3Month2Day-3Month3Day, a two-day climbing promotion conference was successfully held at the National Mountaineering Training Base. This conference, led by the Chinese Mountaineering Association, gathered managers from fifty climbing gyms nationwide, frontline climbing education workers, national team athletes, route setters, and judges. The scale was unprecedented. Rather than just a promotion meeting, it felt more like an industry gathering where participants had in-depth discussions on the current state of the industry and its future prospects. Many new ideas and methods provided great inspiration for those working in the field. Being there, one could deeply feel that the spring of climbing is just around the corner.
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Over the past year, the number of newly built climbing gyms has increased rapidly, and related climbing news coverage has continued to heat up. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently around50climbing gyms in operation on the Chinese mainland, mainly distributed in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta. There are tens of thousands of climbing enthusiasts and nearly a thousand industry professionals. Although the sport started late, it has developed rapidly, but there is still a significant gap compared to other countries. To promote climbing, the Chinese Mountaineering Association has proposed the "Develop 100,000 Climbers" plan and the national Youth Climbing Stars selection program, striving to popularize climbing and nurture future talent.
Why vigorously develop the sport of climbing?
1, The unique charm of climbing — healthy and sustainable, greatly benefiting the mind, body, and spirit.
2, There is a huge gap compared to other countries. A single city like London or Paris has500climbing gyms, showing a clear disparity.
3, Olympic dream — if climbing gains enough popularity and influence, it will have a better chance of being included in the Olympic family.
4, Compared to other outdoor sports, climbing competitions are easier to promote and are extremely safe.
5, The climbing industry is still in its early stages and has not yet formed a complete industry chain, requiring efforts from all parties to grow.
6, Climbing combines both outdoor and indoor elements.
Current development status of domestic climbing gyms:
Due to early misunderstandings about the sport of climbing and gym operations, many currently operating climbing gyms in China are not ideal, with uneven development. The main types include:
1, Building climbing gyms in shopping malls, leveraging high foot traffic, is a way to achieve quick returns and suits the current national conditions.
2, Within fitness and multi-sport clubs
3, Independently establishing specialized climbing venues. With climbing not yet fully mature or mainstream, this approach requires patience.
4， Outdoor artificial climbing walls will be built in high-traffic areas such as parks, stadiums, and youth palaces.
No matter which model is adopted, it's necessary to optimize resources based on your own circumstances, make full use of all available conditions, and establish your own healthy and sustainable profit model. Where the future of climbing lies requires us to keep learning and communicating.
In conjunction with this seminar, the issues troubling climbing site operations have been effectively addressed, and brief explanations are given on new rules, methods, and ideas:
1， Amateur climbers will now be rated. Previously, each climbing site had its own standards, leading to inconsistency. Now, a unified system will be widely promoted.1-9The grading system is simple to understand and easy to promote, and will be a milestone for the development of youth climbing training and amateur climbing.
2， A star-rating system for climbing gyms,1from one5to multiple stars, will comprehensively evaluate factors such as wall quality and structure, service level, and instructor quality. This will help industry self-regulation, visually reflect service value, and enhance safety.
3， In the future, a large number of youth climbing coaches will be trained, and numerous climbing training courses targeting young people will be developed, including specialized training in youth psychology, behavior, climbing techniques, and climbing site operation analysis.
4， Currently, the better-performing climbing sites in China are all training-based, which helps retain and expand their customer base. This is also a future trend in the climbing market, and training will ultimately become an important direction in their business strategies.
5， Various operational issues regarding the “Hope Stars” youth event were discussed and responsibilities assigned.
6， One major issue affecting climbing site expenses is staffing. Self-belaying by customers has begun to gain popularity abroad, and two gyms in China are already implementing it—this will also be a future trend.
7， The design of future climbing gyms will become more diverse.
Climbing is a sport with mass appeal. As a country with a large population and a strong sports culture, China presents many opportunities and markets. Join us, and make the climbing world even more exciting with your participation.