What percent of climbers THINK they always observe safety practices….vs. actually do? What are the unique risks for indoor climbers? Are climbers even interested in training, and is the training equipment climbers use reflective of what the climbing media loves to yap about? Has who climbers are—the demographic make-up of climbing—changed much in the last 7 years? Do indoor climbers even want to climb outside? What are the most popular disciplines of the sport, indoors and outdoors?

Some answers will surprise you…

AAC partnered with the Climbing Wall Association to help get their 2026 survey out to as many climbers as possible to collect data about climbers who use climbing gyms—their behaviors and interests. In this episode, we sat down with Garnet Moore, Executive Director of the Climbing Wall Association, and chatted about the survey, the report that came out of it, and some of the biggest takeaways from the data. Each nugget we discuss poses the question: what assumptions do we all make about the climbing community, that we should reconsider?