GYM PROJECTS
“Bigfoot” Arrives in North Carolina
Bigfoot Climbing Gym
Morganton, NC
Specs: 10,000-square-foot bouldering gym shares its building with a health-conscious grocery store. The gym also features a “party room.” Youth climbing...
PARTNER CONTENT
2nd WICS Connects at Exciting Time for Climbing
Two months before the first climbing Olympians qualified for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the annual World Indoor Climbing Summit (WICS) took place on...
Delire Climbing: Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds, Healthy World
In today’s world, people are searching for balance; balance between work, family, friends, sports and fitness, and hobbies. Partners come up with creative ways to make time for climbing and raising children. Employees look for jobs that offer flexible work times, remote work possibilities, and parental leave. Climbers try to find ways to enjoy the outdoors without destroying it. Can this search for balance be achieved if companies begin to embody those ideals through policies and practices? Rather than evaluating success by counting profits, Delire Climbing evaluates its success by the satisfaction of its clients, the happiness of its employees, and its ecological approach to manufacturing.
Futurist Climbing Flooring & Mats: A Long-Play Partnership
Futurist offers stable, single layer foam floors. Although there are no enforceable US climbing flooring standards, Futurist voluntarily follows the European and UK standards and has adhered to their own strict parameters. The company also uses a high-speed 3D laser cloud point scanner to accurately design and fabricate flooring that fits perfectly when installed. 100% financing to qualified clients up to half a million dollars.
RESEARCH & EDUCATION
From Volunteer Routesetter To Gym Manager: Behind the Desk With Matthew Butler-Bugher
Behind the Desk…is an ongoing series that profiles people influencing and advancing the climbing industry. In this installment, CBJ heads to the East Coast and talks about the inner workings of Vermont’s MetroRock gym, the concept of rockstar routesetters, and good espresso being the best fuel for the day.
Ask A Lawyer: Gym Waivers and Employee Tattoos
Ask a Lawyer is a recurring column where attorney Jason Pill answers questions submitted by people who work in the climbing industry. If you’ve got a legal question that you’d like him to tackle about your gym, your employees, or anything else in the wide world of climbing, you can submit it here.
QUESTION: “Honestly, how solid is a gym’s waiver, in terms of protecting the facility against a lawsuit?” QUESTION: “Am I allowed to ask my employees to cover their tattoos?”
Back To School: Climbing Thrives at the College Level
It is that time of year when students around the country say goodbye to summer and gear up for the start of a new academic year at colleges and universities. While mention of college sports often conjures up thoughts of football on crisp autumn days or basketball tournament brackets amid the frenzy of March Madness, the sport of climbing is being offered by more schools every year—often in the form of recreational university clubs. There is also an annual Collegiate National Championship competition sanctioned by USA Climbing.
CBJ Job Board: Matching Top Candidates and Positions
Are you looking to hire qualified indoor climbing professionals?
Or ready to take the next step in your career?
The Climbing Business Journal has been...
10 Ways to Improve Your Climbing Gym’s Youth Program
Youth climbing is booming. There is a growing number of gyms around the country, so the sport is naturally more accessible to youngsters than ever before. Also, as climbing cements itself more securely in the mainstream and in the lifestyle milieu, parents increasingly see it as a viable athletic option for kids. Here are 10 keys to making any youth program better, with special insider advice from youth program expert Nicole Brandt.
First International Routesetter Survey
Italy-based Vertical Life - which primarily develops software for the climbing industry - has launched what the company describes as "the first comprehensive survey of routesetting around the world." By taking a closer look at the nuts and bolts of routesetting fundamentals, operations and careers, the survey intends to identify similarities and differences in routesetting standards and promote exchange within the routesetting profession.
Black Diamond Cuts Jobs
Black Diamond recently announced that 70 employees would be let go from its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. The massive round of layoffs, which will reportedly reduce the equipment manufacturer’s personnel in that state by more than 20 percent, are part of a “multi-year strategy” to shift the company’s operations from in-house manufacturing in the United States to manufacturing in other countries.
