Building a Hiking Route Intensity Calculator

Beijing hiking groups each publish route difficulty differently — some use time/km, others use elevation gain tiers, others use subjective "hard/medium/easy" labels. Comparing routes across sources is frustrating when you're planning a weekend trip.

I built a WeChat mini program that scores route intensity on one consistent scale.

What it measures

Intensity is computed from:

Personal inputs

• Resting heart rate, max heart rate (defaults: 73 / 180 if unknown)
• Height and weight

Route inputs

• Distance, elevation gain, estimated duration, pack weight

Conditions

• Rain, snow, extreme heat or cold

The model outputs a single score you can compare across 51+ structured routes in the database.

Why build this

When planning a hike, you need one reliable reading — "is this route appropriate for my fitness?" — not five incompatible spreadsheets from five WeChat groups.

Unifying the formula also makes crowdsourced condition updates meaningful. If everyone reports on the same scale, leader verification actually compounds.

Limitations (honest)

• Tuned for low-altitude day hikes around Beijing
• High-altitude routes introduce variables (acclimatization, weather volatility) that don't generalize cleanly
• Output is informational, not medical or safety advice

Use judgment in extreme weather or if you're not feeling well.

Roadmap

• v2: user profiles and saved preferences
• v3: activity logging
• v4: analytics across seasons
• v5: route sharing between groups

Side projects teach product thinking too: scope control, real users with real feedback, and shipping something complete enough to be useful — not perfect enough to never launch.