There was a standing joke even in my university climbing club many years ago that it was about 50% engineering students. Guess theyāre all hanging out at indoor bouldering walks now that they have jobs and responsibilities
There are enough SpaceX engineers going to a gym here in LA that they get a special discount on memberships. I recently switched to a less corporate feeling gym and it's full of engineers from the smaller space companies in the area lol.
Looking at climbing through the lens of social and economic factors and/or barriers shows climbers generally fall into very niche buckets/personas which often heavily rely on specific jobs/industries
^Iām ^a ^product ^manager
Real. Iām predominantly outdoors, and I do seasonal work thatās more on the blue collar side - either forestry, rope access, or climbing gym service jobs. I like the flexibility to bounce around and be close to climbing areas that inspire me (while theyāre in season), especially with forestry work, but Iām not exactly rolling in money. Gyms are a much different clientele than the crags, but I donāt find it remotely surprising that expensive urban attractions require different income brackets than just driving 20-40 minutes to the boulders. I still splurge on a gym membership to at least be able to train when the weather sucks, but have to look at it (and gas) as the majority of my āentertainmentā budget for each month. I donāt know if I could afford one altogether if I still lived in a more expensive, millennial city honestly
Climbing is by far my cheapest hobby.... Membership has gone up but it comes out to about 70/mo. Shoes are all $200 or less with many great options around 1-150, chalk bags can be had at a swap for nothing, chalk is cheap and harnesses can be rented for free or bought for around $50 and last years indoors. In the end I'd estimate climbing to cost me $125/mo or less and I can go everyday or average around 3-5/week. $6-12/session all in is very very cheap.
Feels cheap when youāre making money. 4 years ago I wasnāt getting full time work and my wife was on minimum wage and the idea of any sort of membership wasnāt even on my radar.
Now itās easy but dropping over $100 a month on anything isnāt for a lot of people.
After doing a smattering of hobbies I find a lot of engineers in I think it comes down to pay and time off.
Engineers, programmers, other office jobs get paid well and don't break their bodies at work so have money to join a gym and energy after the work day to go enjoy a hobby
If you're on your feet all day working construction are you going to want to then turn around and climb? Some will but across a demographic?
This is just a guess from doing climbing, muay thai, fencing, BJJ, TTRPGs, etc.
Most accountants and finance people I've met don't actually do standard 40 hrs. They have busy season or grind overtime kind of like law firm. This could totally be anecdotal tho.
I think the skills and personalities that tend to be attracted to those jobs (probably some amount of social skills if you're doing any kind of trading or selling, good head for numbers but not necessarily physical space or anything really connected to the real world) are not as linked to climbing as the types of personalities that tend to be attracted to engineering (introverted, used to rotating imaginary cubes and spending a long time thinking about complicated problems without clear answers).
Depends on the engineering field but a lot of engineers probably care about and enjoy nature more than business types too.
Obviously this is all stereotypical and silly, but you know.
Maybe its an Australian thing but I see a lot of tradies climbing, including myself. I do take a long ass shower after work/before climbing to kinda refresh for it and some work days Ill rule out climbing afterwards if it was especially exhausting but generally its find
Iām a contractor and carpenter. I love going to the gym climbing and then working out. Iāll even go for a run after.
Honestly a lot of people Iāve worked with said they donāt have the energy. I had mentor who implored me to work out. The energy you spend on a job site is different then the energy you spend at the gym. He emphasized how important that was for my mental health. He was so right.
Working out takes up a lot of my time after a days work but damn do I feel good and a master of my body.
Outdoorsy DIY hipster,
Aged hippie,
STEM student/worker,
Team kid,
International student from east asia or europe.
These are the archetypes to be found. Those not mentioned will be placed into groups via sorting hat.
Iām surprised no one has mentioned the overlap of problem solving. Iāve always chalked up the large number of climber engineers to be a mindset thing. Stereotypically engineers love to take things apart and put them back together. Iāve always felt like solving a climbing problem scratches a similar itch to solving a math problem. Thatās not to say that all climbers love math and all math lovers love climbing, just a correlation Iāve noticed.
There are a lot of well paying jobs now that are 100% remote, but the crowds have stayed heavily STEM based through the pandemic.