Behind the Desk with Danny Burkhead
Behind the Desk… is an ongoing series that profiles people influencing and advancing the industry in gyms across the country. This month, CBJ heads to Central Oregon to talk about the fate of The Circuit Bouldering Gym in Tigard. Several months ago, the gym was at risk of closing due to eminent domain laws (specifically regarding a proposed railway line). However, thanks to some recent rallying by the Tigard climbing community and a subsequent unanimous vote by a planning committee, the railway line will avoid the gym.
Incidents Down After Tube Belay Ban in Singapore
By Halil NgahIt has been two years since a handful of gyms on the tropical island country of Singapore made the controversial decision to...
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add new leaderboard mid adLATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
America’s Oldest Gym Adds Location // Michael Paukner // USAC Hires Experienced VP
Don’t miss news from this week:
"America’s Oldest Gym” Adds a New Location
Standing Out In a City of Many Gyms: Behind the Desk with Michael Paukner
USA Climbing Hires New Marketing VP
Standing Out In a City of Many Gyms: Behind the Desk with Michael Paukner
Behind the Desk… is an ongoing series that profiles people influencing and advancing the industry in gyms from coast to coast. For this installment, we travel to the Northeast—to Boston—where climbing is booming in one of the most tightly-packed urban landscapes in the country. We chat with Michael Paukner at Rock Spot about the keys to appealing to a broad customer base, the best ways for a gym to stay unique in a crowded market...and the best music to blare during those hard gym sessions.
USA Climbing Hires New Marketing VP
The chief governing body for competition climbing in the United States, USA Climbing, recently announced Kelly Feilke as its new Vice President of Marketing, Communications, and Development. The role will entail close work with the organization’s Board of Directors, and Feilke will report directly to USA Climbing’s CEO, Marc Norman.
“America’s Oldest Gym” Adds a New Location
Vertical World North
Lynnwood, WA
Specs: 20,000-square-foot facility includes top ropes and lead walls, a bouldering area, cardio equipment, and ample lounge space to accommodate the...
Optional Pay Pioneer // Bigfoot In NC
Don’t miss the news from this week:
Optional Pay: 6 Lessons from a Pioneer
“Bigfoot” Arrives in North Carolina
Have news to share with CBJ readers? Please reach out and let us know!
Optional Pay: 6 Lessons from a Pioneer
Last year, the reportedly first nonprofit climbing gym in the United States featuring a pay-as-you-can business model opened in Tennessee: Memphis Rox. Buzz circulated online on climbing, indoor climbing, outdoor and non-climbing publications alike after its opening on March 22nd. Now 18 months since Memphis Rox opened its doors to all, the Climbing Business Journal checked in with Jon Hawk, Director of Operations, and Zack Rogers, Director of Administration, to learn more about the business side of the equation and share their experience with climbing professionals interested in a similar undertaking.
“Bigfoot” Arrives in North Carolina
Bigfoot Climbing Gym
Morganton, NC
Specs: 10,000-square-foot bouldering gym shares its building with a health-conscious grocery store. The gym also features a “party room.” Youth climbing...
Meet “Boof” from VT // Gym News: CO, ID
Don’t miss the news from this week:
Popular Denver Chain To Add Third Gym
From Volunteer Routesetter To Gym Manager
New Gym’s Story Is Anything But “Common”
Popular Denver Chain To Add Third Gym
Specs: 15,000-square-foot facility will feature a lower level that is exclusively for bouldering and an upper mezzanine level that features a communal space, retail shop, and espresso bar. Additionally, a “training area” will feature a Tension Board, weights, cardio machines, and other accoutrements. The gym will be dog-friendly. Other Denver Bouldering Club offerings include facilities in the city’s south and central sections, but Denver Bouldering Club North (“DBC North”) will cater primarily to clientele around northern Denver’s metro area. It will be the first DBC location to include a yoga studio. The DBC chain began in 2009 as a single “co-op bouldering warehouse.” This north gym is the biggest expansion project that the DBC brand has undertaken in the past decade.
From Volunteer Routesetter To Gym Manager: Behind the Desk With Matthew Butler-Bugher
Behind the Desk…is an ongoing series that profiles people influencing and advancing the climbing industry. In this installment, CBJ heads to the East Coast and talks about the inner workings of Vermont’s MetroRock gym, the concept of rockstar routesetters, and good espresso being the best fuel for the day.
