Under the palm trees in the wallpaper, Ilan and Lucie (the first names have been changed), 29 and 25 years old, are studying for a civil service exam while sipping juice “homemade” ginger-apple at 4.50 euros a glass. If they come to the « cellars » of this Arkose climbing gym on 13e district of Paris, it is no longer for climbing, but for this atmosphere « relax ». “Here, we can work in groups for hours without being disturbed”they testify.
Ilan used to do climbing once a week: “When I started, in 2019, entry – valid all day – was still 14 euros, today it is 18, it has become too expensive. And then I got tired, I think. » Not far from them, Timothé and his two comrades are drinking a beer. The 30-year-old podiatrist comes to climb several times a week. His friends, less keen, sometimes accompany him but, more often than not, find him “directly for the aperitif”.
The arrival of private rooms has given the area a facelift, far from the filthy wall covered in chalk and the smells of the locker room. In the space of fifteen years, the landscape of this discipline has been turned upside down: the number of climbers has doubled to reach 2 million in 2025 according to the Union sport et cycle (the professional organization which brings together sports companies) and the territory has been covered with 300 private rooms, including more than forty in the Paris region.
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