It the new skiing. Or maybe sailing and golfing, to a smaller extent. A thing well-off professionals go do (and yes, not just them, same as the other things) then come back and talk about.
Agree with the other reply, my perspective from a decade of rock climbing in the US is that this is almost if not totally inverted from the truth.
Rock climbing started with quite modest pioneers and was quickly joined by a lot of impoverished people. Their stories are easily found.
Even now with an industry spawned and high dollar protective and performance equipment available, the barrier to entry is very accessible, even more so if you live near outdoor areas that don't require an admittedly increasing gym membership.
I don't think it's particularly a sport for well-off professionals at all. It just happens that most of the people we interact with in SF/SV are well-off professionals, so those are the climbers you know. If you go a different part of the country/world, you'll probably find climbers of way different demographics.
But climbing’s a lot cheaper than those things. If you’re in a midsize city you can get an unlimited gym membership for maybe $50 per month. Shoes, generously will run you $200 per year. That’s $800 per year all-in. The equipment alone, even without the travel or membership expenses, seems higher for the other hobbies listed.
But your example is only if you only boulder indoors. Costs add up quickly if you want to move outdoors and want the flexibility to do a variety of climbs.
You can easily have a couple thousand dollars in gear.
Harness $70
Belay device $20-150
Rope $150+ (possibly multiple)
Quickdraws $10-14 each, you probably want a dozen or so.
Some slings
Some carabiners
That'll get you outside and working on bolted routes.
Then you get into climbs that don't have man made bolts that you can clip into (trad climbing).
Each piece of protection at this level costs $60-80 new, and you'll probably want like 10 of them at least.
Yes and no. You can go a long time with very little gear.
I have a pretty nice trad rack, but most of the time I could get by with shoes, harness, belay device, etc. just because I'm typically climbing with other folks.
If you're learning to climb, then you really don't need the equipment beyond personal stuff at all because your partners will have it.
Like, I haven't had to use my rack for about the last 3 months just because the guy I was climbing with liked his better.
Not to mention that I have cams in my rack from the 90s... a lot of this stuff lasts a very long time and has a reasonable used market.
IME, it is way cheaper than, say, lift-serviced skiing or golfing.
It's like anything else, you could spend a lot. You could also live in your car and still afford to do this stuff.
