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ericg
Aug 9, 2004, 5:13 PM
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Has anyone heard any number in terms of an estimate of the United States climbing population?
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ericg
Aug 9, 2004, 7:36 PM
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anyone???
1 million?
10 million?
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moeman
Aug 9, 2004, 7:47 PM
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What defines a person as a "climber"?
Someone who has climbed on a wall at a theme park?
Someone who can belay and has been to the gym a few times?
Someone who has their own harness/shoes and goes to the gym regularly?
Someone who topropes and boulders outside?
Someone who sport climbs regularly and has thier own rope/draws?
Someone who trad leads moderate routes comfortably?
Someone who is an all around hardman who can boulder V8, onsight 5.12 sport, lead 5.11 ow, and has climbed a big wall?
What makes a person a climber? Can you say that you are a climber but someone else is not?
Defining the word climber will bring you closer to figuring out how many climbers are out there.
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areyoumydude
Aug 9, 2004, 7:58 PM
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Way to many posier climbers. :evil:
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minjin
Aug 9, 2004, 8:15 PM
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but what about speed climbers? they're people too.
and lord knows i love being on of those poser climbers... i just sit beneath the compound practicing blue steel all day. really.
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ericg
Aug 9, 2004, 8:36 PM
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I realize it is very subjective based on who you consider a "climber", so I was expecting a wide range of numbers. I found that according to a 1997 census conducted by the Outdoor Recreation Coalition of America, rock-climbing enthusiasts comprise 1 percent of the U.S. population, while hiking attracts 7.1 percent of the population.
If you compare the total amount of different people that go to our climbing gym a year (~3,000 @year) compared to the number I would consider actual climbers i.e. I see them outside climbing, that number dwindles to about 30. So it is certainly a big discrepancy in terms of numbers.
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ecocliffchick
Aug 9, 2004, 8:37 PM
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"In 1998 it was estimated that 4 million people went rock climbing in the United States alone."
reference: Krajick, K. 1999. Scientists - and climbers - discover cliff ecosystems. Science 283:1623-1624.
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fireclimber
Aug 9, 2004, 8:41 PM
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In reply to: " In 1998 it was estimated that 4 million people went rock climbing in the United States alone." reference: Krajick, K. 1999. Scientists - and climbers - discover cliff ecosystems. Science 283:1623-1624.
Damm, and half of then in Eldo on a Saturday morning, heheheh
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euroford
Aug 9, 2004, 8:52 PM
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wow. thats allot more than i expected.
of course, living in downtown chicago i kind of feel like myself and the couple poeple i know are the only climber on the entire planet.
probobly explains why i spend so much time on this forum.
IMO: to be a climber you must have a RACK. on that thought, it would be intresting to know how many sets of cams WC, BD and Met. have sold in the US. it would be rough but you could get an approximation that way.
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euroford
Aug 9, 2004, 9:47 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: IMO: to be a climber you must have a RACK. on that thought, it would be intresting to know how many sets of cams WC, BD and Met. have sold in the US. it would be rough but you could get an approximation that way. interesting criterion ... any rationale behind it? (btw, i'd count as two climbers and not just because i'm tubby ... well, maybe a little) (S2!). i know peeps that would count as a dozen climbers if its determined by a set of cams. and i know an FAist who isn't a climber, by your standard ... dude learned to climb with nuts and hexes and hasn't found a reason to get a set of cams. coylec
i wasn't useing the 'cams purchased' as criterion, just as a way that current statistics could be used to roughly estimate the quantity of climbers. yeah, it is flawwed, i myself would count as two climbers, but then some sport climber without cams would not get counted, so maybe it would average out. i guess if you are climbing big walls you diserve to get counted twice :D
it only reflecs my not to mainstream viewpoint that having a rack (of any type, may not include cams) be used to constitue a 'climber'. it would not include gym climbers or boulderers. but hey, if they are happy, thats cool. i'm just some asshole on the internet :)
my dumb definition of 'climber': a person equiped with the ability and tools to start at the bottom of a technically graded climb and ascend to the top by means of free climbing or aid while also protecting in the event of a fall.
obviously free soloists are climbers as well, and surely they have the tools, they just didn't use them that day.
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scuclimber
Aug 10, 2004, 2:28 AM
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I would bet money that since 1997 and 1998, those numbers have probably close to doubled, or at the very least increased significantly.
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godskid5
Aug 10, 2004, 3:08 AM
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according to srcfc.com there are apx. 400,000 active climbers in the us. not sure where the data comes from but i can check.
why?
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ericg
Aug 10, 2004, 5:39 PM
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I was being interviewed by a local reporter and he asked what the climbing population was in the US and how many climbing related accidents there were each year. The accident number is fairly easy to come up with, but the population was a good question. It certainly depends on where you draw the line. So far the highest is something from The Outdoor Industry Assocation which says its survey found 8.6 million climbing participants in 2003, with 6.4 million doing it indoors (so to speak).
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crotch
Aug 10, 2004, 6:05 PM
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In reply to: I was being interviewed by a local reporter and he asked what the climbing population was in the US and how many climbing related accidents there were each year. The accident number is fairly easy to come up with
How do you figure? Many accidents don't make the pages of ANAM.
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pneumoped
Aug 10, 2004, 8:50 PM
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I've ask this question to myself recently. Perhaps an easier way to estimate the number of rock climbers using your definition would be to look at the number of ropes sold and back out an estimate for the number of ropes used at gyms.
Also, the 2003 Accidents in North American Climbing publication I remember reading a paragraph either at the front or end of that book that cited some stats on the number of climbers. I'll look it up at home and post it here if I remember.
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