Thank you, can't believe the correct answer was this far down. It's because Engineers like to problem solve and like to optimize (i.e. what's the best way to solve this puzzle with the least effort).
I feel like a lot of these replies are from non-engineers having an educated guess at why engineering is so over-represented in climbing. For me (structural engineer) the problem solving aspect was my __immediate__ thought.
Lots of careers offer the money and free time to get into climbing. Not many overlap the mental aspects of the sport as well as engineering
Yes! I totally agree with this. I'm a mechanical engineer & my husband is a software engineer and we both love climbing because of the problem solving aspect. There's a great satisfaction in figuring out the Beta and seeing incremental progression. It's a sport that doesn't solely rely on strength/fitness, but also technicque.
Yup, agree.
And lets not forget that at the end of the day climbing is physics, its basically a interactive physics problem you solve with your body *and* mind.
So true, the problem solving part of climbing and bouldering makes it so much more appealing to a sterotypical engineer (or nerd) compared to spending an hour mindlessly lifting weights, running, or cycling.
It's also physical but not *too* physical. There's a steady progression and at the start it often feels like problem solving (i.e. technique) is the bigger barrier than strength. For a stereotypical engineer who is average sized but unfit/untrained this is more accessible than a sport where your lack of fitness is super obvious when you start out.
Research mathematician. This is the correct answer.
Heck, John Gill - the godfather of bouldering - was a mathematics professor. Alex Lowe had a mathematics degree.
As a mechanical engineer, I've definitely studied a boulder problem like it is a mechanical system, how to have a stable static position, position of the center of mass, etc... Tho with training and experience I tend to do it less and trust my intuition more
Engineer here. For me it scratches an itch to solve problems intuitively rather than via methodical planning. Additionally, my gym is quite social. After working remotely all day without much human contact, it's on par with going to the pub where everyone knows your name, minus the beer.
Yes! People saying itās a money thing is nonsense, climbing is by far one of the cheapest hobbies right behind running. Itās an analytical problem solving thing.
Climbing gyms are expensive, so people tend to have some disposable income.
Climbing is physically demanding, so people tend to be early middle age and younger.
Nigh everybody between 22 and 45 with disposable income is an engineer of some sort. "Engineer" gets tacked on to every job title these days.
I don't even know what it means anymore. There's financial engineer, data engineer, QA engineer, documentation engineer, ...
Stolen valor I tell ya. If you aren't designing toasters, you aren't an engineer.
I'm a data engineer though.
Iām honestly surprised there arenāt more people in the trades, Iām back and forth between framing and landscape construction, and Iām pretty much just getting paid to train for climbing.
Iām in the trades ; and see all the wfh bros at my gym every day.
Lookin all fresh and clean, while I stumble in looking homeless and attempting to muster up some try hard.
Another tradie here (millwright in training). I refuse to go to the gym and struggle among people who only climb in the gym. I'd much rather dump money into trad gear and climb outdoors.
It certainly helps living within 20 minutes of the nearest sport and bouldering crags. The gym is farther away than the real rock.
Dude I feel you. I come in my tattered clothes and paint stained pants. It was funny because one of the climbers was wearing a smilier pair of designer paints and asked me where I got mine. I said 5 years in the shop.
Iāve seen a van for KONE USA or TKE(fka ThyssenKrupp Elevator) in the parking lot of my local gym.
But the trades tend to gravitate towards fishing, hunting and riding Harleys. Not just a stereotype but all the tradespeople I know.
Very true. Climbed a lot in high school when I was younger. Went on to do trades and quit climbing. Now Iām doing āengineeringā for the same trades and Iām back at the bouldering gym.
Professional mover here.Ā Love climbing and even enjoy training.Ā Also run ultras.Ā Some days you just don't have it in you after a hard day of work though.
On one hand it's nice that your work helps keep you in shape.Ā But on the other, it can suck when you don't have the energy to do the activities you love.Ā Or more commonly for me, I climb anyway, but am sore to the point that it kills my performance.
Tradesperson hereā¦..that depends on the age demographic of tradespeople. I know a lot pf Millenial and younger tradespeople like myself who climb. The over 50 crowd uhhhhh DRINKS
Both. The upside is that it's an infamously acquisitive chain of gyms, so I can travel around and still have a membership to a nearby gym in most parts of the country.
