Project NORA · National Three Peaks field test
Three peaks. Three rounds of iteration.
We're field-testing NORA, our passive lumbar exoskeleton, on the UK's three highest mountains. Between every climb, we take what the mountain taught us and redesign it.
Postponed for the weather
The forecast for 24 October isn't safe for a field test, so we're not going. Good mountain sense is part of the job: we'd never want rescue volunteers turning out because we pushed on. New date coming soon.
The challenge
One down. Two to go.
Three separate climbs on three separate dates, so every test starts on rested legs and gives us clean, comparable results.
Ben Nevis
Complete · 3 Oct 2026
Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon)
Postponed (weather) · new date TBC
Scafell Pike
Date to be announced
Real terrain, real weather
Wet rock, scree, steep descents and summit cloud. Each mountain puts different demands on the body, and on the exoskeleton.
Test. Learn. Change. Repeat.
Every climb ends with a list of improvements. We build them before the next mountain, then prove them on the hill.
For the people who come for us
Mountain rescue volunteers carry heavy kit over brutal ground, at any hour. That's exactly the strain NORA is designed to reduce.
The iteration log
What each mountain taught us
The proof is in what changes. This is NORA's development record, updated after every climb.
Chapter 01
Ben Nevis
3 October 2026 · ~5 hours
- Around five hours of continuous wear
- Wet rock, scree and a cold summit plateau
- Full ascent and descent under load
- Leg support needs to adapt to the person and the terrain
- A closer fit to the body matters over long distances
- Leg support redesigned to be modular
- Closer, more personalised body fit
Chapter 02
Yr Wyddfa
Postponed due to weather · new date TBC
The first outing for the redesigned NORA, with the modular leg support and revised fit.
Posted after the climb.
Built before Scafell Pike.
Chapter 03
Scafell Pike
Date to be announced
Everything we change after Yr Wyddfa.
Coming soon.
Coming soon.
Why there are no close-ups or numbers here
The detailed engineering stays in the lab while the designs are developed, so you'll see what changed, not how. Any data from our wearers is personal and stays confidential. That's the same standard we hold for any rescue team or unit trialling NORA.
The team
Who's climbing
Dr Matt Dickinson
Founder & CEO. Summited Ben Nevis in NORA, confirmed for Yr Wyddfa.
Ben Cordery
Summited Ben Nevis wearing NORA.
Sam Patankar
Ben Nevis team.
Two new climbers
Joining the team. Announced before the Yr Wyddfa climb.
Every pound goes to Lochaber MRT
Supporting the people who come for you
Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team is Scotland's busiest, run entirely by volunteers. Already given? Thank you, you got us up Ben Nevis. New here? Two peaks to go. Come with us.
Rescue team, expedition or unit?
Field-test NORA with us. Tell us what you carry and where, and help shape what it becomes.