Climbing Wall Industry Makes History
April 19th, 2007Filed in Training
This past week two hundred gym owners, managers, route setters and wall and hold manufactures attended the first annual Climbing Wall Symposium in Boulder, Colorado hosted by the Climbing Wall Association. The attendees represented over 117 organizations from the US, Canada and Australia making it the largest gathering of industry professionals in history.
The organizers pulled off a successful conference with not a single hang-up or set back. All pre-conference workshops and clinics ran right on schedule. Most workshops during the actual conference were standing room only, with several route setting workshops attended by over 45 people.
Though the workshops and clinics were meaningful and well thought out, for many in attendance the most valuable part of the conference was the networking opportunities. After each workshop small groups of people could be seen huddled together in the halls and lobby of the Boulder Outlook hotel, sharing some of the personal and professional tricks of running a successful climbing gym.
Route setting - We want more!
Route setting was one of the hottest topics during the symposium. The clinics and pre-conference workshops included:
- Managing Your Route Setting Program taught by Dan Hague of Climbing Wall Management was filled to capacity with over 40 gym managers and setters. The participants had so many questions regarding their route setting programs that Dan could not get to all of them in the short (50 minutes) amount of time and had to ask people to hold their comment for after the clinic.
- The Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Route Setting clinics taught by Charlie Boas of the Boulder Rock Club, were also well attended. Boas concentrated his three hour effort on basic theory and easy bouldering movement, which is the quickest way to teach climbing movement. For the setters, many wanted more time and more in-depth clinics though did come away with valuable skills to take home. Orginizers hinted that at next year’s conference attendees could see more route setting workshops, and one to two day setting clinics.
- Route Setting and Technical Operations in Your Facility was presided over by Matt O’Connor of Eldorado Wall Company & Chris Danielson of Thread Climbing and held in the yoga room of The Spot bouldering gym. The clinic attracted mostly experienced managers and was a bit too basic for many of the participents. A more detailed description of the workshop coupled with a tightened down cirriculum would have been helpful and could have garnered better results for attendees.
With six workshops directed specifically at route setters the organizers did a good job of addressing the issue of quality setting. Many, however wanted longer setting clinics and even more setting-related workshops.
One topic that came up regularly during the conference was the lack of quality setters available to climbing gyms and competition organizers. Though nobody seemed to have an answer of how to rectify this dearth, there were meetings between USA Climbing representives, gym managers and route setters about creating more setting certification clinics. And perhaps another way would be with more setting clinics at next years symposium, combined with a more concerted effort to court route setters to attend. Several gym managers said they would have brought their setters this year but were unsure of the quality and content of the clinics.
When asked about what the CWA is doing to promote route setting, board member Rich Cook said, “We’ve seen here this weekend that there is a desire for route setting information, and we’re going to take that to heart”. Bill Zimmerman, president of the CWA added that a route setting “handbook” would be published this year.
Could this be the next OR?
The Outdoor Retailer show (the OR) is historically where the climbing industry gathers to
schmooze and see what is new in the world of climbing. The climbing wall symposium could usurp that distinction. With four climbing wall manufacturers, five hold companies, two pad and flooring specialists, three climbing wall consulting companies and all three American climbing magazine publishers in attendance it just might be the next big “show”.
Overall the symposium was a smashing success and most people left the conference with good ideas and a renewed vigor to improve their gyms back home. Zimmerman said he expects next years conference to triple in size and will again be held in Boulder, Colorado.





May 4th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Routesetter.com: Great coverage of this event. As a presenter, we couldn’t have imagined such an excellent turnout, given the relatively small number of pre-registered attendees. Now that we understand the drawing power of the symposium as a whole, (and this is in agreement with the comments above) the pre-conference workshops will become much more targeted and specifically marketed. One thing that caught us off guard was the complete range of participants in our workshop; from university Athletic Directors looking to bring a wall to their facility to seasoned gym managers. Also, people were very motivated to bring their thoughts and questions to the group, creating a very dynamic forum. For me, some of the best dialog came after our workshop, as I spoke with attendees at length about their specific facility issues. In a way, these conversations will help shape the workshops for next year as they represented the different microcosms in our industry.
Overall, I think this was a very important step in bringing the importance of quality setting out into the open, and expanding the understanding of the art to the climbing arena outside the commercial gym scene and the schools with an active climbing population. Already many of our wall clients are requesting more advanced operational and route setting training, not to mention complete setting of their facilities. We have not seen this to this degree in the past. This is a great sign, both in terms of work for seasoned veterans and developing the next crop of talented, well-versed setters. The better the experience is for climbers of all levels, the more our industry will continue to grow and mature. Kudos to everyone who presented and participated. I am looking forward to an even better symposium next year, with many more specific workshops dedicated to this very artistic, vital, and important element of climbing.
Peace…
Matty O-
August 21st, 2007 at 12:04 am
blanket buddy…
Where I see gallery?…
August 21st, 2007 at 6:30 am
bebo querque…
Wellcome to Bebo online сommunity, allowing you to share photos and blogs…
August 24th, 2007 at 6:56 am
Laura Bruno Bebo Fort Smith…
Bebo сommunity, share your blogs…
February 4th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
[…] This year’s edition is shaping up to be even bigger than last years, with a possible 400 gym owners, managers, routesetters and wall and hold manufactures attending. […]