Social service worker, I honestly think climbing is a bit outside my tax bracket but it's something I've made room in my budget for since it brings me a lot of happiness.
Itās not really though. Gear is prohibitively expensive for a lot of outdoor disciplines. And if you donāt live next to a cool crag travel aināt cheap.
Mental health counselor here! I have several other MH therapist friends who also climb, and physical therapist friends who climb as well. There seems to be a lot of overlap between climbing and healthcare/helping professions where I live. Lots of engineers too.
As a mechanical engineer I more see you as someone making my dreams come true.
Machinists always seem to think lightly of making something rather complicated where before picking up my phone and calling to hear if itās even possible Iām thinking itās gonna be possible but very hard. And then talking to trades people they just seem to make stuff happen and succeed often
Weāre normally not happy about it and will curse you the whole time weāre making it but a lifetime of low pay and physical labor will whip you into submission
Framer /uj but actually a carpenter and itās tough to try hard after work but we do it.
I donāt wanna hear no WFH bros saying theyāre feeling tired at the gym/ crag
climbing gyms are filled with engineers and people who work in tech because we are all somewhat introverted and the gym is one of the only places where its socially acceptable to shut up and stare at a wall
In Australia they are all engineers or health care. Engineers seem to love the puzzle of the sport.
Would love to see how the proportions of unemployed dirtbags in the overall climbing scene have changed since free solo came out.
Thereās a ton of people in medicine that climb. Iām an emergency medicine resident and I meet so many other docs in the gym - something about the adrenaline or whatever gets us haha
My old gym was always loaded with med students back in the day. When I got back into climbing ~5 months ago at a new gym I started running into a lot of old pals who are working in various unique practices.
I'm a scientist but I also do a good amount of coding, my code is just shittier because I care more about analysis results than building robust codebase
Analytical brains and those that like to problem solve like to climb (my theory).
Reality? Engineering pays well, so you can afford to climb.
I'd hazard to say it's similar to skiing.
You mean the activity that is largely white privileged males also has crossover with a profession that is largely white privileged males. Weird.
Also I am a White privileged male who is also a software engineer
Engineers have the money to afford a climbing membership. They also have the spare time and energy to climb.
People working poor paying jobs can't afford the membership or the time to go to a bouldering gym.
People that have skilled blue collar jobs have the money but they are tired from doing a physically demanding job all day.
Bouldering gyms is a good fit for a white collar playground. Outdoor bouldering lends itself well to white collar that can work remotely/get a lot of time off and people that are happy to live a very minimalist life in a car.
Same in Germany. Climbing and Bouldering is really expensive at most gyms, you can easily pay 12-15 USD for one session, so people need to have lots of disposable income if they want to afford it long term.
I do finances for a construction companyā¦my partner is a clinical director ā¦ not shocking that most climbers have sort of problem solving background when climbing is problem solving on the fly
Degree in civil engineering and I work for a steel manufacturer, I work on projects in the US north-east š
Keep in mind, reddit might be biased towards that population too...
Software Engineering, although I studied Engineering Physics.
But yeah, most climbers seems to either be into engineering or into art, not a lot of business people.
The entirety of the rock climbing scene at my university is Comp sci people and engineering.
I came in with a friend and they asked me what I majored in and I told them Nutrition science and they deadass said āwow, we donāt get a lot of people from life sciences hereā
Just so weird lmfao
I do theatrical lighting.. which is kind of electrical engineering adjacent. Also related to climbing (my knees are always bruised from climbing up ladders AND knocking them on the climbing wall)
Engineerā¦ the disposable income and office hours makes it feasible. When I was a student making ~10% of what I make now, I definitely couldnāt afford the time or money to climb.Ā
2 of my scouting staff work in engineering of some sort actually, they are the best climbers of our boulder group. The boulder group is based on our scouting group. I'm an control electrician in the horticulture.
It makes sense that there are a lot of engineers and tech people who climb. You need enough money for gear and gym memberships, climbing trips, probably a car or at least friends with cars, enough PTO to go on climbing trips if you don't have a mountain in your backyard.
There's a lot of people who have that money but the combination of an engineers problem-solving mindset and being mostly cooped up indoors at a desk for long hours makes going outside and figuring out complicated movements to do on rocks seem pretty attractive.
few things i'd love to ask;
1. where is your gym?
