Support

Last updated October 26, 2026

Questions, bugs, or ideas: email kai@kaiconsulting.ai. It reaches the person who built the app, and you'll get a real reply. Answers to common questions are also at whumpf.app/faq.

What the app does

Whumpf is the sound a collapsing weak layer makes underfoot, one of the clearest signs the snowpack is unstable. The app puts avalanche forecasts for several zones side by side, so you can compare destinations instead of reading one forecast at a time. It covers Alaska's seven avalanche centers and their 16 forecast zones. Each zone also carries nearby weather station and SNOTEL observations and the National Weather Service point forecast, and your saved zones are kept on your phone for use out of service.

Common questions

Why does a zone say EXPIRED or "Not forecasting yet"?

The forecast shown is past the expiry time its center set, or the center hasn't started its season. Centers issue on their own schedules and pause outside the core season. The app keeps showing the last forecast it has, marked expired, rather than showing nothing. Tap through to the center's own page for the current product.

Does the app track my location?

Only if you turn it on. Live location sharing is a choice you make per trip: your position goes to the contacts on that trip plan and nowhere else, and it stops when you check in. The optional nearest-zone feature uses your location on the phone to show the closest zone; your coordinates aren't sent anywhere. Otherwise the app reads your location only when you tap a button asking it to.

My morning alert didn't come, or forecasts aren't updating.

Check that notifications are on for Whumpf in iOS Settings, and that the zone's alert switch is on in Manage zones. iOS turns off Background App Refresh in Low Power Mode and pauses it when the battery is low (Settings, then General, then Background App Refresh). Opening the app always fetches fresh data.

What happens when I file an observation?

You choose: Whumpf opens your avalanche center's own form inside the app, filled in with what you wrote, and you tap the center's Submit button; or it opens your mail app with the observation, a PDF and your photos addressed to the center; or you save the PDF. The center decides whether and when to publish it, and you choose whether your name appears.

How does the trip plan feature work?

Fill in a profile once, then before a trip pick where you're going, when you expect to be back, and when your people should start to worry. They get a link with everything search and rescue asks a reporting party for: right away, or only if you're late, your choice. If you haven't checked in by your worry-by time, Whumpf emails them and calls them with an automated message, and again an hour later. They can extend the time, note they've heard from you, or note that a search has started. The app does not contact rescuers; your person does, with the details in hand. Send the plan while you still have service, and check in when you're out.

I got a call or email from Whumpf about someone's trip.

Someone listed you as their trip contact. Open the link in the email to see their plan and what to do, or text anything to the number that called you to get the link by text (reply STOP to turn texts off). If you shouldn't be their contact, tell them, or email kai@kaiconsulting.ai.

Can I delete my data?

Clear saved details from within the app, cancel any live trip plan, or email kai@kaiconsulting.ai and it will be removed.

Reporting a bug

Include your iPhone model and iOS version, what you were doing, and a screenshot if you have one. If it involves a specific zone, name it.

Data sources

Avalanche forecasts from the National Avalanche Center and its member centers. Weather from NOAA/NWS, Synoptic Data, and the NRCS SNOTEL network. This app is not affiliated with or endorsed by any avalanche center.