The door's open: Diorite is now for everyone
Seven months ago we handed Diorite to a small group of early-access climbers and asked them to break it. This week, we're taking the rope off the gate.
I've written this post in my head about a hundred times, usually on a skin track at six in the morning. Now that I'm actually typing it, I mostly just want to say thank you.
Back in March, we invited a small group of people into Diorite. Guides we'd climbed with, patrollers who'd taught us, a few strangers who wrote us long, thoughtful emails about why they wanted in. We told them the honest truth: it's early, it's going to be wrong sometimes, and we need you to tell us when it is.
They did. Generously, and often at 9pm from a trailhead parking lot.
What seven months of early access taught us
Our early-access members filed thousands of reports. Some were small (a trailhead in the wrong spot, a gear list that forgot the stove). Some changed the product. One guide in the Wasatch told us our briefs on considerable days read 'too much like a brochure.' She was right, and that note went straight to the safety council.
7
Months in early access
4,100+
Reports from members
212
Changes shipped because of them
Field Mode exists in its current form because people kept asking what Diorite could do when their phone showed 'No Service.' The pace model got humbler because a trail runner tried to use it on a glacier. Every one of those notes made Diorite a little more honest.
The best thing early access gave us was people willing to tell us we were wrong, kindly and specifically.
What changes this week
No more waitlist, no more invites. If you've got an objective on your mind, you can create an account and have your first brief in a few minutes. The free plan stays free, and it's a real plan, not a teaser.
- Anyone can sign up, today, with no invite code
- Early-access members keep every trip, brief and setting, nothing to redo
- Our Help Center is live, with real humans behind every ticket
- The safety council still reviews every release before it reaches you
What doesn't change
We're still a small team in Boulder and Chamonix. We still read every safety report. And Diorite will still tell you when it isn't sure, because the mountains don't care how confident an app sounds.
If you were one of our early-access members: thank you. You shaped this more than you know. And if you're new here, welcome. Start a brief, read the reasoning, and tell us where we got it wrong. That's still how we get better.
Written by
Elena Marsh
Co-founder & CEO. Former ski patroller, AIARE instructor.
