Editorial Policy
This page sets out how content on CalculateHike is produced, sourced, reviewed and corrected, and what commercial relationships exist behind it.
Who writes this site
All content on CalculateHike is written and edited by Michael Sally, who is responsible for its accuracy. There is no anonymous or ghost-written material here, and no syndicated content.
He is not a physician, a physiologist, a mountain guide, or a search-and-rescue professional. Where this site describes research, it summarises published work and links to the organisations behind it so that you can go further. Where it describes technique, it describes established practice and says where that practice comes from. Where a figure is an estimate, it is labelled as one.
Sourcing
Health, physiology and safety claims are attributed to identifiable authorities — published research, professional bodies such as the American College of Sports Medicine and the Wilderness Medical Society, and land-management agencies including the National Park Service, the Forest Service and the National Weather Service. Each article carries a sources section linking to the relevant organisations.
Where evidence is contested or thin, the article says so rather than presenting one finding as settled. Where a widely repeated claim is doubtful, we say it is doubtful. Correcting a good story is more useful than repeating it.
What this site does not do
- No medical advice. Content here is general educational information about physical activity and outdoor safety. It does not diagnose, treat, or make individual recommendations, and it is not a substitute for a qualified clinician. If you have a health condition, discuss any new activity with a physician before starting.
- No emergency guidance substitution. Safety sections describe accepted practice. In an actual emergency, contact emergency services and follow their direction.
- No invented figures. Numbers come from a stated source or a stated calculation, and uncertain values are given as ranges.
- No paid placement. We do not accept sponsored posts, paid links, guest posts, or link insertions.
Commercial relationships
This site is funded in two ways, and both are disclosed.
Advertising is served programmatically through Google AdSense. Advertisers do not commission, review, see in advance, or influence editorial content, and we have no relationship with the individual advertisers whose ads appear.
Affiliate links appear on the gear page. Where we link to a retailer and you purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Recommendations are not conditioned on commission rates, and no manufacturer has paid for inclusion. The full terms are on the affiliate disclosure page.
Editorial articles do not carry affiliate links. The separation is deliberate: guidance pages are kept free of purchase incentives so that advice and commerce do not sit in the same paragraph.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, it gets fixed. Send the page address, the specific claim, and a source if you have one, through the contact page. Substantive corrections — anything that changes a figure or a factual claim — are made to the page and the last-updated date is revised. Typographical fixes are made silently.
Review schedule
Every page carries a last-updated date. Safety and technique articles are reviewed when relevant guidance changes. Location and access articles are reviewed when permit systems, closures or regulations change, which for national parks now happens at least annually.
Use of AI tools
Drafting and editing tools, including AI assistants, are used in producing this site. Every published figure, source and factual claim is checked by a person before publication, and responsibility for what appears here rests with the named author.