MountRoutes Methodology — Part 3 of 3
The Collision
Two 5-dimensional vectors. One mathematical collision. Your exact readiness — not a guess.
The Core Principle
The mountain doesn't care about your gym PR. It has its own checklist — how fit your lungs need to be, how much altitude you must have tolerated, how strong your knees need to be. We run yours against it, line by line. If you meet 85% or more of what the route demands, you're in the green zone. If not, we surface exactly which line you're failing on.
The Subtraction
Every time you compare yourself to a route, the engine runs a single, unambiguous formula: How much of what this mountain demands can you actually supply?
We call this Capacity Fulfillment. For each of the 5 dimensions, we take min(Your Capacity, Route Demand) and divide the total by the sum of all demands. The critical word is min — if a route demands 60% cardio and you have 90%, you get credit for 60%. Surplus fitness doesn't inflate your score beyond what the mountain needs.
In plain terms
For each of the 5 fitness areas, we ask: how much does the mountain need, and how much do you have? We take whichever is smaller. Then we add all 5 up and divide by what the mountain needed total. That gives your score.
The Formula
Adaptation Estimate =
Σ min(Your Capacity, Route Demand)
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Σ Route Demand
This means the engine doesn't reward you for being a great runner if the mountain's primary demand is altitude tolerance. It rewards you for being ready across the specific dimensions this specific mountain demands.
See it Live: Roopkund Trek
Roopkund Trek (15,900ft) is a Tier 3 route. Its demand vector below is derived from our real difficulty engine data — not a guess. Drag your fitness sliders on the right and watch the Adaptation Estimate update in real-time.
Interactive Demo — Collision Visualizer
Route: Roopkund Trek · 15,900ftMountain DNA — Roopkund
Minor gaps. Train your bottleneck, then go.
Top Bottleneck
Altitude Exposure
-45% gap
Low Confidence
Limited altitude data
Your Fitness Profile
Regularly active. Comfortable on day hikes with elevation. Will feel the effort on long, sustained climbs.
Been to altitude once or twice, possibly felt symptoms. Acclimatisation cannot be assumed reliable.
Good lower body strength. Regular hiking or gym work. Can handle moderate descents with some fatigue.
Comfortable on rocky trails and mild scrambles. Has experience reading terrain and moving carefully.
Comfortable with multi-day physical activity. Can perform on tired legs with proper sleep and food.
Try dragging Altitude to zero. Watch what happens to your grade.
The 4 Match Grades
Once the Adaptation Estimate is calculated, the engine maps it to one of four grades. These are the exact thresholds used in the live product — not simplified for marketing.
Your capacity fully meets or exceeds what this mountain demands. You have a real safety margin. Go.
You can do this. Minor gaps exist in 1–2 dimensions. Identify your top bottleneck and train it before you go.
Achievable but uncomfortable. Gaps are significant. The mountain will feel hard on your hardest days. Train first or consider an easier route.
This route is currently beyond your baseline. Not a permanent verdict — a specific training roadmap will close the gap. Use the Alternatives Engine to find a better starting point.
The Bottleneck System
The overall match % is useful, but it isn't the most actionable output. What matters more is which specific dimension is holding you back the most. The engine calculates this using a simple priority formula: Gap × Demand Weight.
A 30% gap in Altitude on a high-altitude route scores much higher than a 30% gap in Terrain on a non-technical route. This means the engine always surfaces the problem that will hurt you the most on this specific mountain — not just the gap that's numerically largest.
Example — Roopkund Trek Bottleneck Ranking
Fixed Gaps vs. Trainable Gaps
Not all gaps are equal. The engine classifies every gap into one of two types, which determines exactly what you should do next.
Trainable Gap
Affects Cardio, Structural, and Fatigue. These gaps can be closed with consistent, targeted training over weeks. The engine estimates how many weeks based on gap size.
→ Action: Follow the training roadmap
Fixed Gap
Affects Altitude and Technical skills. No amount of gym work closes these. Altitude requires real exposure at elevation. Technical skill requires real terrain practice.
→ Action: Build experience or choose a lower route
Read Previous — Part 1
Mountain DNA
How we derive the 5D fingerprint of every route.
Read Previous — Part 2
Human DNA
How the engine translates your biology into a 5D vector.
See your real Adaptation Estimate.
Take the 3-minute audit. The engine will run the actual collision against any route you choose.