8 Reasons to Try Auto Belays at Your Climbing Gym

While indoor climbing has undoubtably felt the effects of coronavirus, the sport is poised to make a strong return. With the addition of bouldering, sport climbing and speed climbing to the Tokyo Olympics, there’s no denying climbing has quickly become a mainstream sport. And, this demand has not gone unmet as new climbing gyms break ground even amongst the pandemic. Still, climbing gym owners must find ways to stand apart and attract climbers.

Auto Belays can provide a competitive edge, offering substantial benefits to climbers and gyms alike. So, whether you are starting a gym or are a long-standing gym that’s looking for something to excite your membership base, here are eight reasons to give TRUBLUE Auto Belays a try:

1. Increase Your Membership

Auto Belays are uniquely positioned to help grow the sport of climbing. Not only can they get new climbers on the wall quickly, they can ensure your gym doesn’t turn away day passes which may lead to long-term memberships — especially when you can instantly give someone the opportunity to reach the top for the first time and feel a sense of exhilaration.

2. Make The Most of Your Space

Because of the flexibility to move TRUBLUE Auto Belays to various climbing lanes throughout your gym, you can always give your visitors a fresh look and open up your terrain to more climbers. This can really help to improve the climbing experience and make your gym stand out.

3. RUN EFFICIENT GROUP EVENTS

While right now may not be the most opportune time to strategize how best to run group events, this is something you’ll likely want to consider in the long run to make your business more sustainable. With auto belays on hand, you don’t need as many staff to operate birthday parties or host school, scout or corporate groups. Having auto belays also allows you to accommodate more people at group events and TRUBLUE Auto Belays, in particular, can handle most types of terrain and skill levels. This means when you utilize TRUBLUE Auto Belays at group events you can lower your overhead, increase your revenue potential and reach all your customers.

4. TRUBLUE Auto Belays are Long Lasting

We launched our initial devices in 2010, and with proper service, those auto belays are still running strong. Unlike a friction braking system, our magnetic braking technology decreases part wear. This allows TRUBLUEs to keep going and going and going. When people own auto belays longer than they own their cars, you know you’ve made a great investment.

5. Balance Your Gym’s Capacity

During ordinary times, nearly every gym has a very similar hourly capacity pattern. Gyms will get a slight rush in the morning, pick back up again at lunch and then get really slammed in the evenings. Auto belays allow climbers to come in on their own time — without a partner — and get a quick workout in. Thus, by simply offering auto belays you can encourage more climbing during off-peak hours and really spread out your traffic (likely a non-issue during Coronavirus, but still something to keep in mind).

6. Train Your Climbers

Auto belays can make great assist tools. We’ve seen them used for standard belay training, training for lead climbing and even learning how to rappel. By empowering your climbers with the tools to develop their skills, you’ll keep them coming back for more. Before you know it, even newbies will become engaged members of your climbing gym.

7. Build Community

One huge myth about auto belays is that they take away from building a climbing community — we’ve actually heard quite the contrary time and time again. When solo climbers come in because they’re new to the area or their partner is busy, they often link up with other auto belay users and create long-lasting belaytionships. In fact, having auto belay singles meet ups is a great way to foster community in your gym in a fun and productive way.

8. GET A FAST RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT

Let’s do the math. Say you purchase 5 to 10 TRUBLUE Auto Belays for your climbing gym. At just over $2K a piece, that’ll cost between $11 - $23K. If your average monthly membership is $70, that will earn you $840 per year. This means you would need 13 to 27 new members to pay for 5 to 10 TRUBLUEs. We are confident you can gain more, especially when you have auto belays and are able to easily welcome newcomers, while at the same time creating value for experienced climbers.

Interested in learning more? Check out our TRUBLUE Auto Belay selection guide, get in touch with a sales rep today or sign up to receive emails.