Posted on May 30, 2017

The last few weeks has been a whirlwind for Climbalytics. I think when you're really into creating new things it's easy to get caught up in the details and spend lots of time in isolation and in your own head. Brandon and I are definitely guilty of this and we constantly geek out about improvements we can make to the device, app and business. Building a new product in isolation is an addictive trap, because everything works perfectly in your head. You never have to deal with the nerves, embarassment or failure that comes with actually taking the leap and showing what you've been working on to the world. That's one reason these updates are such an important part of each month for us. It forces us to think back on what we've accomplished and gives us an audience to keep us accountable (you) and call us out if we're on the wrong path.

Our demo table setup at the Crux Come and Send it Fest event

We spent the entire month of May planning for / doing live demos and we learned so much more than if we had been just imagining how people would react to our product. Kicking off the month we did live demos at the awesome Come and Send it Fest at Crux Climbing Center in Austin, TX. Brandon and Ginny helped a ton of different climbers of all skill levels test out our Gamma prototype at Crux and the response was great. We learned how to (and not to) run successful demos and overall the climbing community at Crux was super psyched about the idea.

Ascent founder / manager Brandon McPhail testing out the Gamma.

This past weekend Brandon and I made the trek over to Loveland Colorado for the Climbing Wall Association Summit. There we met with a ton of different folks in the climbing industry including gym owners, setters, coaches, hold manufacturers and a bunch of other really cool companies that were building their own tech products for the climbing industry. We also had a fantastic time demoing to an amazingly friendly group of people at the newly opened Ascent Studio in Fort Collins.

Since Brandon and I live in different cities this was also a great opportunity for us to catch up face to face and figure out our game plan for the next few months. Our goal is to have our product ready to launch in a gym before the end of the year. There are a number of hurdles to overcome before we're ready for that, but we think it's possible.