Join the Industry Practices Committee
The CWA is excited to open recruitment for the Industry Practices Committee!
This group of industry professionals will help rewrite the current “Industry Practices: A Sourcebook for the Operations of Manufactured Climbing Walls.”
Despite the immediate troubles of the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of indoor climbing is bright! With many new developments in the operation of climbing gyms over the last few years, it is time for us to examine our industry’s standards and ensure that they are meeting the needs of all facilities.
The goal of this rewrite is to modernize the current standard. The committee's work will account for new developments in the industry, provide greater legal and regulatory support to our industry, and help ensure that all climbing facilities are operating at a good minimum standard.
Some of the key areas we will address include flooring, autobelay operations, facility orientations, and climbing wall worker training. Additionally, we will be reviewing the entire document to confirm that all content is in alignment with contemporary climbing wall operations.
In past versions of the industry practices standard, the CWA has been careful to provide a framework to assist climbing wall operators in developing their own risk management practices while allowing enough flexibility for innovation and an individual business’s culture and mission.
This will remain a foundational point of the Industry Practices committee’s work. However, we have learned a lot as an industry in the past 30 years, and we have the ability to provide clearer guidance on certain operations to reduce the risks we face as an industry.
One prime example of this would be the widespread adoption of continuous flooring systems and the reduction of the use of crash pads in bouldering areas. This development has been encouraged by many industry professionals and even may have positive effects on the cost of a gym’s insurance. We hope to find other similar improvements to share that can reduce the overall risk that businesses and individuals face.
While the CWA is the authority for best practices in the indoor climbing industry, the ideas and authorship of these standards come directly from industry professionals like you.
We need your input, expertise, and experience to inform the work we do. If you are passionate about risk management, climbing wall operations, climbing equipment, and/or customer satisfaction, submit your application for this important and vital committee. Members of the committee will be selected by the CWA board and will have a tenure of 2 years.
If you have a particular area of interest or expertise but cannot commit to biweekly meetings, please apply and indicate your interest and availability on the application form. Several areas that need to be addressed will require additional research and there may be opportunities to join smaller working groups or provide comments and assistance on specific topics.
To learn more about the Industry Practices Committee, please join us for an info session on March 31 at 10am MT. We will discuss your needs and concerns as well as the logistics of the committee itself.
Other committees are on the horizon – if you have other interests, we invite you to reach out and see where you can provide your input.
About the Author
Garnet Moore is the Interim Executive Director at the Climbing Wall Association. Garnet brings more than a decade of experience in the climbing industry, serving gyms, manufacturers, and many climbing friends and partners.