New format · Effort Counter
Once at the top is an outing. Twenty times is a habit.
The Effort Counter turns your landmark – local mountain, pass, lookout tower or hut – into a challenge where every ascent counts. What matters is not the time, but how often someone made it to the top.
How it works
One destination, one rule: being at the top counts
No stamps, no boxes, no timing. The destination is a zone on the map – everything else runs automatically.
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Set the destination
Summit, pass, lookout tower or hut: you choose the point that counts – and, if you like, the trail by which it has to be reached.
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Every ascent counts +1
Anyone recording with Strava or Garmin is recognised automatically. Without a sports watch, scanning a QR code at the top is enough – straight in the browser, no extra app.
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Levels instead of best times
Badges on the 1st, 3rd, 8th, 13th and 20th visit keep motivation up all season. Whoever takes it slowly is as much part of it as the fast ones.
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Leaderboard, live feed, hall of fame
Who has been up how often, who arrived today, who just reached a new level? All embedded in your website.
Levels
Every level is a reason for the next ascent
The first level comes on day one, the last after a committed season. You set the names, thresholds and rewards – for example like this:
- 1× Summit joy Coffee at the mountain inn
- 3× Regular 10% off the next ride up
- 8× Local pro A companion rides free
- 13× Chamois Summit shirt
- 20× Legend A place in the hall of fame
Example. The rewards come from you or your partner businesses – and every level reached is an occasion to write to the guest again.
The Trophy sends guests to many places, once each. The Effort Counter brings them to one place, again and again.
Opportunities
What a landmark can do for your destination
Almost every region has that one place everybody knows. Usually it gets visited once, photographed and ticked off. The Effort Counter turns it into a place people come back to.
Day-trippers become regulars
The second visit is the hardest to win. The counter and the levels give every further ascent a reason – from the first time to legend status.
Visits spread across the whole season
Monthly rankings and special days bring guests on weekdays and in the shoulder season too – not just on three sunny weekends.
Revenue for railway, hut and restaurants
Rewards per level bring guests to your tills. And an offer like “a companion rides free” brings new guests along with them.
Locals become ambassadors
The local mountain belongs to the people of the region first. Hall of fame, live feed and badges make their pride visible – and shareable.
Guests stay on the marked trail
If you wish, only an ascent via the defined trail counts. That steers visitors away from protected areas and shortcuts.
Contacts instead of a tally
You know who comes, how often and when – and can reach your most loyal guests directly. The data stays with you.
Ideas
Which destinations fit
What matters is not the altitude but that people like coming back: easy to reach, with a story and a reason to stay at the top.
Local mountain with a cable car
Up on foot, down by cable car. In winter, the summit day counts via a QR code at the top station.
Pass or cult climb
The climb every cyclist in the region knows. Every ascent counts – even the third in the same week.
Lookout tower or viewpoint
Short walk, big view. Ideal for families and after-work loops that quickly add up to many visits.
Hut or mountain inn
Every ascent ends at the table – and every level with an offer from the house. That makes the hut a fixed goal of the season.
Ski touring and snowshoe ascents
Ascents along the piste or on marked snowshoe trails count even when the hiking trails are snowed in.
Questions
What we get asked most often
Does every ascent count, or one visit per day?
Both are possible. Either every ascent counts, including a second one on the same day, or one summit day per calendar day. You decide what fits your destination.
Do participants need a sports watch or an app?
No. Anyone recording with Strava or Garmin is recognised automatically. Everyone else checks in at the top via QR code – straight in the browser, no extra app.
Why are there no times?
Because the Effort Counter is meant to invite everyone – families, leisure hikers and returners as much as the well-trained. What counts is who made it up, not how fast. For timing, there is the Race format.
Can you prescribe the way up?
Yes. You decide whether every route to the destination counts or only the marked one. That helps keep guests away from protected areas and risky shortcuts.
Does the format work for several destinations?
For several places reached once each, the Trophy is the right format. The Effort Counter thrives on one place so striking that people want to go back again and again.
Next step
Do you have a place everybody knows?
Tell us about your destination. In a short call we’ll show you what an Effort Counter could look like there – with levels, rewards and leaderboard in your branding.
LaceUp AG
go@laceup.ch