Why Climbing Mountains is – and is Not – Like App Development

Building apps – in fact, conducting any project – can feel like going on a quest. Setting a goal, planning a route, coping with adverse conditions on the way – we’re used to dealing with all these slings and arrows.

So it felt a little like a busman’s holiday when we arrived at Snowdon National Park a week or so ago to walk the 16.2km to the top of the peak and back down again.

In fairness, we did this because we’ve missed each other. Over lockdowns and working from home during the past eighteen months, we’ve been busily working as a team – but over internet connections. We’re all back in the office now, but spending time together to catch up was important.

We didn’t make it easy on ourselves. We chose to take the Pyg Track up and the Miner’s Track back down, setting ourselves a challenge rather than a Sunday stroll. The Pyg Track is the shortest route up Snowdon, with the least amount of ascent – but that doesn’t mean it’s among the easiest! The Miner’s Track, meanwhile, is a pretty steep descent to start with which is, of course, why we picked it.

All in all, it took us four hours and fifty minutes to complete the route, and 21,300 steps. We were pretty pleased with this, and we’re already planning to take the hardest route next time! (This is team-bonding in action, guys: set yourself a challenge, ace it, stretch further next time.)

The weather wasn’t our ally on the day we went it was overcast and the rain wasn’t going anywhere, and once we reached the summit there was very little to see. Honestly, we’re used to a clearer view of things from the top of a project – we like to know exactly where we’re heading at all times – but we understand that mountains can be less predictable than workflows. We didn’t take it personally.

What we did take personally was the opportunity to hang out with our team again and achieve something awesome together. We’ve missed this feeling – that may sound corny, but none of us have particularly enjoyed being away from the office for such long stretches. App development is a team sport, and it’s good to have got the squad back together.

See you at the summit! If you want our help getting there on your project, by the way, give us a call – signal’s great at the top of Snowdon.