Free to climb. Pay once for the whole range.
No subscription. No trial that expires. No ads. One $3.99 purchase, tied to your Apple ID, that stays bought.
Cardio Command
The complete game, on one mountain. Not a demo.
- Grouse Mountain — 20 and 30-minute climbs
- The Summit Expedition program
- Every core mechanic — zone scoring, streak multipliers, the flame, PERFECT bonus
- All dynamic events — Rockfall, Whiteout, Altitude Sickness, Tailwind, Rope Assist
- Summit Cards and sharing straight from the Watch
- All audio — cues, haptics, your own music, and Trail Radio
- The entire iPhone app — history, badge grid, accuracy trends, personal records, high-resolution card exports
- Badge earning — every badge you can reach on Grouse counts
Free means free. No ads, no session limit, no countdown.
Cardio Command Pro
Everything in Free, plus the rest of the mountain range.
- All five mountains — Mount Whitney, Kilimanjaro, K2, and Everest, with score multipliers up to ×5
- All eleven interval programs — Norwegian 4×4, Tabata, 10-20-30, Pyramid, Tempo, Zone 2, 30/30, Fartlek and more
- Rescue Mission — the urgent-recovery variant
- Storm Shelter — calm mode, in 5, 10 and 15-minute sessions
- 45 and 60-minute climbs
- The badges that only exist further up — Everest Conquered, Program Master, Storm Veteran, Iron Everest
One purchase. Both devices. Forever.
What the purchase actually changes.
Short version: it unlocks content. Every mechanic, every screen, and the whole companion app are free.
| Feature | Free | Pro · $3.99 |
|---|---|---|
| Grouse Mountain | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mount Whitney, Kilimanjaro, K2, Everest | — | ✓ |
| Summit Expedition program | ✓ | ✓ |
| The other ten interval programs | — | ✓ |
| Rescue Mission mode | — | ✓ |
| Storm Shelter calm mode | — | ✓ |
| 20 and 30-minute climbs | ✓ | ✓ |
| 45 and 60-minute climbs | — | ✓ |
| Zone scoring, streaks & PERFECT bonus | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dynamic events | ✓ | ✓ |
| Summit Card + Watch sharing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audio cues, haptics, Trail Radio | ✓ | ✓ |
| iPhone companion app | ✓ | ✓ |
| High-res exports + Instagram Stories | ✓ | ✓ |
| Badge earning | ✓ | ✓ |
| Badges requiring the higher peaks or other programs | — | ✓ |
| Price | $0 | $3.99 once |
The two badge rows are the honest version of a question people ask: badges themselves are never behind the paywall, but a badge like Everest Conquered obviously needs Everest.
How billing works
One purchase, kept forever. Cardio Command Pro is a non-consumable in-app purchase. Pay once through the App Store and it's yours — install on a new Watch or a new iPhone, tap Restore Purchases, and everything is unlocked again.
No subscription, and that's deliberate. A subscription is hard to justify for a game with no ongoing server cost. There's nothing to renew and nothing to cancel. If additional content ever ships — new mountain ranges, seasonal challenges — it would be a separate optional purchase, never a change to what you already bought.
No account, ever. There's no sign-up, no password, and no email required to play. Purchases ride your Apple ID and your climb history syncs through your own iCloud. We never see your payment details, because they never pass through us.
One purchase covers both apps. The Watch app and the iPhone companion share the entitlement. Buying on either unlocks both.
Before you buy.
Is the free tier a real workout or a demo?
A real workout. Grouse Mountain with Summit Expedition runs the complete game engine — zone scoring, streak multipliers, the PERFECT centre bonus, dynamic events, Summit Cards, badges, and the full iPhone app. Pro adds harder mountains, more programs, and longer sessions. It does not add the game.
Do I need the iPhone app?
No — the Watch app is self-contained and you can play and share without ever opening your phone. The companion is where the history, trends, records and high-resolution card exports live, and it's free either way.
What happens to my climbs if I never buy Pro?
Nothing. They stay in your history, keep syncing to your iPhone, and keep counting toward badges and records. There is no expiry on anything you've already done.
Can I try the harder mountains first?
Not currently — the higher peaks are what the purchase unlocks. Grouse is deliberately the mountain that teaches you the game, and if holding a zone on Grouse doesn't appeal, the tighter bands further up will not change that.
Is there a family or multi-device thing to worry about?
Non-consumable purchases work the way every other App Store purchase does, including Family Sharing where it's enabled on your account. Restore Purchases is in the app's settings on both devices.
Which Apple Watch do I need?
An Apple Watch with a heart-rate sensor running a current watchOS, paired with an iPhone. The game reads heart rate through HealthKit and asks permission the first time you launch it.
Start free. Decide after your first Summit Card.
If holding the band for thirty minutes on Grouse doesn't hook you, Pro won't either — and that's a perfectly good outcome.