CWA Blog Archive-2023 CWA Summit A Reflection

2023 CWA Summit A Reflection

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Hailey Caissie, an employee at The Crag Climbing Gym and longtime CWA writer, shares a personal reflection on attending the 2023 CWA Summit in Pittsburgh. She sets an evocative scene: weaving through the vast conference center with her team toward the heart of the Summit, awed by sweeping views of Pittsburgh's city, rivers, and bridges, peering down from the mezzanine into the Exhibit Hall at colorful displays from Edelrid, Joshua Tree, and Flashed, and noting, with characteristic humor, that the snack tables were almost set up. As both attendee and writer, she captures the experience across education sessions, networking, and Expo Floor time, framing the Summit as an event as unique as its location. A recurring theme is team connection. This year her gym's new Head Routesetter Dylan Garey and Head Coach Jess Malloy joined the rest of the leadership team, Kim Rank, Michael Kidder, and Ashley Roos, and Caissie reflects that every year they attend, they return more connected as a team and more inspired and empowered to build incredible climbing experiences for their community. That team-building dimension, she suggests, is one of the Summit's underappreciated values. She also writes about the social and professional reconnection at the heart of the event, being driven to reconnect with peers she met the previous year and buzzing to meet new ones, and describes joining Garey for the Setter's Showdown at ASCEND South Side. The throughline is that the CWA Summit's value extends well beyond formal education into relationships, team cohesion, and inspiration. Through Caissie's firsthand account, the Summit emerges as a place where gym teams bond, professionals reconnect and expand their networks, and attendees leave energized to improve their gyms. Her reflection personalizes the event, showing how the abstract benefits of a professional conference translate into real connection, learning, and renewed purpose for the people who attend.

Asset Caption

CWA writer Hailey Caissie of The Crag Climbing Gym reflects on the 2023 Summit in Pittsburgh. Beyond education sessions, networking, and the Expo Floor, she highlights team connection, her gym's leadership returns more bonded and inspired each year, and the reconnection with peers that makes the Summit valuable well beyond its formal programming.