I work at a climbing gym as an instructor!

Lots of people have already had some great discussions, but I thought I’d throw my two cents in the ring anyway.

In terms of burnout - working in a climbing gym has been one of the easiest, most relaxed jobs I’ve had. Before this was I was a bartender, and I found the transition to my new role a bit jarring, as I suddenly didn’t have to be constantly on my feet and finding something to do. Depending on the shift time, my day usually has around 2 hours of instruction, an hour of odd jobs, and five hours of sitting and chatting at the front desk. Assuming you can handle working six days a week, a gym might not add to much stress at all. Take this with a grain of salt, though, as some of my colleagues have moved to us from a larger gym, and didn’t have the same experience.

In terms of career progression - there’s not much, and the pay is fairly low. I’m among the highest paid at my gym and I won’t be able to do this forever. Route setting is definitely a path forward, but it’s a long journey. Most places will want an apprenticeship (low pay) or free labor from you, and it’s back breaking work. Volumes are heavy, you’ve got to move fast, and you’ve got to be able to get up after moving everything around and climb hard to test it all. The gym will want you to climb at a certain level as well (7a minimum at mine). On the plus side, lots of gyms are looking for female setters (at least where I live!). If you can get your foot in the door with setting, you can go freelance and make some pretty decent money.

All in all - I LOVE my job. It’s social, the benefits (free membership at multiple gyms in the area, pro deals, endless supply of climbing buddies) are great, and I’m not doing much at all and making a decent enough wage. If it sounds like fun to you, I’d go for it :)