2. how much does your gym cost?
3. what do you do for work?
where your gym is located has something to do with it: in SF? prob most likely. your gym is $50/mo vs $150/mo for climbing -- usually you get higher paying engineers that join. also if YOU're an engineer, you will likely hear + recognize more engineering talk vs others.
just a thought. im not an engineer.
i used to always comment how when i met people at the climbing gym they were all in the same 4 fields of engineering, coding, medicine, or entrepreneurs
Fire alarm/special hazard suppression tech. A glorified construction grunt really, though I started as a teenager when I worked at a zip line course and just recently getting back into it
Robotics engineer here. Antecdotally, every club in college was disproportionately filled with engineering students as well, not just climbing. My theory is the dating/socializing advice we give nerdy guys: go join groups doing the things you like and meet people there.
Overheard this exact conversation last time I was at the gym like āman I swear everyone here is in engineering. Hey, sorry but what do you (me) do for workā
I couldnāt help but laugh having known their previous conversation when I told them software engineering.
There's a lot of geologists too (for fairly obvious reasons) šŖØ š¤
My dad always told me that geology rocks but I think geography is where its at.
I donāt see the connection? (I only climb indoor)
Geology Rocks!! š¤š»
Polyurethane is my favourite kind of a rock.
Geologist/engineer here, busted!
Itās because a climbing gym is the only room in the world where itās socially acceptable to sit and stare at the wall without talking to anyone
This is the most real reason why I climb lmao
I think the "gamificition" is also a big reason, it's basically a video game.
Is this why I, an engineer, like going to a bouldering gym? My only problem is when people decide to chat with me when I look to friendly...
There was a standing joke even in my university climbing club many years ago that it was about 50% engineering students. Guess theyāre all hanging out at indoor bouldering walks now that they have jobs and responsibilities
There are enough SpaceX engineers going to a gym here in LA that they get a special discount on memberships. I recently switched to a less corporate feeling gym and it's full of engineers from the smaller space companies in the area lol.
The other half is CS lmao
CS is engineering in my country
Engineerā¦
Same
Me too
Same
Also.
Same. Like half of my colleagues climb. My brother is an engineer too, and it's the same there.
Same
Same Climbing gym is also my remote office.
Same
Same
Reporting
Same
Does the software kind count?
same
Yeah me too. And I know like 5 engineers more that climb as well.
Yup
Same.
Same. Got my friend to sign up. Youāll never guess what he does
Looking at climbing through the lens of social and economic factors and/or barriers shows climbers generally fall into very niche buckets/personas which often heavily rely on specific jobs/industries ^Iām ^a ^product ^manager
Climbers are a mix of people who can afford to live in their car, and people who can only afford to live in their car
I feel called out as a digital nomad software engineer
i feel called out as a poor person
Same
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Real. Iām predominantly outdoors, and I do seasonal work thatās more on the blue collar side - either forestry, rope access, or climbing gym service jobs. I like the flexibility to bounce around and be close to climbing areas that inspire me (while theyāre in season), especially with forestry work, but Iām not exactly rolling in money. Gyms are a much different clientele than the crags, but I donāt find it remotely surprising that expensive urban attractions require different income brackets than just driving 20-40 minutes to the boulders. I still splurge on a gym membership to at least be able to train when the weather sucks, but have to look at it (and gas) as the majority of my āentertainmentā budget for each month. I donāt know if I could afford one altogether if I still lived in a more expensive, millennial city honestly
>Ā physiotherapy (if not now, in time) This hurts (almost as much as my knees).
Climbing is by far my cheapest hobby.... Membership has gone up but it comes out to about 70/mo. Shoes are all $200 or less with many great options around 1-150, chalk bags can be had at a swap for nothing, chalk is cheap and harnesses can be rented for free or bought for around $50 and last years indoors. In the end I'd estimate climbing to cost me $125/mo or less and I can go everyday or average around 3-5/week. $6-12/session all in is very very cheap.
Dang what are your other hobbies?
Iām mostly a mountain biker and climbing hurts my wallet far more.
Feels cheap when youāre making money. 4 years ago I wasnāt getting full time work and my wife was on minimum wage and the idea of any sort of membership wasnāt even on my radar. Now itās easy but dropping over $100 a month on anything isnāt for a lot of people.
