Age distribution of climbers and boulderers worldwide 2020

In a 2020 survey investigating the preferences of climbing participants it was found that the largest share of respondents were between the ages of 31 and 40. Contrastingly only 22 percent of respondents were found to be less than 25 years of age.

Climbing level

In both lead climbing and bouldering, the most common highest grade climbed was in the 6a-6c+ range, representing between 45 and 50 percent of respondents. The overall distribution is similar in the two categories, however more lead climbers reach the high category of 8a-8c+, at 9.2 percent, than boulderers, at 4.4 percent.

Motivation and enjoyment

The preferred activity for indoor climbers was a balanced split, although bouldering had a small edge, with 55 percent, over roped climbing, with 42.1 percent. Perhaps surprisingly, the main reason to participate in indoor climbing for 24.1 percent of respondents was training to stay fit for outdoor climbing. A similar but slightly lower percentage claimed it to be an attractive activity in itself, and a vast majority of those remaining cited both reasons.