As climbers, movement is core to what we do, and there was plenty of it happening in all corners of the industry last year. Despite the economic headwinds, gyms and brands continued to charge ahead: new facilities popped up in untapped and preexisting markets, even recovering from hurricane flooding in at least one instance, with the help of local community members and partners; wall builders concocted new ways to make the canvases of our sport more sustainable and innovative; gym operators and routesetters incorporated new technologies into their repertoires to expand their margins; USA Climbing and World Climbing paved fresh paths for competition climbing’s future; and climbing professionals from around the globe teamed up to give us all more insights and data on the subject matters that affect us most.
Wondering which developments stood out from the headlines last year? Here are over a dozen of the top CBJ stories in 2025.
SPORT & COMPETITION
USA Climbing Makes Changes to Youth Series Schedule and Age CategoriesAfter rescheduling the National Championships in July, USA Climbing later announced several changes to its youth series of competitions. |
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Para Climbing Set to Make Paralympics DebutPara Climbing at the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles was officially confirmed in June and will feature eight medal events and 80 athletes. |
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USA Climbing’s New Strategic Plan Anticipates a “New Era of Competition Climbing”USA Climbing laid out its north stars and high-level plans for 2025 to 2028—leading up to the Los Angeles Olympics—in its latest strategic plan. |
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Substantial Change Coming to Transgender Athlete Participation Policy for USA Climbing EventsAs Executive Order 14201 trickles down, transgender women will be prohibited from competing in women’s categories at USA Climbing events. [Editor’s Note: Since this article was published, USA Climbing released its new Competition Eligibility Policy on December 17, 2025.] |
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GYMS & WALLS
Walltopia-Built Bouldering Park Raises the Bar for Public Climbing That’s Open to AllThe new Boyce Bouldering Park is making modern climbing more accessible to folks of all ages and experience levels in the Pittsburgh area. |
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Shift Opens With an Innovative, Tiltable BoulderLikely the first of its kind, the freestanding tiltable boulder at Shift in Holland, Michigan, provides over 25 degrees of adjustability. |
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How to Partner With Your City on a Low-Cost Climbing Program: A Case StudyRock Haven and the City of Gresham have been expanding access to climbing in Oregon. Here’s how you can form a partnership with your city. |
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Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program Leads to New Yukon Climbing GymClimb Yukon Collective, a collaboration among local governments and organizations, opened its doors this year in Whitehorse, Yukon. |
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Group Fitness Climbing Facility to Open in Seattle This FallROQ, a HIIT-focused climbing and fitness center, opened its 14 Kilter Boards to the public last fall, headed by Michael Hauss. |
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Community Coming Together: Cultivate Climbing Reopens After Hurricane HeleneAfter Hurricane Helene destroyed Cultivate Climbing’s gyms, the community rallied and the business is now poised to have more locations than before. |
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Gym Expansion and Sustainability in Denmark – Behind the Desk with Boulders Co-Owner Martin PetersenNow a CEO of 11 open locations, Martin Petersen shares some of the advice he’s accumulated over the years on growing a gym business. |
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FROM CBJ
How Much Are We Earning? 5 Takeaways From CBJ’s Compensation Survey for Climbing Gym StaffThe results of CBJ’s Climbing Gym Staff Compensation Survey offer a glimpse into what professionals around the industry are making, with a new data dashboard that empowers you to explore the stats and compare them to your own situation. |
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Routesetting Trends of 2025Safety, certifications, route density and turnover, movement styles, equipment innovations…here’s all the 2025 Routesetting Trends Survey data. |
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Gyms and Trends 2024The number of climbing gyms in North America rose to over 870 in 2024—more gyms than ever before. We dive into all the stats and trends from last year in our most comprehensive Gyms & Trends report ever. |
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2025 Grip List AwardsFind out the holds, volumes, boards, apps and shapers that setters have been appreciating most, as well as the first Favorite Manufacturer. |
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