DEBATE ON DENSITY: HOW MANY BOULDERS DO YOU ACTUALLY NEED IN YOUR GYM AT ANY ONE TIME?
BY JACK MASEL
During a recent interstate work trip, I visited multiple different gyms and made an interesting observation. Across gyms of various sizes, from small community focused facilities to large commercial outfits that they all had one thing in common. The number of boulders on their walls.
How often gym's chose to reset, how many boulders they set per day or per week, the number of setters on their crews or on set days and how they chose to present their boulders varied quite substantially gym to gym. However, time and time again I was told by centre management 'We try to have 100 boulders on the wall'. I was curious – how did every gym across the state come to this same conclusion but still have so much variance in how they chose to execute it?
It got me thinking; Is there actually a 'right' amount of boulders to have in your gym? And why did they think it was 100 regardless of size? I wasn't convinced.
Many gyms, typically those without the luxury of an abundance of space, insist on setting in a high density style to ensure there are 'enough' boulders on the wall at any one time. While I sympathise that when operating a smaller gym there's often a perception of less climbing being on offer, I think sadly, in most cases, that's going to be the perception regardless of what number of boulders you actually have (within reason). I also believe that in the current climate of even small gyms often having multiple training boards available, in my mind, there's likely a lot more to be gained from offering your customers a more memorable and diverse climbing experience than simply by having more boulders.
If you're working at a smaller sized facility and you're deliberately setting high density sectors to pump up your number of boulders, there's a good chance a fair amount of the stuff you're setting is going to end up resembling board style climbing – mostly smaller or low profile holds and minimal or mostly low profile volumes. While there's nothing wrong with those kinds of boulders, if you've also got training boards, you need to ask yourself if you're really maximising the value of your gym's offering or simply doubling down on what's already available to your customer base?
I'm a big advocate of providing as many learning opportunities for customers through our route setting programs as possible.
To me, a vital part of that is providing climbers with a diverse range of skills and techniques to learn and master and in most cases that's best done by exposing them to as many different kinds of situations and scenarios as possible – many of which require things like the use of high profile volumes, large macros or even simply empty space on a slab, all of which make setting other boulders through or around them less than ideal to say the least!
If you feel like you just can't afford to reduce the number of boulders in your facility, something you can experiment with may be the utilisation of dual density setting. That is, deliberately having some extra high density areas to help create space for some sectors where setters can really play with lateral movement and add in more three-dimensional experiences for your customers. This dual density concept isn't new, it's something we've seen done in various ways at gyms around the world; think B-PUMP Ogikubo with the contrast between the normal gym setting and their comp wall or at Blocshop's latest gym in Canada with it's 'light & dark' rooms. Gyms can also play with this concept in a less rigid way too though, by doing something similar on a sector by sector basis and moving it around the gym.
While it's undoubtedly true that the total number of boulders in a gym is relevant, I don't think it's controversial to say that the number of NEW boulders set each week is either just as, or perhaps even more important, especially for gyms catering to large numbers of members or regular customers.
With that in mind, another potential solution to tackling the issue of feeling as though you don't have enough boulders in the gym is simply to increase the regularity of the setting schedule. While it won't increase the number of boulders in the gym at any one time, it will increase the number of climbs in the gym every month which for regular customers is effectively the same thing. Of course this will also increase setting costs somewhat but is hopefully an affordable option and a worthwhile trade-off that comes with additional benefits like a cleaner and less tired looking gym.
Behind every decision we make as gym owners or setters, there's always a trade off being made somewhere, it's just important to understand what's being sacrificed and why each decision you're making serves your community and your cause. Are you trying to bring new people into the sport? Are you providing a training space for people who are psyched on projecting hard boulders outdoors? Are you trying to breed the next generation of comp crushers? Are you providing an escape for your casual 9-5 hobbyist climber? The answer to these questions and more will ultimately lead you in a direction that works for you, your gym and it's customer base.
If you're opening or operating a small facility and don't already have one, I would recommend investing in a training board of some sort. In my experience a board with LEDs and thousands of pre-set boulders will be used more than a spray wall even those on an app of some sort. People love bench-marking themselves and tracking their improvement over time which just isn't practical on 'set' commercial boulders. Boards have very low ongoing maintenance costs and they're a fantastic supplement to many of the more 'skills-centric' boulders us setters should be putting up week to week in the gym. It'll also go a long way to combating any complaints about not having enough to do or enough hard boulders if that's an argument you're coming up against.
So.. should every gym have at least 100 boulders in their gym? Personally, I don't think it's a necessary prerequisite.
If you're creating a product you believe in, be sure to continually communicate about it to your customers and to your community so they understand what and why you're doing what your doing and can help spread the good word!