Real deal innovation
The app still needs some love, but I’m super impressed with the thought, creativity and attention to detail. Clearly built by people who know climbing and the community. Well done… keep the updates coming!
Huge potential… lacking inclusivity
So much potential for this app, even in its current state I can see it being really useful for navigating crags compared to mountain project. A few things I’d love to see personally:
Inclusivity:
The climbing and outdoor recreation space is already lacking diversity and inclusion. Women and people of color still aren’t given the same respect in these spaces and it would be great to see more companies acknowledge and market themselves as being conscientious of that. So far the app and website show a very familiar demographic, even the rendered climber on the 3D boulder map is a male figure. I get that development is ongoing and much of this can change, I hope it does, because it would be great to see an app that felt welcoming to all demographics to get into this space. Not putting any effort into it in 2022 just seems like the developers don’t care much about it, which is really unfortunate and an old familiar story in the outdoor rec space.
3D maps:
Great concept, really in need of some adjustments. As another comment mentioned the camera controls are not intuitive at all for anyone unfamiliar with 3D software. The perspective being locked to the object rather and controls operating from this perspective rather than the camera which is much more intuitive for most people is a pretty big oversight and could turn people off all the awesome features this view offers. Also the render shouldn’t let users pan underneath the map. It’s confusing and immersion breaking. Overall I still figured out how to navigate the 3D maps but that’s with having some familiarity with 3D software, the average user could get really frustrated by this (my partner was) and not return to the app. Streamlining these few areas alone would make a huge difference.
Hopefully some of these updates are already being discussed and in development as I’d love to update this review and rate much higher down the line. Would love to see this app take off and be a new standard for the climbing industry that is welcoming and representative of anyone seeking to enjoy it.
Inclusivity:
The climbing and outdoor recreation space is already lacking diversity and inclusion. Women and people of color still aren’t given the same respect in these spaces and it would be great to see more companies acknowledge and market themselves as being conscientious of that. So far the app and website show a very familiar demographic, even the rendered climber on the 3D boulder map is a male figure. I get that development is ongoing and much of this can change, I hope it does, because it would be great to see an app that felt welcoming to all demographics to get into this space. Not putting any effort into it in 2022 just seems like the developers don’t care much about it, which is really unfortunate and an old familiar story in the outdoor rec space.
3D maps:
Great concept, really in need of some adjustments. As another comment mentioned the camera controls are not intuitive at all for anyone unfamiliar with 3D software. The perspective being locked to the object rather and controls operating from this perspective rather than the camera which is much more intuitive for most people is a pretty big oversight and could turn people off all the awesome features this view offers. Also the render shouldn’t let users pan underneath the map. It’s confusing and immersion breaking. Overall I still figured out how to navigate the 3D maps but that’s with having some familiarity with 3D software, the average user could get really frustrated by this (my partner was) and not return to the app. Streamlining these few areas alone would make a huge difference.
Hopefully some of these updates are already being discussed and in development as I’d love to update this review and rate much higher down the line. Would love to see this app take off and be a new standard for the climbing industry that is welcoming and representative of anyone seeking to enjoy it.
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So cool!
Please add rumney to the guide book and I’ll totally use it! Wish the scrolling was faster but otherwise it’s so cool! Love it so far even though I’ll probably have to make a trip of it with the locations available so far.
I really hope this takes off!!
Such huge potential, my only ask if you mark fixed anchors along multipitch
Nevada
Not sure if it’s me.
Missing Nevada
Missing Nevada
Extremely cool for where it is!
This app totally outclasses mountain project and any other online guidebook I’ve seen.
You can definitely tell it’s still in beta, but the what they have already done is incredible. Can’t really recommend it to actually use as of right now unless you plan on climbing in Utah or Arizona, but very excited to see where this thing goes.
You can definitely tell it’s still in beta, but the what they have already done is incredible. Can’t really recommend it to actually use as of right now unless you plan on climbing in Utah or Arizona, but very excited to see where this thing goes.
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Utah and Arizona only
I’m sure its great if you climb in Utah or Arizona. Very limited crags, looking forward to expanded areas!
A game changer
Forget the old guidebooks and Mountain Project: Rock Garden is the future. This is what every digital guidebook will aspire to. 3D models with incredible detail make route planning and ID so much easier. I can’t wait until they expand their routes—as amazing as this app is, it’s only going to get better.
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Upping the game
This app is definitely setting the bar high. As a visual person I look for subtle details on my route to locate how far Im up and making sure im staying on track to be safe. The incredible detail provided is mind blowing. This is definitely the future of guiding. It’s about time we use the technology we have to our advantage.
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Super buggy but I’m holding out hope
So far, in my experience, the app is slow, unresponsive, and crashes pretty frequently. And there aren’t very many areas in the database. As lots of other people have mentioned it’s a really cool idea and I’m excited to see it get more fully fleshed out with more areas and a performance boost.
Response from developer
Hey there, sorry to hear that the app feels slow and unresponsive and crashes for you. By default the app is showing 3D crags and climbs at the maximum detail. However, that's not going to be ideal for some phones and this fact could very likely be the source of your frustration. Whenever you are looking for performance improvements (at the expense of detail) after logging in, go to the "profile" tab, then "settings" and in there you'll see a "quality" option with "LD, SD, HD". Selecting "LD" should be 16x faster and make your experience more stable and less prone crashing. Hope that helps!
