The Climbing Wall Association's blog is a place for indoor climbing professionals to find useful and relevant information from industry and business experts. Stay on top of best practices, thought leadership, and trends by subscribing to our newsletter!
Member appreciation looks very different these days. Indoor in-person gatherings—particularly those with communal food or beverages—are on hold nationwide. This rules out classic bouldering-comp-plus-beer events, as well as many others. This is tough, because climbing facilities... Continue Reading
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Maxim ropes shared a procedure for infrequently disinfecting climbing ropes. This protocol was based on work that Teufelberger, Maxim’s parent company, had done in 2015 for ropes that are used in pest-infested areas. Arborists and cavers often... Continue Reading
The Climbing Wall Association’s next installment of “Projecting Anti-Racism” is a case study of a bouldering gym and a local grassroots climbing group that explores how to build community in 2020. GP81 is a climbing gym in Brooklyn, New York, and Try-Hard Crew is a group that... Continue Reading
Please join the CWA in welcoming the newest addition to our growing team – Jake Byk, our marketing coordinator. Jake (he/him) has been a professional visual communicator for more than six years, working in multiple fields across the country. After receiving his B.S. in photojournalism from... Continue Reading
The President has signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 into law, which will have implications for many businesses in the indoor climbing industry. Over the next few weeks, various government agencies will publish clarifications on how they will adopt these new rules, and we may learn... Continue Reading
Posted By Climbing Wall Association, Thursday, July 16, 2020 | UPDATED November 17, 2020 With the recent wave of re-closures and changing guidelines, it is necessary now, more than ever, to stand up and advocate for effective and reasonable reopening guidelines for climbing gyms. Your local... Continue Reading
“Climbing is all about community,” says Nick Muffet, Marketing & Community Director at Rock Mill Climbing in Akron, Ohio. That’s the philosophy behind holding regular member appreciation events—to make your members feel welcome, engaged, and excited to be a part of your gym’s community. And these da Continue Reading
Many climbing gyms across the country have moved well into their reopening plans. We’ve begun to see programs like youth teams and adult classes return to the gym, even if they do look a little different than before. Several gyms have restarted their adaptive climbing programs and events... Continue Reading
COVID-19 has required an incredible amount of flexibility and adaptation in all of our lives, inside of the climbing gym and out. Like many other industries, climbing gym retail has taken a hit this year, but it’s not all bad news. Based on data from a convenience sample of three gyms that... Continue Reading
Starting and maintaining a business, as well as expanding a brand, can be challenging enough in an ordinary business landscape. Now, during a global pandemic, to evolve your business model can seem daunting and confusing, maybe even dire. But the best-laid plans for a business are the plans that... Continue Reading
During a recent CWA Community Call, our members discussed some of the problems and solutions around hosting in-person climbing competitions and events. Getting back to large group gatherings is far off in many areas of the world, but we still need to provide a sense of community and fun for... Continue Reading
The pandemic was a shock to the climbing industry. In addition to other disruptions to daily life, gym closures have been devastating to the entire industry. It’s clear that the path forward cannot be the same one previously taken. A new path forward has to be forged. The Climbing Wall... Continue Reading
