By: Louie Anderson

Since the first American climbing gym opened its doors in the 80’s, there has been a meteoric rise in their popularity. More people are looking to climbing gyms for their fitness fix, a social outlet, or even just a birthday party venue.

As such, many new gyms are opening up and these new facilities offer jaw-dropping terrain and more wall and bouldering space than gyms had ever before.

If you climb at one of these newer facilities consider yourself lucky. Many people however, are climbing in gyms that are 10 to 20 years old.

These facilities were built in a time when the people designing and operating them didn’t really understand training, setting, and marketing like today’s industry does. Because of this, these original gyms are now showing their age.

But there are a few things these industry dinosaurs can do to revitalize their facilities and enhance their customer’s experience.

Holds

Get rid of the old, chipped, polished, drably colored plastic and buy some modern, brightly colored and larger holds. These new toys will give your walls more color, add focal points, and re-motivate the climbers and setters.

Consider joining a hold subscription program in order to get a regular infusion of new shapes. Most of these programs are not very expensive and many hold companies offer them.

Continue reading »