild is available in the App Store.

Upwild makes sure someone always knows your plan. It can't get you off the mountain. Please read this before you rely on it. It's part of our Terms of Use.

Upwild is not a rescue service

• Upwild never calls 911, the Sheriff, or search and rescue. If you're overdue, Upwild texts your watchers. They decide whether to call for help.
• Upwild is not a satellite messenger or personal locator beacon. It needs cell or internet service to send your plan, check-ins and location. Much of Colorado's high country has no signal.
• Upwild doesn't monitor you. No person at Upwild watches your trip. Our servers send the alert at the time you set, and that's all.

If you're in an emergency, call 911 yourself. If a call won't go through, try texting 911 where it's available. In Colorado, county Sheriffs coordinate search and rescue.

How the alert works, and how it can fail

When you're not back by your back-by time plus your grace period, Upwild first asks you "Are you back?". Ten minutes later, it texts your watchers a link with your plan, your last known location, and the Sheriff's number. That chain can break at many points:

• No signal. Your plan only counts once it reaches our servers. If the app says "Watchers are NOT notified yet", they don't have your plan. Check-ins and location wait on your phone until you get signal, so your watchers may see an old location, or none.
• Your phone. A dead battery, cold, damage, or location turned off means no updates. Your last location may be hours old or far from where you are.
• Location accuracy. GPS can be off by a lot in canyons, forests and steep terrain. Treat it as a starting point for searchers, not your exact position.
• Texts. Carriers can delay, filter, or drop texts. A watcher's phone can be off, out of range, or on Do Not Disturb.
• Watchers. A watcher who replied STOP gets nothing from Upwild, not even an overdue alert. A watcher who never replied YES doesn't get your plans. Watchers can be asleep, busy, or unsure what to do.
• Our systems. Our servers, Apple's notification service, or our texting provider can have outages.
• Your times. If you set a back-by time that's too late, help is called later. If you forget to end your trip, your watchers may be alarmed for nothing.

Estimates are not promises

The turnaround countdown, "Safe bet?" verdicts, climb-rate estimates, storm windows, weather from the National Weather Service, route cards, trailhead notes and road notes are tools to help you plan. They can be wrong or out of date, and mountain weather changes fast. They're not a substitute for your own judgment, training and experience. If conditions look bad, turn around, even if the app says you have time. Upwild doesn't give medical advice.

You're responsible for your safety

Before you go:

• Tell your watchers about your hike in person too, and make sure at least one has accepted and is reachable.
• Set an honest back-by time and a grace period you're comfortable with.
• Carry the Ten Essentials, a charged phone and a backup battery, and a map you can use without signal.
• If you need to reach help from places with no signal, carry a satellite messenger or personal locator beacon.
• Know the route, check the forecast, and plan to be off exposed summits before afternoon thunderstorms.
• Consider buying a Colorado Outdoor Recreation Search and Rescue (CORSAR) card. It helps fund search and rescue teams. It isn't insurance and doesn't change whether you'll be rescued.

During and after:

• Check in when you have signal, and extend your trip if you'll be late.
• End your trip as soon as you're back, so your watchers aren't alarmed.

For watchers

You don't need the app. If you get an overdue text:

1. Open the link. It shows the hiker's plan, last known location, vehicle, and what to do.
2. Try calling and texting the hiker. Phones often lose signal or battery in the mountains, so a late hiker is usually fine.
3. If you can't reach them, call the county Sheriff's number on the page and tell them what the page says. If you think someone's life is in danger right now, call 911.
4. Tap "I've contacted the Sheriff" or "I've heard from them, they're fine" so the other watchers know.

Being a watcher is a kindness, not a legal duty, and Upwild doesn't contact anyone for you.

Questions

support@getupwild.com, or +1 970-306-6111 (calls and voicemail only). Don't use these in an emergency. Call 911.