Can Climbing Outrun Its Own Elitism with Inclusive Gym Pricing?
-
Indoor climbing has gotten so expensive that the American Alpine Club officially considers it an "access issue." Is there anything we can do to stop climbing from becoming an elites-only pursuit like skiing or golf?
https://www.climbing.com/places/climbing-gyms-are-too-expensive/
-
This is really interesting! I didn't have the time to dive into the AAC's PWYC toolkit, but this stood out to me:
Most PWYC programs operate successfully on an honor system rather than requiring proof of need. The incidents of members lying about their financial situation for lower rates were, on average, “less than one member per gym” with “negligible” economic consequences.
I can 100% believe that if a PWYC model was brought up for discussion at a gym, it would've been nipped in the bud immediately because "what if everyone just opted for the cheaper rate?"
Good to know there's honour among us all still.
-
Oh very interesting. I do agree that climbing can be prohibitively expensive, so I'm glad to see something being done about this.
I also find the PWYC model to be promising, I think it could conceivably be a good way to further encourage (and socially enforce) good faith and positivity in the climbing community. Meaning it can make climbing more accessible, reinforce integrity and "being a good dude" in climbing culture, and if people start telling their friends about how they "get to pay less because they lied about their income," the PWYC model could be enforced by social ostracization or other social pushback against not "being a good dude."
