Most gyms now understand how to provide a balanced spread of grades, intelligent routesetting, and a progression that keeps members coming back. The problem, however, lies not in the climbing itself but in everything that surrounds it: the hospitality and front-of-house experience.

It’s no secret that climbers go through a fair amount of chalk, and it makes sense. To perform at our best it’s no good having sweaty hands and a compromised grip, and chalk is the best way to deal with the problem.

MBS Industry is a French company created by renowned climbing Olympians Mickaël and Bassa Mawem and Sébastien Kuehn, a multi-entrepreneur engineer.

In mid-September Verlinvest, a Brussels-based investment firm best known for early stakes in Oatly and Tony’s Chocolonely, announced that it had acquired a majority stake in Boulders, Denmark’s largest chain of climbing gyms. The deal gives Verlinvest control of ten facilities across Denmark’s four biggest cities, welcoming more than 60,000 monthly visitors.

The height of summer across the continent saw plenty of refurbishment work continue as existing gyms prove their strong foundations against newcomers. The recent spike in gym closures appears to have eased with only a handful this month, perhaps showing that hopes for a strong indoor winter season will be able to see gyms through for the time being.

Climbing is growing faster than ever. With new gyms opening across Europe and beyond, more and more people are discovering the joy of bouldering indoors — and naturally, many want to take that passion outdoors. But for new climbers and travellers, one barrier quickly comes up: crash pads.

July could be called turbulent. The summer hustle to refresh ageing gyms was well underway, and reinforces a trend of ‘keeping up with the neighbours’ seen in multiple European cities. We unfortunately saw another wave of gym closures, tempering the joyous highs of the openings.

In the increasingly competitive indoor climbing market, consolidation has come to South West London. The Font, a two-site London gym operator founded in April 2021, has acquired both Hang and Parthian Climbing Wandsworth—two competitors in the area’s surprisingly saturated market. The deal was announced on Friday, July 25th.