Safety notice

Notice version 1.0.0 · Effective date: 2026-10-15 · Part of the Summit Fever Terms of use

1. The most important points

• Summit Fever is not a safety device. It is a logbook and planning tool. It does not call for help, does not monitor you and does not tell anyone where you are.
• You make every decision: whether to go, which route to take and when to turn back.
• GPS and map data can be wrong. Never rely on the app as your only means of navigation.
• The app shows no live weather, avalanche or closure information. Always check official sources before you go.
• In an emergency, call 112. It works free of charge throughout the EU and in Switzerland, even without credit. Country-specific numbers are listed in section 9.

2. Mountain activities are dangerous

Hiking, scrambling and mountaineering involve risks that no app can remove, including:

• slips, trips and falls, including falls from height, especially on exposed, wet, icy, snowy or loose terrain;
• rockfall, avalanches, cornices, crevasses, landslides, flooding and dangerous river crossings;
• sudden weather changes, thunderstorms and lightning, fog and whiteout, strong wind, heat and cold;
• darkness, exhaustion, dehydration, hypothermia, heat illness and altitude illness;
• getting lost or stranded, with no mobile coverage and no quick help;
• livestock, guard dogs and wild animals;
• forest fires and smoke, particularly in summer in southern Europe.

These risks can cause serious injury or death, even to experienced people on familiar routes.

3. Before you go

• Choose objectives that match the experience, fitness and equipment of everyone in your group, and the time of year.
• Check the official weather forecast and, in snow conditions, the avalanche bulletin (section 7). Check closures, fire-risk restrictions and access rules for the area.
• Plan enough time to return in daylight, with a reserve, and decide in advance when you will turn back.
• Carry a paper map and compass and know how to use them, plus suitable clothing and footwear, food, water, a headlamp, a first-aid kit, sun and rain protection, and a charged phone. Consider a power bank.
• Download the maps and routes you need for offline use, and check that they open before you lose coverage.
• Tell someone your route and when you expect to be back.
• Install the official emergency app of the country you are in (section 9), which can send your exact position to rescuers.
• Check that your insurance covers mountain activities and rescue costs.

4. GPS, maps and navigation: the limits

• Accuracy. GPS positions and altitudes can be off by tens of metres or more in steep terrain, narrow valleys, forests, near cliffs and in bad weather. GPS altitude is less accurate than horizontal position.
• Battery and device. Navigation uses a lot of battery, and cold drains batteries faster. Phones can fail, freeze, get wet, overheat or be lost.
• Signals and coverage. Satellite reception can be blocked, and mobile networks are often unavailable in the mountains. Online maps will not load without coverage.
• Guidance is only an aid. Off-route alerts, remaining distance and elevation, and arrival detection may be delayed, wrong or missing. If map data is unavailable, the app may show only a plain background.
• Your attention. Stop in a safe place before looking at your phone or taking photos. Never walk while looking at the screen on exposed terrain.

5. Trail, peak and map data: the limits

• Peak and trail data come largely from OpenStreetMap, a community-maintained database. They may be incomplete, outdated or wrong.
• Difficulty grades (such as the SAC hiking scale), waymarking, visibility and surface information are indicative only. They are not official assessments and say nothing about current conditions such as snow, ice, washed-out paths, fallen trees, construction work or closures.
• Trails may be closed, rerouted or impassable. Signs, closures and instructions on the ground always take precedence over the app.
• When you combine an ascent and a descent trail into a route, the app does not check whether they connect safely or suit you.
• Elevation figures in the app come from catalogue data, not from measurements of your ascent.

6. Summits, challenges and badges

• Summit detection and logging are automated plausibility checks, not proof or official certification of a summit.
• No badge, streak, level, challenge or prize is worth taking a risk for. If the conditions, the time or your condition are not right, turn back. The mountain will still be there.
• Challenges never require you to take a particular route or to go out in particular conditions, and we may pause or cancel them for safety reasons.

7. Weather, avalanche and conditions information

Summit Fever shows no live weather, avalanche or closure information. Before you set out, check official sources such as:

Ask local mountain guides, huts or tourist offices about current conditions when in doubt.

8. Respect the environment and the law

• Respect national and natural parks, protected areas, wildlife rest zones, hunting periods and seasonal closures. Many protected areas restrict where you may walk, camp, bring dogs or fly drones.
• Respect fire bans and access restrictions during periods of high forest-fire risk, which are common in summer in Spain and Italy.
• Respect private property, gates, livestock and grazing areas. Access rules differ by country and region.
• Follow camping, bivouac, drone and fire rules. Leave no trace: take your waste home and leave nature as you found it.

9. Emergencies and rescue

When you call, give your location (coordinates if possible), what happened, the number of people involved and their condition. Stay where you are if it is safe, keep your phone on and conserve battery.

Rescue costs. Rescue operations, especially by helicopter, can be expensive. Depending on the country and region, costs may be charged to the person rescued, for example in Switzerland, or in some Italian and Spanish regions where the call was not justified or the rescue was caused by negligence. Check that you are adequately insured.

10. Children and groups

If you take children or other people in your care into the mountains, you are responsible for choosing routes, timing and equipment that suit them. Summit Fever's ratings and suggestions do not take the abilities of individual group members into account.

11. Your acknowledgment

By using Summit Fever's map, route and navigation features, you acknowledge that:

• you have read this notice;
• outdoor activities are dangerous and Summit Fever does not make them safe;
• you remain responsible for your own decisions and safety, and for those in your care; and
• you will not rely on Summit Fever as your only means of navigation or of calling for help.

This acknowledgment describes your responsibilities. It does not exclude or limit our liability where the law does not allow this, and it does not affect your statutory rights. See section 17 (Liability) and section 21 (Country-specific provisions) of the Terms of Use.

12. Country-specific information

12.A Spain

12.A.1 For consumers in Spain, nothing in this notice limits the rights granted by the Spanish consumer protection law (TRLGDCU), including the rules on liability for defective products and services.

12.A.2 Mountain rescue in Spain is coordinated through 112, often with the Guardia Civil mountain rescue units (GREIM) or regional services. Several national and natural parks require permits or limit visitor numbers on certain routes and dates; check with the park before you go.

12.B Italy

12.B.1 For consumers in Italy, nothing in this notice limits the rights granted by the Italian Consumer Code (Codice del Consumo), including the rules on liability for defective products.

12.B.2 Italian law requires people practising off-piste skiing, ski mountaineering and similar activities in areas where avalanche risk exists to carry avalanche safety equipment (avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe). Summit Fever is a hiking app, but if you use it in winter conditions, check and follow these rules.

12.B.3 Some regions charge for helicopter rescues that were not justified by a real emergency. Mountain rescue is provided by the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS), alerted through 112 or 118.

12.C Switzerland

12.C.1 For consumers in Switzerland, this notice is subject to mandatory Swiss law, including the Swiss Product Liability Act and the limits on exclusions of liability in the Swiss Code of Obligations.

12.C.2 Federal and cantonal wildlife rest zones (Wildruhezonen / zones de tranquillité) are binding in winter; their boundaries are shown on official maps at map.geo.admin.ch and in the White Risk app.

12.C.3 Rescue costs in Switzerland are generally charged to the person rescued and are often only partly covered by health or accident insurance. A Rega patronage or suitable insurance can cover air-rescue costs.

12.C.4 SAC hiking-scale grades used in the app follow the Swiss Alpine Club scale, but are derived from map data and have not been checked by the Swiss Alpine Club.