CBJ’s Renowned Gyms and Trends Report Examines the Highs and Lows of the Climbing Gym Industry in 2025: Increased Expenses, Fewer New Gym Openings, Shifts in Gym Usage Patterns, Operators’ Concerns, and Collective Hope for an Industry-Wide Rebound.
BOULDER, CO – February 9, 2026 – Climbing Business Journal (“CBJ”)—the leading independent media outlet for climbing gym industry news—recently released its popular Gyms and Trends report. The report spotlights and evaluates significant industry happenings for the year 2025, including how economic factors contributed to changes in climbing gym revenues and customer traffic and how gyms adapted to fiscal challenges.
As with previous installments, this year’s Gyms and Trends report utilizes a combination of maps, charts, graphs, tables and expert feedback—including exclusive insights from an in-depth survey of 240 climbing facilities—to present the most comprehensive analysis of a single year in the climbing gym industry.
The Gyms and Trends 2025 report, the 13th annual report of its kind, covers…
- All the new commercial climbing gym openings and closures of 2025 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
- The growth rate of the North American climbing gym industry, with economic underpinnings and implications.
- An examination of consumer spending habits, plus how climbers’ spending behaviors fit within a greater shopping framework in 2025.
- A breakdown of 2025 trends in climbing gym revenues, expenses, traffic, prices, programs, amenities and more.
- Aggregate statistics on climbing gym average check-ins, memberships and payment volumes, exclusively from Rock Gym Pro.
- Analysis of the rise in youth programming at climbing gyms around the industry and the impact on gyms’ revenue streams in 2025.
- A sneak peek of new developments planned for 2026 and beyond.
- A data-driven forecast of what climbing gym operators are expecting in 2026, as well as the industry’s first-ever Optimism Index.
The full Gyms and Trends 2025 report is available to all CBJ members at a paid level and can be accessed here (become a CBJ member here); CBJ Plus and Premium members can access the Climbing Gym Operators Forecast Dashboard here and Climbing Gym Industry Growth Dashboard here; and a selection of digital assets and charts can be found here. Climbing Business Journal editors are available for quotes, questions and full interviews.
Stay up-to-date: Keep your finger on the pulse of the climbing industry by subscribing to weekly emails from Climbing Business Journal, tuning in to CBJ’s podcasts (now on YouTube), and watching CBJ’s professional webinars. Read more stories at climbingbusinessjournal.com. Follow Climbing Business Journal on the most popular social media platforms (Instagram: @climbingjournal, Linkedin: climbingbusinessjournal, Facebook: ClimbingBusinessJournal, X: @ClimbingJournal).
About Climbing Business Journal: Climbing Business Journal (“CBJ”) is one of the only independent news sources devoted to the climbing industry and the preeminent source for information, news and advice on climbing gym developments. CBJ’s Gyms and Trends report is annually one of the most widely read, comprehensive analyses of the climbing gym industry, and it has been a trusted authority and reference since its inaugural edition in 2013.
Contact:
Scott Rennak, Publisher
Climbing Business Journal
scott@climbingbusinessjournal.com
