I think this is taking the data those guys gather, some other data, and distilling it to a threat rating? That's at least what I get from the big above the fold blurb.
Note that there is Strata (strata.com), the 3d software company, which I immediately thought it was about. It was the first 3d software I used some 30 years ago.
Is it just me, or does it seem extremely dangerous to market: “Strata doesn't just show the data. It makes the call.”
The page states it’s powered by Claude with nothing I could see that relates to its performance, metrics, processes, testing, etc. for something expected to be used in a safety application.
"You're right to push back on that. Let me take a step back and reconsider the requirements for an application that people might entrust with their lives."
Read the headline - sounds like a therapy / anti-suicide advocacy app?
Clicked the link - ok looks like it's for ski touring, because it mentions avalanche stuff?
Checked the route catalog - wait, there's barely any ski tours here and it's a bunch of random hikes from around the country. Why is avalanche risk highlighted when 99% of hikers are probably gonna stay home if there's a big snowstorm? Is this by chance your personal hiking history? Why these hikes in particular?
Are avalanches the only way someone can die outdoors? What about snake bites, heat exhaustion, drowning etc.?
I am not sure what the app actually does vs gaia, alltrails, nwac app. The site only has one screenshot. What does this app add?
This is going to kill someone... you can't just make these calls for people. And it's DEFINITELY not a replacement for snowpack tests, etc. at the location you're going to visit.
Yeah, the app "tells you...whether today is a go", which is completely responsible and I'm not sure how HN could be able to miss it!
Jokes aside, couple changes come to mind:
- pitch more carefully as "may indicate when danger may be elevated"
- in app, on calm days insist "while prelim scan found nothing anomalous, click these links to find the original forecasts"
As of today, with this tech for this use case, the warnings should be the lede. Otherwise you're even more likely to have a "'Full' Self Driving" situation where we're lured into a false sense of safety.
I’m not so sure mocking is really that on point, a tool used to understand avalanche safety should be safe. The product copy highlights safety and the value of providing a recommendation instead of having to collate and synthesize different data yourself.
Avalanche risk and its management are unknown to me, but not to ski patrols, experienced backcountry trekkers, scientists, and national weather services of many countries, etc. I saw no evidence of trials to test to see how the technology performs against real conditions.
If you can’t trust this product’s recommendations within some margin of safety then it’s value proposition disappears.
Why not market it instead as an experiment and seek some way of collecting data to improve the process or develop a model fine tuned to the inputs?
“Strata doesn’t just show the data. It makes the call.”
Scroll scroll scroll…
“Strata informs your decisions — it doesn't make them for you.”
I hope you don’t kill someone.
Absolutely the wrong application for an LLM.
How do we know it’s providing correct data?
Worrying about "correctness" is such pre-LLM thinking. What's important now is generating content that doesn't require effort or labor cost.
Well, for the creators’ sakes, I hope the ToS that Claude wrote [1] holds up in court!
[1]: https://strata.highloop.co/terms
This is gonna kill someone.
Any real avalanche threat analysis is done boots on ground, this app isn't adding any additional information.
I think this is taking the data those guys gather, some other data, and distilling it to a threat rating? That's at least what I get from the big above the fold blurb.
To be perfected, this app needs a feature that uses AI to identify the difference between edible and poisonous plants and fungi.
Incoming trademark infringement lawsuit from Strava in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Note that there is Strata (strata.com), the 3d software company, which I immediately thought it was about. It was the first 3d software I used some 30 years ago.
Make sure you have a very good LLC that can’t be pierced.
Is it just me, or does it seem extremely dangerous to market: “Strata doesn't just show the data. It makes the call.”
The page states it’s powered by Claude with nothing I could see that relates to its performance, metrics, processes, testing, etc. for something expected to be used in a safety application.
"You're right to push back on that. Let me take a step back and reconsider the requirements for an application that people might entrust with their lives."
It's perfectly safe, I assure you.
Should I climb this mountain? Analyze the data. Make no mistakes.
Flagging for clickbait title. It's deliberately obfuscating to intrigue users into clicking.
A better plain title would be
Strata: An LLM App that Tells You If Your Hiking Route Today is Likely Safe.
Read the headline - sounds like a therapy / anti-suicide advocacy app?
Clicked the link - ok looks like it's for ski touring, because it mentions avalanche stuff?
Checked the route catalog - wait, there's barely any ski tours here and it's a bunch of random hikes from around the country. Why is avalanche risk highlighted when 99% of hikers are probably gonna stay home if there's a big snowstorm? Is this by chance your personal hiking history? Why these hikes in particular?
Are avalanches the only way someone can die outdoors? What about snake bites, heat exhaustion, drowning etc.?
I am not sure what the app actually does vs gaia, alltrails, nwac app. The site only has one screenshot. What does this app add?
Unfortunately I think you've given far more thought into the concept than OP has
Possibly because OP might have one-shot vibe-coded this app with a single sentence as an LLM wrapper.
This is going to kill someone... you can't just make these calls for people. And it's DEFINITELY not a replacement for snowpack tests, etc. at the location you're going to visit.
hoping this is a joke
Classic HN responses ITT. Very Reddit-like in its absolute knee-knocking fear at any kind of liability/rule-breaking
Yeah, the app "tells you...whether today is a go", which is completely responsible and I'm not sure how HN could be able to miss it!
Jokes aside, couple changes come to mind:
- pitch more carefully as "may indicate when danger may be elevated"
- in app, on calm days insist "while prelim scan found nothing anomalous, click these links to find the original forecasts"
As of today, with this tech for this use case, the warnings should be the lede. Otherwise you're even more likely to have a "'Full' Self Driving" situation where we're lured into a false sense of safety.
I’m not so sure mocking is really that on point, a tool used to understand avalanche safety should be safe. The product copy highlights safety and the value of providing a recommendation instead of having to collate and synthesize different data yourself.
Avalanche risk and its management are unknown to me, but not to ski patrols, experienced backcountry trekkers, scientists, and national weather services of many countries, etc. I saw no evidence of trials to test to see how the technology performs against real conditions.
If you can’t trust this product’s recommendations within some margin of safety then it’s value proposition disappears.
Why not market it instead as an experiment and seek some way of collecting data to improve the process or develop a model fine tuned to the inputs?
Yeah, let’s not let a little thing like safety get in the way of disrupting the “staying alive” paradigm.