Climbing Apps

We have some big news! We are looking into developing a DIHEDRAL iOS app! Our missions has always been to connect with everyday rock climbers, and we hope theDIHEDRAL app can help us achieve this. With this purpose in mind, we are proposing 3 app ideas each. Please give us your feedback on our ideas and please give us your ideas, too!

Carrot

There are some very popular climbing apps.  Kaya and Mountain Project are the two I use the most.  Kaya for tracking climbs, and looking at what climbers say about indoor routes.  It’s a good place to trash setters when they don’t bring the goods.  Mountain Project is one of the most popular outdoor route tracking apps.  When you don’t have the cash for a guidebook, MP is there to provide some help finding walls, routes, and grades.  After that there are a ton of training apps, and lots of apps that help you train, and then there are some apps that focus on training.

There are some major gaps in the climbing app world, but here are a few ideas to help fill in the bald spots.

In August of 2021 we published a post about the need for a Tinder style app for climbers in which a climber could meet up with other climbers looking for a belay.  It was called WHIPPER, and was mostly for fun, but the idea absolutely fills a need.  The one thing I would add to an app like that though is the possibility for climbers to rate each other post session.  Kind of like Uber.  It would be nice to know if the guy claiming to be the world’s best belayer actually short ropes you at every draw.  It would be great to know if the lady giving you a catch took shrooms prior to the meet-up.  Even just comments like “wow, this person loves climbing but couldn’t be more boring”, or affirming comments like “great day, great belay, would recommend” would be super helpful.  It sucks when you are near a crag, and have no one to climb with, this could help alleviate that problem.

Since the start of our series Cragies and Snackies, I have always thought about how great it would be to have an app where climbers list and rate restaurants near a crag.  The restaurant nearest to my local crag is not great, but gets a ton of business since it is so close by.  With the tap of a button climbers could learn that just 10 minutes further away is a restaurant that has outdoor seating, vegan options, and locally brewed beer.  After a long day of climbing the last thing anyone wants to do is think about where to eat.  Let the app be your guide.

I know this may sound bad, but we could use a new training app.  Yes, there are a million of them, but most of those are specific to some company or equipment that gives you access to their app once you buy a training program or hangboard.  Then there are the apps that are so complicated that you just give up.  There needs to be something that’s simple, that anyone could use, and that doesn’t force you to buy something in order to get the full benefits of the app.  A simple timer that allows you to preset workout and rest intervals.  Maybe there is a colorful screen that changes when it’s time to break, and again when it’s time to grind.  Perhaps a soothing chime.  Something simple and useful would do wonders!

Like Carrot, Mountain Project has to be my go-to climbing app. This thing has saved my life numerous times. Not to mention it has made outdoor climbing more accessible and cheaper. Nevertheless, climbing is so young that there is still much to be desired regarding climbing apps.

High-Clip

One of the biggest barriers to climbing is having partners, especially for rope climbers. If we had something similar to SnapMaps from SnapChat, climbers could see where other climbers are and perhaps join others or learn about the place that they are climbing. Perhaps we could integrate Carrot’s Cragies and Snackies maps into this so climbers can also find food after climbing in a convenient way.

In addition to Carrot’s WHIPPER app, we could add a romance page where climbers link up with other climbers for romance. This way, intentions can be made very clear as a result of the distinction between the climbing and romance searches. Moreover, people could see if their gym crushes are reciprocated. Better yet, folks could skip the gym incest and seek romance with people from other gyms without necessarily traveling to/paying for these other gyms. Worst case, climbers make more climber friends!

I would be lost in this world without Yelp or Rate My Professor. We could crowdsource info about crags and gyms to help people learn about places they may want to climb. Of course, we can refer to Mountain Project for crags, but gym reviews are harder to find. People could also compare gyms and crags in the area to help others decide what is worth visiting giving a timeline or some weather conditions. Anything to get climbers out there with the most information!