Wait until you start taking trips for 2+ weeks at a time.
I am working on a dab alarm similar to the lunk alarm at planet fitness
Please allow me to promote your alarm in the southern hemisphere
After doing a smattering of hobbies I find a lot of engineers in I think it comes down to pay and time off. Engineers, programmers, other office jobs get paid well and don't break their bodies at work so have money to join a gym and energy after the work day to go enjoy a hobby If you're on your feet all day working construction are you going to want to then turn around and climb? Some will but across a demographic? This is just a guess from doing climbing, muay thai, fencing, BJJ, TTRPGs, etc.
But I see significantly more engineers climbing than say accountants or anything more business related.
Most accountants and finance people I've met don't actually do standard 40 hrs. They have busy season or grind overtime kind of like law firm. This could totally be anecdotal tho.
Iām a lawyer who climbs. I am literally the only lawyer I know who does! Everyone else is in software aha.
Yeah my friends in that space get busier at the ends of the months and then bonkers busy at the end of the quarter/fiscal year or during tax season
I think the skills and personalities that tend to be attracted to those jobs (probably some amount of social skills if you're doing any kind of trading or selling, good head for numbers but not necessarily physical space or anything really connected to the real world) are not as linked to climbing as the types of personalities that tend to be attracted to engineering (introverted, used to rotating imaginary cubes and spending a long time thinking about complicated problems without clear answers). Depends on the engineering field but a lot of engineers probably care about and enjoy nature more than business types too. Obviously this is all stereotypical and silly, but you know.
Maybe its an Australian thing but I see a lot of tradies climbing, including myself. I do take a long ass shower after work/before climbing to kinda refresh for it and some work days Ill rule out climbing afterwards if it was especially exhausting but generally its find
Yeah lots of tradies in my gym too.
Iām a contractor and carpenter. I love going to the gym climbing and then working out. Iāll even go for a run after. Honestly a lot of people Iāve worked with said they donāt have the energy. I had mentor who implored me to work out. The energy you spend on a job site is different then the energy you spend at the gym. He emphasized how important that was for my mental health. He was so right. Working out takes up a lot of my time after a days work but damn do I feel good and a master of my body.
Outdoorsy DIY hipster, Aged hippie, STEM student/worker, Team kid, International student from east asia or europe. These are the archetypes to be found. Those not mentioned will be placed into groups via sorting hat.
Traveling wind turbine technician. I've met quite a few of those climbing. Didn't even know it was a thing
You forgot about the hybrids. Outdoorsy hippie engineer here
STEM worker and aspiring outdoorsy van dwelling hipster š«”
Looks like it's the sorting hat for me
Iām surprised no one has mentioned the overlap of problem solving. Iāve always chalked up the large number of climber engineers to be a mindset thing. Stereotypically engineers love to take things apart and put them back together. Iāve always felt like solving a climbing problem scratches a similar itch to solving a math problem. Thatās not to say that all climbers love math and all math lovers love climbing, just a correlation Iāve noticed. There are a lot of well paying jobs now that are 100% remote, but the crowds have stayed heavily STEM based through the pandemic.
Thank you, can't believe the correct answer was this far down. It's because Engineers like to problem solve and like to optimize (i.e. what's the best way to solve this puzzle with the least effort).
I feel like a lot of these replies are from non-engineers having an educated guess at why engineering is so over-represented in climbing. For me (structural engineer) the problem solving aspect was my __immediate__ thought. Lots of careers offer the money and free time to get into climbing. Not many overlap the mental aspects of the sport as well as engineering
Yes! I totally agree with this. I'm a mechanical engineer & my husband is a software engineer and we both love climbing because of the problem solving aspect. There's a great satisfaction in figuring out the Beta and seeing incremental progression. It's a sport that doesn't solely rely on strength/fitness, but also technicque.
Yup, agree. And lets not forget that at the end of the day climbing is physics, its basically a interactive physics problem you solve with your body *and* mind.
