Question 1

What is PathQuest?

Accepted Answer

PathQuest is a platform for tracking mountain summits. It connects to your Strava account and automatically detects when you've summited a peak during your activities. You can discover new peaks, join challenges, and share your adventures with the community.

Question 2

Is PathQuest free to use?

Accepted Answer

Yes! PathQuest is free to use. Connect your Strava account and start tracking your summits right away. We may offer premium features in the future, but the core summit tracking functionality will always be free.

Question 3

Do I need a Strava account?

Accepted Answer

Yes, PathQuest requires a Strava account to track your summits. We use Strava's GPS data from your activities to detect when you've reached a peak. If you don't have a Strava account, you can create one for free at strava.com.

Question 4

How does PathQuest connect to Strava?

Accepted Answer

PathQuest uses Strava's official OAuth system. When you click 'Connect with Strava', you'll be redirected to Strava to authorize PathQuest to read your activity data. We only request the permissions we need to detect summits.

Question 5

What Strava data does PathQuest access?

Accepted Answer

PathQuest accesses your activity GPS coordinates, timestamps, and basic activity information (title, type, distance). We do not access your personal information, social connections, or modify any of your Strava data without your explicit permission.

Question 6

Will PathQuest post to my Strava?

Accepted Answer

Only if you enable it. PathQuest can optionally add a summary of detected summits to your activity description. This is off by default and can be enabled in your settings.

Question 7

How do I disconnect my Strava account?

Accepted Answer

You can disconnect your Strava account from the Settings page. This will stop PathQuest from receiving new activities, but your existing summit data will be preserved unless you choose to delete your account.

Question 8

How does summit detection work?

Accepted Answer

PathQuest analyzes the GPS coordinates from your Strava activities and compares them against our database of known peaks. When your track passes within a certain distance of a peak's summit and you spend time near the top, we record it as a summit.

Question 9

Why wasn't my summit detected?

Accepted Answer

Summit detection requires good GPS data near the peak. Common reasons for missed summits include: GPS signal issues, the peak not being in our database, or the activity being marked as private on Strava. You can always manually log summits that weren't auto-detected.

Question 10

Can I manually log a summit?

Accepted Answer

Yes! If you summited a peak but it wasn't automatically detected, you can manually log it from the peak's detail page. Click 'Log Summit' and select the date and activity (if applicable).

Question 11

How accurate is the summit detection?

Accepted Answer

Our detection algorithm is tuned to minimize false positives while catching legitimate summits. We use a combination of proximity to the peak, time spent near the summit, and GPS track analysis. For peaks with very close neighbors, we may flag summits for your review.

Question 12

What are challenges?

Accepted Answer

Challenges are curated lists of peaks to climb, like the Colorado 14ers (all peaks over 14,000 feet in Colorado) or the New Hampshire 48 (the 48 peaks over 4,000 feet in NH). You can track your progress on any challenge by adding it to your favorites.

Question 13

How do I join a challenge?

Accepted Answer

Browse challenges from the Explore tab or search for a specific one. Click on a challenge to see its peaks and your progress, then click the heart icon to add it to your favorites. Your progress will be tracked automatically as you summit peaks.

Question 14

Can I create my own challenge?

Accepted Answer

Custom challenge creation is not currently available, but it's on our roadmap. If you have a suggestion for a challenge we should add, please contact us!

Question 15

Who can see my summits?

Accepted Answer

By default, your summits are public and appear in the community feed for each peak. You can make your profile private in Settings, which will hide your summits from other users while still tracking them for yourself.

Question 16

Can I delete my data?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can delete individual summits, activities, or your entire account from the Settings page. Deleting your account permanently removes all your data from PathQuest.

Question 17

How is my data stored?

Accepted Answer

Your data is stored securely in our cloud database. We use industry-standard encryption and security practices. We never sell your data to third parties.

Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started

Strava Integration

Summit Detection

Challenges

Privacy & Data

Still Have Questions?