BLOC PARTY

For his third facility, Vertical World’s Rich Johnston is building a dedicated bouldering gym in Tacoma, Washington. It’s not the only bouldering gym in the US — there’s The Spot in Boulder, California’s Bridges Rock Gym, The Circuit Bouldering Gym in Oregon, The Front in Salt Lake City, and more. . . . So does this reflect a major trend in future gyms? Probably not, admits Johnston. “Bouldering is such a niche part of the industry,” he says, “I feel it would be diffi cult to retire on one bouldering gym.” Danielson sees the bouldering trend as a real one, but adds, “There’s no introductory stage [with bouldering] — it’s harder to create members.” Still, it’s likely that multi-gym operations like Touchstone, Planet Granite, and Earth Treks could open bouldering gyms as a part of their larger operations. And just recently the SLO-Op bouldering gym opened the doors of a new bouldering facility in San Louis Obispo, California, though it’s technically a non-profi t gym, funded by membership dues — a different model, to be sure.

Still, many of today’s newest gyms are upping their ratio of bouldering to route climbing, and bouldering is becoming an increasingly high-profile activity. “It used to be, when we’d talk to people about bouldering, they’d say, ‘We’ll get back to you on that,’” says Adam Koberna, VP of marketing and sales for Entre Prises USA, an Oregon-based wall manufacturer. “Now that’s fl ipped; the customer is boulder savvy.” Cort Gariepy, President of Rockwerx, has seen bouldering become a bigger part of today’s gyms. “Fifteen years ago, 10 percent of a gym might have been bouldering,” he says. “Now it’s more like 30 percent.” And bouldering’s getting taller in gyms, too, in some places as high as 20 feet.

WHAT’S IT ALL MEAN FOR CLIMBING?

The many changes enumerated above are just a part of what’s happening in today’s (and tomorrow’s) gyms. When looking at the larger direction, it’s clear that climbing gyms have been moving towards the mainstream for years now, and especially in climbing hotspots and urban centers, the old dusty warehouse gyms with plywood walls have been falling from favor. Multiple-gym operations will likely grow, and more will spring up. “This happened in the health club industry in the late ‘80s and ‘90s,” says Pederson. “With multiple locations, there are economies of scale in payroll, routesetting expenses, upper management, accounting, and sales and marketing. . . . ” With bigger, pricier gyms come more business-savvy investors and operators, maybe even folks from outside the climbing industry altogether. “The new gym takes on more of a level of a quality health club,” says Bills Zimmerman, Executive Director of the Climbing Wall Association.

All this means that the gym experience will be a lot different — as will the people attracted to gyms. This will certainly create more climbers. “More people are introduced to climbing in gyms than through outdoor climbing,” says Bill Zimmerman, President of the Climbing Wall Association (climbingwallassociation.org). But like the gyms they’re learning in, these climbers are part of a next generation. They may or may not ever climb on real rock. Many of them don’t own their own rope. For the crusty old tradster who values nature, solitude, and adventure above all else, this development is likely less than welcome, as waves of young, relatively inexperienced climbers begin crashing against the crags. “Now all you need to start climbing is a credit card, a chalk bag, a harness, and a belay device,” says Zimmerman. “Today’s new climbers don’t have the same values and expectations that a traditionally schooled climber might about risk and responsibility.” Zimmerman sees the coming years as a time of cultural friction in the climbing community, when the old guard — traditionally the folks opening climbing gyms — and the new school meet, altering each other in the process.

But for most of us, this change is and will be a good thing. For one, it’s sure to mean more participation, more attention, and more career sustaining job opportunities in the climbing industry. Better gyms and broader participation, especially in areas where climbing has no major crags or areas to root it, will mean stronger climbers.

“Gyms have been the major reason climbing has grown over the years,” says Johnston, who’s seen the changes first hand since opening his gym in 1987. He adds, “climbing gyms have cranked out some amazing athletes.” Typically, a climber who stays in the game for any length of time will go through multiple phases, and the gym-bred youngsters of today, who can train on 50-plus-foot walls in high-tech facilities like Movement, Momentum, and other top gyms will likely end up on rock at some point. When that happens, we can expect to see the standards click up another notch. Many new gyms are putting strong focus on youth and youth teams, and hiring dedicated coaches, so we’ll also likely see Americans faring better in World-level competitions. (Many new gyms are now building with just such events in mind.)