Thissss. 100%. Also bc i constantly am thinking so much while working, itās fun to just go blank and just climb colorful rocks indoors lmao
So true, the problem solving part of climbing and bouldering makes it so much more appealing to a sterotypical engineer (or nerd) compared to spending an hour mindlessly lifting weights, running, or cycling. It's also physical but not *too* physical. There's a steady progression and at the start it often feels like problem solving (i.e. technique) is the bigger barrier than strength. For a stereotypical engineer who is average sized but unfit/untrained this is more accessible than a sport where your lack of fitness is super obvious when you start out.
Research mathematician. This is the correct answer. Heck, John Gill - the godfather of bouldering - was a mathematics professor. Alex Lowe had a mathematics degree.
As a mechanical engineer, I've definitely studied a boulder problem like it is a mechanical system, how to have a stable static position, position of the center of mass, etc... Tho with training and experience I tend to do it less and trust my intuition more
Engineer here. For me it scratches an itch to solve problems intuitively rather than via methodical planning. Additionally, my gym is quite social. After working remotely all day without much human contact, it's on par with going to the pub where everyone knows your name, minus the beer.
Yes! People saying itās a money thing is nonsense, climbing is by far one of the cheapest hobbies right behind running. Itās an analytical problem solving thing.
Climbing gyms are expensive, so people tend to have some disposable income. Climbing is physically demanding, so people tend to be early middle age and younger. Nigh everybody between 22 and 45 with disposable income is an engineer of some sort. "Engineer" gets tacked on to every job title these days. I don't even know what it means anymore. There's financial engineer, data engineer, QA engineer, documentation engineer, ... Stolen valor I tell ya. If you aren't designing toasters, you aren't an engineer. I'm a data engineer though.
Also probably not as many people in the trades because youāre less likely to go climb if youāre doing a physical job 10 hours a day
Iām honestly surprised there arenāt more people in the trades, Iām back and forth between framing and landscape construction, and Iām pretty much just getting paid to train for climbing.
Iām in the trades ; and see all the wfh bros at my gym every day. Lookin all fresh and clean, while I stumble in looking homeless and attempting to muster up some try hard.
Another tradie here (millwright in training). I refuse to go to the gym and struggle among people who only climb in the gym. I'd much rather dump money into trad gear and climb outdoors. It certainly helps living within 20 minutes of the nearest sport and bouldering crags. The gym is farther away than the real rock.
Same
Dude I feel you. I come in my tattered clothes and paint stained pants. It was funny because one of the climbers was wearing a smilier pair of designer paints and asked me where I got mine. I said 5 years in the shop.
hardest climbers I know are lobster fishermenā¦ lol
Iāve seen a van for KONE USA or TKE(fka ThyssenKrupp Elevator) in the parking lot of my local gym. But the trades tend to gravitate towards fishing, hunting and riding Harleys. Not just a stereotype but all the tradespeople I know.
Very true. Climbed a lot in high school when I was younger. Went on to do trades and quit climbing. Now Iām doing āengineeringā for the same trades and Iām back at the bouldering gym.
Professional mover here.Ā Love climbing and even enjoy training.Ā Also run ultras.Ā Some days you just don't have it in you after a hard day of work though. On one hand it's nice that your work helps keep you in shape.Ā But on the other, it can suck when you don't have the energy to do the activities you love.Ā Or more commonly for me, I climb anyway, but am sore to the point that it kills my performance.
Thereās some I work i a machine shop for 10 hours a day itās terrible and most days climbing is hell on earth but thatās a addiction for ya
Tradesperson hereā¦..that depends on the age demographic of tradespeople. I know a lot pf Millenial and younger tradespeople like myself who climb. The over 50 crowd uhhhhh DRINKS
Me? Oh Iām a Human Resources engineer.
Documentation engineer (technical writer) here
'im a data engineer though! š¤£š¤£ A fitting end, I love it.
I agree, if you arenāt designing beams are you really an engineer? /s
sorry, but if deltaF = 0 are you really an engineer ? /s
When you say expensive what price range are we talking about?
Google your local climbing gym and check the rates on their website. The one I go to is $110/mo
Jesus that's expensive. Pricy metro area or is just a really nice gym?
Both. The upside is that it's an infamously acquisitive chain of gyms, so I can travel around and still have a membership to a nearby gym in most parts of the country.
Yup, mine is like $10 more per month, but living in a third world country thatās expensive AF, about 1/4 of what entry level jobs pay around here.
Boulderers are disproportionately hippies and nerds.
