An entire guidebook library that fits neatly in your pocket
- Content from over 35 current print guidebooks
- 49 areas
- 71,000+ routes
- 1,400+ crags
High detail topos, overviews and maps, covering major crags throughout the UK and Europe.
Available on Android and iOS
How to Subscribe
All you need to do is download the app onto your iOS or Android phone, sign up then log into the app using your UKClimbing login.
Membership costs £50 if paid annually, or £5/month if paid monthly (£60/year). For this, you get access to the entire Rockfax catalogue, 30% off most Rockfax print publications from the Rockfax website and UKC Supporter status.
More about the Rockfax Digital
The Rockfax Digital coverage brings together all the current Rockfax guides with UKC Logbooks and presents it in a user-friendly package for use on mobile devices. The heart of the data is the Rockfax crag and route information covering individual crags, or bundles of crags, in ‘areas’ which correspond roughly to printed guidebooks.
Check out the books that are covered and also see the set of App Exclusives
The main data is sold by subscription so that you can purchase access for a period of time. Once you are subscribed, you will have every digital Rockfax guide available on your device for the period of your subscription. You can download crags and store them on your device, so you don’t need a signal to be able to read the descriptions and see the topos and maps. There is also plenty of free data available without subscription, enabling you to get a really good impression of what the App is like without shelling out any money.
The Rockfax App itself is a free download and incredibly useful in its own right even without an active subscription. It contains a detailed crag map linked to the UKClimbing crags database which also displays all the 4,000+ listings from the UKClimbing Directory of climbing walls, outdoor shops, climbing clubs, outdoor-specific accommodation and instructors and guides, amongst others.
The guidebook data for Rockfax crags is downloaded to your phone so there is no need for network coverage to read it when at the crag. You can pre-load crags and remove them when you want to create space.
Many of the maps are geo-located (currently iOS only – Android is coming) which means that you show up as a blue dot on the detailed crag maps making finding your buttress, crag or boulder even easier.
System Requirements
- Apple iOS device – See App Store.
- Android device – See Play Store.
- Data storage – Between 250MB and 2GB per area. As a rough guide, around 1GB is required for 20-25 crags. This is larger for the more recent packages as we are increasing the quality of the photos used.
Third Party Guidebook Publishers
If you are a publisher and you are interested in getting your climbing guide onto the Rockfax app then contact us. We are happy work with third party publishers to convert information into the app format and distribute it. This could be from an existing print publication or an unpublished guide. There are no set-up costs and we share revenue on all sales. We are also happy to consider free guides for publication if people want.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What do I get for my money?
When you activate your membership you get access to all the information on the app to download as you need it onto your device. This remains active for the period of your membership. Once your membership lapses then the data will no longer be accessible.
Q2: Can I run the app on 2 devices?
You can run your app content on up to two devices where you’ve logged in using your UKClimbing User Profile. The devices can be iOS or Android.
Q3: Does the app work when I haven’t got a phone signal?
Yes but only if you have downloaded the crag data you need beforehand. It is best to plan ahead and download areas that you climb in regularly if your phone has the space for them. Once downloaded it will work in the most remote areas since no data signal is required. There are some functions of the app – like the Directory map and the connection to UKC logbooks and UKC photos – that require a data connection. The parking and map navigation requires a GPS signal but this is much stronger in most places even where phone and data reception is poor.
Q4: My phone only has limited memory and the Rockfax crags are big downloads. How do I fit them all on?
If you have a device with limited storage, then you may struggle to fit a lot of separate crags on it. You can get round this by temporarily removing crags from your device to free up space. You can download them again whenever you like.
Q5: I have the Rockfax book, can I get the same data on the app for free or a discount?
No, the app membership and books are separate purchases. There are two main reasons for this.
1) We have no idea who has bought a book so would be unable to offer this for historic purchases.
2) We regard these as separate products which are used in different ways. Rather like the Rockfax print books North Wales Climbs and North Wales Classics are separate products with similar content but different appeals.
