Climbing gym membership

Just curious if anyone has an idea of what the average enrollment size is for a climbing gym.

The short answer is.... it depends!

There are gyms with 3000+ members, and gyms with 30 members. Seriously. Every climbing gym is a totally unique market. Some gyms make 80% of their money on day passes and birthday parties and have very few members. And others make 90% of the revenue on memberships.

I'd say the average sits around 300 or so, but that average is really meaningless.

If you are thinking about a gym in the Palm Springs area... there are some challenges. Gyms draw their clientele from a 20 minute radius of middle and upper middle class folks between the ages of 20-45, and that area has a BIG sprawl without a high concentration of the target demographic.

(BTW - I develop the main software running almost all major climbing gyms in North America... rockgympro.com . Thus I'm not just blowing smoke. I spend my life talking to gym owners).

Thanks, just curious what kind of numbers these gyms make.

You mean revenue? So gyms gross less than $100k per year and others more than $3,000,000 per year.

It all depends.

But one things holds true: the gyms that do the best are run by individuals who excel at business and customer service skills.

Running an profitable climbing gym is hard, far harder and far costlier than most people realize. Climbers who have access to a profitable and well-run gym should consider themselves lucky.

Here is a similiar question, what is a normal rate that you guys pay for gym membership?

I look at 120 for a 3 month enrollment. Or 17 dollars a day at our brand new gym in town, 650 for a year.

sbrockgym.com/rates

Just curious if these are normal prices/low prices/high prices.

Absolutely normal prices for a nice gym. Those are on the lower side for exceptional gyms.

Thats awesome. The new one in Santa Barbara is supposed to be better than Vertical Heaven in Ventura.

I have not yet climbed at either but from what I have heard they are pretty awesome.

12$ boulder day pass 15$all inclusive day pass $66/month $59/month student $45 EFT $545/yr $480/yr student

I for one would love a Coachella valley gym but I agree with the comments above about the lack of a dense population.

It's been a thought in the back of my mind but I'd be doing it for the wrong reasons. Maybe up near the 10 and Monteray near those new business parks? Location would be tough call in the desert.

Brian

I wonder how many members the Earth Treks gym in Rockville, MD has. They charge an outlandish $20 a day or $100 a month (plus initiation fee) to climb there. I guess the residents of MD are really desperate to climb.

Joining with a partner cost my partner and I about 450$ each a year, great gym with over 120feet of vert climbing

$380/year ($589 when not on promotion) for a rope+bouldering gym with minimal workout machines/weights. I'm not sure of the enrollment for this gym, there are a few locations and it's the only total climbing gym in town.

$380/year ($380/year when not on promotion) for a bouldering coop with barebones workout machines/weights/ropes. There are something like 100 active yearlong memberships to the coop

I kno this is an old post. But there is a new gym is fort Myers Florida. They charge $150 a month. Any addition family member is $99. So $249 a month. It’s insane. The gym is small, maybe 4,000 square feet. No lead climbing and small boulder wall. I just don’t get it, they a taking advantage of people. The gym is called Fort Rock climbing center in fort Myers Florida. What are y’all’s thoughts 

Kirk Lazarus wrote:

I kno this is an old post. But there is a new gym is fort Myers Florida. They charge $150 a month. Any addition family member is $99. So $249 a month. It’s insane. The gym is small, maybe 4,000 square feet. No lead climbing and small boulder wall. I just don’t get it, they a taking advantage of people. The gym is called Fort Rock climbing center in fort Myers Florida. What are y’all’s thoughts 

I thought you were joking. But the prices and your description of facilities is right on. Amazing!

https://fortrockclimbing.com/rates/

Kirk Lazarus wrote:

I kno this is an old post. But there is a new gym is fort Myers Florida. They charge $150 a month. Any addition family member is $99. So $249 a month. It’s insane. The gym is small, maybe 4,000 square feet. No lead climbing and small boulder wall. I just don’t get it, they a taking advantage of people. The gym is called Fort Rock climbing center in fort Myers Florida. What are y’all’s thoughts 

Supply and demand.

I saw the other thread first, but I'll post my response here again since this is forum is more appropriate.

That's outrageous. I guess if you're the only game in town you can afford to be a racket. I'm sure some people are willing to pay that price, but there's probably a ton of climbers that scoff at the idea of paying $150/month, especially for what sounds like a lack luster gym. I pay $100/month for a super high quality gym with way more amenities, free events and classes, more climbing area, lead climbing, and way better setting, but I wouldn't pay close to that for a gym like Rock Fort.

150 seems pretty steep, but it might still be worth it. I pay 65 a month for a small bouldering gym with nice weight set up, clean, friendly, moonboard, everything I want in a gym except lead or top rope, which is unfortunate, but I just go outside for that anyways. Members get 24/7 access to the facility.

Kirk Lazarus wrote:

I kno this is an old post. But there is a new gym is fort Myers Florida. They charge $150 a month. Any addition family member is $99. So $249 a month. It’s insane. The gym is small, maybe 4,000 square feet. No lead climbing and small boulder wall. I just don’t get it, they a taking advantage of people. The gym is called Fort Rock climbing center in fort Myers Florida. What are y’all’s thoughts 

You're free not to become a member.

Looks like a need for competition!

I work at my local gym so I don’t have to pay anymore but when I was a member it was around 60$ a month 

R D wrote:

That is pretty expensive for a small gym but consider the background economics right now. Interest rates are very high, so a corporate bank loan will have high servicing costs. I am going through the effort now to do a business plan and financial projections for a potential new gym and it looks pretty rough, Fort Rock opened in 2022.  Gyms that are long established and successful, maybe they acquired their lending during a 0% prime rate environment, and their principal is paid down so the gym has lots of breathing room and is comfortable keeping prices low. Unfortunately there is no such luxury today for new gyms, and no guarantee of success. The age of easy money is over. If you lived somewhere with no available outdoor climbing, and no indoor climbing gyms, would you stomach an annual membership fee over $100 a month for a new small or mid-size gym?

Gym’s will charge what people will pay. If it’s too high people won’t join and the gym will fail, too low and the gym won’t cover expenses and fail. It’s a tricky dance.

R D wrote:

If you lived somewhere with no available outdoor climbing, and no indoor climbing gyms, would you stomach an annual membership fee over $100 a month for a new small or mid-size gym?

What sq/ft are you calling small to mid-size? For that price and a small space, your setting better be amazing and reset frequently. It’s also location dependent- are you asking New Yorkers to pay $100? No problem. Are you asking people in Nebraska to pay $100? That’s a different story.