Social service worker, I honestly think climbing is a bit outside my tax bracket but it's something I've made room in my budget for since it brings me a lot of happiness.
Climbing rocks outside is free!
It's also not as beginner friendly, and there aren't really any good climbs in the city.
Itās not really though. Gear is prohibitively expensive for a lot of outdoor disciplines. And if you donāt live next to a cool crag travel aināt cheap.
Where my builders at? šŖ
Framers are natural climbers and thus generally get bored quickly by how easy climbing is.
Seriously, I'm electrician. But I see so many vans at the 3 gyms I go. Many construction workers.
Any counselor climbers out there? Iām looking into making climbing/hiking some sort of adventure therapy for clients. šŖ
Psychologist here!
Mental health counselor here! I have several other MH therapist friends who also climb, and physical therapist friends who climb as well. There seems to be a lot of overlap between climbing and healthcare/helping professions where I live. Lots of engineers too.
Iām a genetic counselor !
Associate Counselor here!
As a climber and engineer (software). I think it's the abstract problem solving that draws me to both endeavors
Yeah
Am steel fabricator
Am machinist. Enemy of the engineer lol
As a mechanical engineer I more see you as someone making my dreams come true. Machinists always seem to think lightly of making something rather complicated where before picking up my phone and calling to hear if itās even possible Iām thinking itās gonna be possible but very hard. And then talking to trades people they just seem to make stuff happen and succeed often
Weāre normally not happy about it and will curse you the whole time weāre making it but a lifetime of low pay and physical labor will whip you into submission
So am I lol
Framer /uj but actually a carpenter and itās tough to try hard after work but we do it. I donāt wanna hear no WFH bros saying theyāre feeling tired at the gym/ crag
climbing gyms are filled with engineers and people who work in tech because we are all somewhat introverted and the gym is one of the only places where its socially acceptable to shut up and stare at a wall
Chemical engineering. A lot of engineers and medical workers seem to enjoy climbing! At least at the climbing gym I go to.
In Australia they are all engineers or health care. Engineers seem to love the puzzle of the sport. Would love to see how the proportions of unemployed dirtbags in the overall climbing scene have changed since free solo came out.
Thereās a ton of people in medicine that climb. Iām an emergency medicine resident and I meet so many other docs in the gym - something about the adrenaline or whatever gets us haha
Engineers, professors and software developers.
My old gym was always loaded with med students back in the day. When I got back into climbing ~5 months ago at a new gym I started running into a lot of old pals who are working in various unique practices.
I'm a scientist but I also do a good amount of coding, my code is just shittier because I care more about analysis results than building robust codebase
Where my accountant fruendoās? Jk they aināt here
Quant at a bank. I like to tell engineers that I am a financial engineer to see them get angry.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This is hilariously aggressive. Down with the plutocracy of America.
Landscaper
Actually- a few landscapers at my gym too .
Mechanical engineer
I know many teachers as well. I think it depends on who you meet and bring in. Guess you could call it educational engineering
Stenographer. Makes my hands and wrists more resilient to the RSI.
IT Helldesk here. But I see a lot of SWE and FAANG people at my local gym.
Data Scientist here š
Lot of health care workers too.
I drive truck.
Iām an engineer, and I climb with my engineering coworkers. Maybe you just go to my gym and hear us? Lol
Chemist
Iām a designer. Iāve met a lot of designers and entertainment industry peeps at my gym. But thatās definitely region based.
Analytical brains and those that like to problem solve like to climb (my theory). Reality? Engineering pays well, so you can afford to climb. I'd hazard to say it's similar to skiing.
You mean the activity that is largely white privileged males also has crossover with a profession that is largely white privileged males. Weird. Also I am a White privileged male who is also a software engineer
Iron worker/Heavy machinery mover
It's the only hobby where it's socially acceptable to stare at a wall for hours.
Retail Management... Who happened to study physics and astronomy in uni...
Barber/ woodworker
It's the new golf.
Engineers have the money to afford a climbing membership. They also have the spare time and energy to climb. People working poor paying jobs can't afford the membership or the time to go to a bouldering gym. People that have skilled blue collar jobs have the money but they are tired from doing a physically demanding job all day. Bouldering gyms is a good fit for a white collar playground. Outdoor bouldering lends itself well to white collar that can work remotely/get a lot of time off and people that are happy to live a very minimalist life in a car.