Q6: Do I subscribe through UKClimbing or Rockfax?
It doesn’t matter since both UKC Supporter Plus and Rockfax Digital Subscriber offer the same benefits. Your login is your UKClimbing registered account, your digital subscription is managed through rockfax.digital
Q7: What email address should I use to login to the Rockfax App with
If you have an account on UKClimbing.com then you should use the same email that you use for that website. This will link your logins and ensure that your UKC logbook is properly synced if you have one.
Q8: I don’t have a UKClimbing User Profile?
You can use some of the free functions of the app without a UKClimbing User Profile but you will need one if you want a membership or want to use it for your UKClimbing logbook. Go to UKClimbing.com and create a new profile. Once you have that set up go to Settings > My Account in the app and sign in.
Q9: I have subscribed to the Rockfax App but wish to upgrade to become a UKClimbing SupporterPlus
There is no need to do this anymore since Rockfax Digital Subscriber and UKClimbing SupporterPlus offer precisely the same benefits.
Q10: I have set up a membership by mistake, how do I get a refund?
You can cancel your membership at any time. If you have a 1 month membership it will continue until the end of the 1 month period. If you have a 12 month membership then it will run until the end of the 12 month period. If you buy a 12 month membership by mistake, or if you are unhappy with the product, then contact us.
Q11: Do you support operating systems other than iOS and Android?
No, we have no plans to produce a version for any other operating system.
Legacy Purchases on previous iOS versions
Q1: What happens to my purchases from the previous iOS version of the app?
If you bought packages on the older iOS version of the app, these will still be available in the new version on iOS without a membership. Previous purchases will show up in Settings > My Account > Manage Legacy Crags. These legacy packages will not be updated and new versions of the app information for the same area will require a membership although the old one will stay accessible. You can also ‘trade in’ your legacy purchases for future membership time to gain access to all Rockfax Digital data – see Q3 below.
Q2: I bought packages with an iOS phone but now have an Android phone?
If you have changed your phone from iOS to Android then the older packages will not be available to you, however, you can trade in the value of your previous purchases for membership time – see Q3 below.
Q3: I bought packages with an iOS phone but now wish to trade them in?
The trade-in system allows you to swap your legacy purchases for future membership time. This is done by swapping your legacy packages for Account Credit. Once traded-in you will have access to the entire Rockfax Digital range, not just the crags you had previously purchased. You will also get updated versions for all areas.
Future bills will be deducted from your Account Credit. When your credit is used, or if a bill amounts to more credit than you have, we will bill your provided payment method for the balance. You will no longer own the legacy packages once traded-in.
How to use the Trade-In System – Make sure you’ve got the latest version of the app, then go to Settings > My Account > Restore Purchases. Then check out your account page in a browser and it should have details of all your old purchases and tell you how much they are worth. Use the trade-in feature on there to receive account credit and then simply sign up to the yearly membership.
Rockfax Digital History
“Ten years from now, the climbers of Britain will be using hand-held mobiles to dial into web sites with their membership, and viewing the crag in front of them. There may well be books still but for day to day, updated usage, the predominant method will be via a website.” – Alan James, Guidebook Conference, Rheged, September 2002
The app that was first released in 2015 was the end product of almost 13 years of work on the Rockfax and UKClimbing websites starting way back in 2002 when the first Rockfax Route Database was created, which led in turn to the UKC Logbook system in 2005. The intention even way back then was to deliver information to devices, although at the time we didn’t know what shape those devices would take. Thanks to Apple and other tech companies we now have the mobile devices that we are all familiar with and the app infrastructure to create and deliver sophisticated apps and data to users.
The initial technical development in the Rockfax App has been done by Stephen Horne who set about creating a product that would do justice to all the magnificent work of the Rockfax authors. Martin McKenna has completed the work on the Android version. The website development for Rockfax and UKClimbing has been done by Nick Smith, Paul Phillips and Andy Ovens over the years.
