On this page (10 sections)
The mountain climber retrospective is built for a long goal with a clear finish line. The team names the summit, says honestly where base camp is today, then fills in what helps us climb, the obstacles on the way and the gear we're missing. Run it every few sprints of a long project, and base camp becomes a record of how far you've climbed.
The five columns
| Column | What goes here | Example note |
|---|---|---|
| 🏕️ Base camp: where we are now | An honest, measurable status | "31 of 52 services run in the cloud. The four with on-prem databases are left." |
| 🧗 What helps us climb | What's moving the project up: tools, people, decisions | "The platform team's service template gets a new service running in a day." |
| 🪨 Obstacles on the way | What's in the way and must be removed or worked around | "The network team only opens firewall rules on Tuesdays." |
| 🧰 Gear we're missing | Skills, tools, access or people the team doesn't have yet | "Nobody on the team has moved a live Postgres database." |
| 🏔️ The summit we're aiming for | The end point, with a date and a test for "done" | "All 52 services in the cloud and the data center lease ended by June 30." |
Obstacles vs gear is what makes this format useful. An obstacle sits on the path; missing gear is something you'd carry if you had it. "Firewall rules only on Tuesdays" is an obstacle. "Nobody has moved a live database" is gear. You remove or route around an obstacle; you get, borrow or learn the gear.
Where it comes from. No single person is credited with this format. Climbing retros come in several versions, some with ropes, boulders and weather; this layout, with base camp, missing gear and a summit, is Retro Rabbit's.
In Retro Rabbit
The Mountain Climber template in Retro Rabbit
Pick Mountain Climber from the format library when you create a Team Room (or later in its Settings) and the board starts with its five columns. Your team adds notes during the sprint, with or without their name shown, then votes on what to talk about.
Mountain Climber · Sprint #14
Example notes
Base camp: where we are now
- 31 of 52 services run in the cloud, the four with on-prem databases are left2 votes
- Monitoring moved for 20 services, the rest still page the old system4 votes
What helps us climb
- Platform team's service template gets a new service running in a day5 votes
- Moving the search service first taught us the DNS steps3 votes
Obstacles on the way
- Network team only opens firewall rules on Tuesdays3 votes
- Two services still call an on-prem file share nobody owns2 votes
Gear we're missing
- Nobody on the team has moved a live Postgres database1 vote
- No cost alerts on the cloud account yet1 vote
The summit we're aiming for
- All 52 services in the cloud by June 304 votes
- Data center lease ended, with no service still calling it5 votes
- Base camp: where we are now
- What helps us climb
- Obstacles on the way
- Gear we're missing
- The summit we're aiming for
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When to use it (and when not to)
Use it when:
- a project runs for several sprints toward one finish line: a migration, a launch, a compliance deadline
- the team keeps saying "we're nearly there" and nobody knows how near
- the work needs skills or access the team doesn't have yet
Pick something else when:
- there's no single end point. Ongoing product work with many small goals fits What Went Well or Start Stop Continue better.
- the project just ended. Look back over the whole climb with a project post-mortem or a timeline retrospective.
- you haven't started climbing yet. Picture the summit first with a futurespective.
How to run it live (45 minutes)
| Time | Step |
|---|---|
| 0–4 min | Review last retro's action items |
| 4–9 min | Confirm the summit and update base camp together |
| 9–19 min | Silent writing: what helps, obstacles, missing gear |
| 19–23 min | Group and name |
| 23–27 min | Dot vote on obstacles and gear |
| 27–40 min | Discuss the top obstacles and gear |
| 40–45 min | Agree on actions, then check the distance to the summit |
- Check last climb's actions. Open the Previous Retro tab in the Action Items panel. Gear you said you'd get: did you get it? Old / Unresolved Items shows anything older still open.
- Summit, then base camp. Read the summit note out loud. Then update base camp as a group, with numbers: services moved, databases left, alerts in place. Compare it with last retro's base camp.
- Write silently. Ten minutes on the shared timer for the three middle columns. Use All Topics to show one column at a time.
- Group and vote. Vote only on obstacles and gear. What helps gets read out, not voted on.
- Discuss. For each obstacle: remove it, or route around it? For each piece of gear: who can get it, borrow it or teach it, and by when?
- Check the distance. Given base camp and the pace since last retro, is the summit date still real? Moving it, or picking a nearer camp, is a fine outcome.
How to run it async over a sprint
- Day 1: the next board opens as soon as someone clicks Start New Retro after the last retro (pick Mountain Climber there with Try a different format if your room uses other columns). The project lead posts a new base camp with this week's numbers.
- During the sprint: when something blocks you, post an obstacle. When you think "I wish we had…", post missing gear.
- Mid-sprint: the project lead updates base camp once. Two base camp notes in one sprint show the pace.
