Your ‘MAGICAL’ climbing gym (or how climbing gym design, community, climbing trends, atmosphere and profitability are connected)

Thomas Reichhart is CEO of ARTROCK KLETTERWÄNDE, an architect and has been a climbing wall designer for 15 years. But above all, he is an enthusiastic climber who has tried out almost every variety of this great sport.  Over the last two decades, he has been involved in hundreds of climbing and bouldering hall projects from the very beginning.

He observes very closely how the sport of climbing, the communities and the climbing infrastructure are constantly changing.

Many opposing trends are currently shaping our ‘climbing reality’. You see great climbing facilities being built, but at the same time gigantic hall projects failing to create a good atmosphere for their visitors. We hear about oversaturation of the climbing gym market, about dying climbing gyms and at the same time the facilities are becoming ever more gigantic. There are more climbers than ever before and yet there seem to be fewer tight-knit communities. The strong trend towards more closeness to nature and outdoor sports is unbroken and yet there are more and more climbers who only climb indoors.

In this talk, Thomas Reichhart invites you to reflect together on the connections between climbing wall design, the climbing community, climbing trends, profitability, climbing values and the deep magic of climbing.

He will try to share his experiences and give you plenty of tips and food for thought on how to turn your gym into a unique ‘valuable’ climbing venue.