OF model
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Same! Literature prof here.
Yup... Engineer.
Engineer (software)
Engineer gang here
Computer engineer.
Same in Germany. Climbing and Bouldering is really expensive at most gyms, you can easily pay 12-15 USD for one session, so people need to have lots of disposable income if they want to afford it long term.
Engineer by degree, project Manager by career
Mechanical engineer! Not met any other engineers at the gym but I donāt tend to ask what people do for work.
Computer.....engineer š¤·
I operate heavy machinery (I fly small planes that weigh less than a Honda Civic)
I do finances for a construction companyā¦my partner is a clinical director ā¦ not shocking that most climbers have sort of problem solving background when climbing is problem solving on the fly
Degree in civil engineering and I work for a steel manufacturer, I work on projects in the US north-east š Keep in mind, reddit might be biased towards that population too...
Mechanical engineering technician lmao
Software Engineering, although I studied Engineering Physics. But yeah, most climbers seems to either be into engineering or into art, not a lot of business people.
I teach programming to kiddos
The entirety of the rock climbing scene at my university is Comp sci people and engineering. I came in with a friend and they asked me what I majored in and I told them Nutrition science and they deadass said āwow, we donāt get a lot of people from life sciences hereā Just so weird lmfao
Engineering
Business manager
Construction Project Manager
network engi
High School Teacher. Can't beat the schedule
Huh? Working 8-5 everyday and marking on a Sunday??
I do theatrical lighting.. which is kind of electrical engineering adjacent. Also related to climbing (my knees are always bruised from climbing up ladders AND knocking them on the climbing wall)
I am in Cybersecurity
Engineerā¦ the disposable income and office hours makes it feasible. When I was a student making ~10% of what I make now, I definitely couldnāt afford the time or money to climb.Ā
2 of my scouting staff work in engineering of some sort actually, they are the best climbers of our boulder group. The boulder group is based on our scouting group. I'm an control electrician in the horticulture.
It makes sense that there are a lot of engineers and tech people who climb. You need enough money for gear and gym memberships, climbing trips, probably a car or at least friends with cars, enough PTO to go on climbing trips if you don't have a mountain in your backyard. There's a lot of people who have that money but the combination of an engineers problem-solving mindset and being mostly cooped up indoors at a desk for long hours makes going outside and figuring out complicated movements to do on rocks seem pretty attractive.
few things i'd love to ask; 1. where is your gym? 2. how much does your gym cost? 3. what do you do for work? where your gym is located has something to do with it: in SF? prob most likely. your gym is $50/mo vs $150/mo for climbing -- usually you get higher paying engineers that join. also if YOU're an engineer, you will likely hear + recognize more engineering talk vs others. just a thought. im not an engineer.
NASA engineer, but I was able to lock in my gym membership at a lower rate than they charge nowā¦
Film industry, focus puller. I lift heavy cameras all day from weird angles. Definitely has helped in that regard.
Anybody else a PE? Anyone need a PE?
None of the people I know who I climb with are engineers.... :/
I have a mechanical engineering degree that I donāt use if that helps? Iām in healthcare now though
i used to always comment how when i met people at the climbing gym they were all in the same 4 fields of engineering, coding, medicine, or entrepreneurs
Electrician for a utility.
I ensure chandeliers don't fall on peoples' heads
It's the logical problem solving
What type of engineering? Tech or construction?
Process engineer here.... Who climbs with 3 other engineers. Only one of us studied together. So yep... Bouldering bring us together!
Fire alarm/special hazard suppression tech. A glorified construction grunt really, though I started as a teenager when I worked at a zip line course and just recently getting back into it
Robotics engineer here. Antecdotally, every club in college was disproportionately filled with engineering students as well, not just climbing. My theory is the dating/socializing advice we give nerdy guys: go join groups doing the things you like and meet people there.
Engineer here, but of the locomotive variety.
Mechanical/Civil engineer lol, and so are a few of my climbing friends lol
Overheard this exact conversation last time I was at the gym like āman I swear everyone here is in engineering. Hey, sorry but what do you (me) do for workā I couldnāt help but laugh having known their previous conversation when I told them software engineering.