Why the Climbing Industry Needs High Quality Leadership Now More Than Ever.
- Pete Ward
- Aug 6
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 12
Rise Above has brought on Pete Ward as Partner. In this blog, he will detail the need and importance of leadership in our industry.
About the Author: Pete Ward
Recently, I have had the privilege to join Rise Above Consulting as a Partner. I am excited to invest my abilities and expertise into the company because I have a strategic belief in what the Rise Above has created and I believe that it is a unique vehicle for innovative and dynamic industry leadership.
Climbing is a cultural force, a mainstream lifestyle and a global economic engine generating billions of dollars in revenue annually. And it needs leadership.
In my view climbing will continue to grow because, not coincidentally, it is also a global force for good. Climbing gets us in touch with our bodies, our nervous systems and our communities in a way that other sports/hobbies/recreational activities never will. Climbing therefore has always defied easy categorization- Is it a sport? A hobby? A lifestyle? Something else? - To me it’s all of those things and more. Climbing sticks with us because it makes our lives better in tangible, long-lasting ways.
Climbers are finding those benefits across generations, geographies, styles of climbing, and user groups. Climbing is growing globally and there are many highly credible paths to increased future growth.
I want the future growth of the climbing industry to be transformative. Both for the industry itself and for the climbers -and future climbers- that we serve. I believe that this growth process can be a profound positive experience for climbers, the climbing community and the values that climbers hold dear.
However, that transformative success is only possible if our industry, our businesses and our careers are self-directed, not reactionary. The pressing question for every leader (manager, director, owner, board member, or investor) in our industry is: Are we good enough to meet the moment? Will we have the skills and the ability to lead our own specific business to do that transformative work, or will we do nothing and hope to be lifted by the rising tide?
And there is time pressure on all of us.
Here’s what’s happening:
By far and away, the current most profitable sector of the climbing industry globally is climbing gyms. The recurring revenue model of climbing gyms has proven durable to the extent that some of the largest institutional money in the world is now invested in the sport. And these are financial, not strategic investments which means that the investments are made for a return to investors rather than for the growth of a specific business.
What does that mean?
An example of a strategic investment is when one climbing gym chain buys another. The acquiring gym wants to make more money of course, but the main aim is strategic - to expand its market share, grow its brand, and to create a position of strength against its competition..
Financial investments on the other hand view the success or failure of any one business or category as incidental to the larger goal of increased profits and value returned to shareholders.
There is nothing wrong with financial investments, but they are not inherently an innovative action and as stewards of the climbing community who care about its future, we need to be aware whose money we are taking and why. Are we growing the sport we love and innovating around it, or are we extracting value from businesses that have already peaked and can only extract further value by cutting costs and quality at every opportunity?
These are difficult questions to answer and they challenge leaders in our industry with very real stakes. All of the largest climbing gym chains have Private Equity investors at this point who (correctly) put very real pressure on the management of those companies to meet specific targets… or else. Even if the leaders of these companies want to innovate, take a risk on a new product or do something that feels right for the community but which can’t immediately demonstrate profit, they must first be able to provide a satisfactory return to their investors.
On one hand, I have no problem with this. Life is tough and competing to win is a compulsory part of business and of living well. Investors can and should expect performance from management and management owes that performance back to investors.
On the other hand climbing is a brilliant, transformative force for good and we owe a higher performance to ourselves and our community than only “a satisfactory return to investors”..
In my view, capital is welcome here and the challenge for the leadership of the climbing industry is to take it and return value to shareholders while also continuing to nurture, grow and pass on what has always made climbing special.
This leaves leaders in the climbing gym industry in a difficult position: Finally investors are providing the resources for growth, but as we all know, Mo money, mo problems.
Over the coming months, you should expect myself and Gavin, Founder of Rise Above, to challenge ourselves to meet the moment and to lead in innovative and transformative ways.
Over the coming weeks, I will be releasing a series of blogs here at Rise Above that I call “The Paradoxes of Leadership”, and they are meant to help you understand what you naturally bring to the table as a manager or a leader. Not incidentally, these materials are also meant to be resources for anyone in a position of leadership or management in the climbing industry who must perform financially while also creating a great product that is true to what makes climbing spectacular.
My challenge to you is this: Don’t just manage the paradox between innovation and your responsibility to your organization - weaponize it. Lead in a way that forces your sphere of influence in the industry to choose its future: commodified recreation, or innovative, culture-defining movement. You get to be the architect of that choice.
Climbing needs courageous and strategic leadership now more than ever. Let’s get started.
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