- Two days before the end: everyone adds what helps, then votes.
- The day before: the facilitator groups notes and reads the CarrotIQ Sprint Summary.
- Retro day: a 20-minute call on the top obstacles and gear and the summit date, or a written round where each owner replies with a plan.
More in how to run an async retrospective.
12 example prompts
Base camp
- What number tells us where we really are?
- What's done-done, and what's "nearly done"?
What helps us climb 3. What moved us up fastest since the last retro? 4. Who outside the team made this easier?
Obstacles on the way 5. What are we waiting on that we don't control? 6. Which obstacle will still be there next sprint if we do nothing? 7. What did we route around this sprint that we should remove?
Gear we're missing 8. What skill would have saved us a week? 9. What access or tool are we borrowing from someone else? 10. Who could we bring in for one sprint?
The summit 11. Is the summit date still believable? 12. What would we cut to reach the summit on time?
Facilitator tip and a common pitfall
Tip: make base camp a number. "Going well" isn't a base camp. "31 of 52 services" is. The retro then opens with a fact instead of a feeling, and the trend across retros tells you whether you'll make the summit well before the deadline does.
Pitfall: the gear column becomes a shopping list. New tools are easy to ask for and rarely the real gap. For each gear note, ask "what would we do differently on Monday if we had it?" If nobody can say, it isn't missing gear. The answer is often a person or a skill, not software.
How AI helps with this format
On Pro AI (and during the free trial), CarrotIQ handles the admin:
- Group names. Drag "nobody has moved a live Postgres database" onto "no one has run a cloud failover" and CarrotIQ names the group, for example "Database Migration Skills".
- Summaries. The Sprint Summary covers each column and the whole retro. Read the base camp summaries from the last few retros in a row to see the climb at a glance.
- Suggested action items. CarrotIQ Suggest drafts an action from the notes, weighting the most-voted ones. For gear, edit it so it names who gets it and from where.
Example action items
Obstacles get removed or routed around; gear gets acquired, borrowed or learned.
| Note | Action item |
|---|---|
| Gear: "Nobody has moved a live Postgres database" | "Sofia pairs with the platform team's database lead on the first move and writes the playbook before the second." |
| Gear: "No cost alerts on the cloud account" | "Arjun sets a budget alert at 80% of the monthly cloud estimate by Wednesday and reports any alerts at the next retro." |
| Obstacle: "Firewall rules only open on Tuesdays" | "Claire sends the network team all firewall changes for the next four services by Friday, for one Tuesday batch." |
| Base camp: "Four database services left, all hard" | "Tom plans one database service per sprint and checks whether June 30 still holds. He shares the answer at the next retro." |
The Previous Retro tab shows these next time. More in retrospective action items that actually get done.
Use this template in Retro Rabbit
- Start a 14-day free trial. No card is needed.
- For one retro, click Try a different format in Start New Retro and pick Mountain Climber: it applies to that retro only, and your Team Room keeps its usual columns. To make it the room's format, choose it under "Browse all formats" when you create your Team Room, or later in the Team Room's Settings.
- Post the summit with its date, then a base camp note with a number. Mountain Climber uses all five columns a Team Room can have.
See pricing for plans.
Related formats
- Sailboat: a goal with more focus on risks ahead
- Futurespective: picture the summit before you start
- Timeline retrospective: look back over the whole climb
- Quarterly retrospective: a longer view when the summit is a quarter's goals
- More formats in Project retrospectives
- All retrospective templates
Frequently asked questions
What is a mountain climber retrospective?
A retrospective for a long goal with a clear end point. The team names the summit, says honestly where base camp is today, then lists what helps it climb, the obstacles in the way and the gear it's missing.
What's the difference between obstacles and missing gear?
An obstacle is something in the way, like a sign-off that takes two weeks. Missing gear is something you'd bring if you had it: a skill, a tool, access, another person. Obstacles get removed or worked around; gear gets acquired, borrowed or learned.
How is it different from the sailboat retrospective?
Both point at a goal. Mountain Climber adds base camp, so every retro starts by measuring how far the team has come, and missing gear, so capability gaps get their own column. Sailboat puts more weight on risks ahead.
Who created the mountain climber retrospective?
No single person is credited with this format. Climbing retros come in several versions, some with ropes, boulders and weather. Nobody is credited with the five-column layout here, with base camp and a summit.
How long does a mountain climber retrospective take?
About 45 minutes. It works best repeated over several sprints of the same project, so the base camp notes show progress from one retro to the next.
What if the summit is months away?
Pick the next camp instead: a milestone four to six weeks out. A summit that's too far away makes every sprint look the same. Move the summit note up a camp each time you reach one.
Run this retro in Retro Rabbit
Your team adds notes during the sprint, CarrotIQ groups and summarizes them and suggests action items, and unfinished items carry into the next retro.
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