L ast winter, while chatting with some friends, I noticed the same question coming up again and again: “Any beta on that route?” Climbers are constantly chasing up-to-date information about conditions. Ice is, by its very nature, ephemeral—so we always want to know what’s in, what’s melting out, and what’s currently climbable.

Around that time, a new technology called Hotwire Native was released. It opened up a powerful way for developers like me— Ruby on Rails developers—to create fully native apps for iOS and Android using modern web tools. I decided to put it to the test by building something useful for the ice climbing community.

One year and hundreds of iterations later, I’m proud to share IceClimb.org, the most ambitious project I’ve ever launched. These interconnected software applications are now live on the web and available for Android, Mac, and iOs. I even made a dedicated Apple Watch version in SwiftUI, just to see if I could! You can download that with the iOS bundle.

I built all of this software as both a gift to the ice climbing community and as a portfolio piece to showcase what’s possible through my software consulting company, BCKPCKR. I personally wrote every line of code, designed every screen, and fund the servers, emails, and push notifications that keep it running because I believe in the value of sharing real-time route beta to help climbers stay safe and climb smarter.

Check it out, explore your favorite ice crags, and see what’s “in” near you this season.

- Jesse Waites

iOS & MacOS Android