Open Doors: Fall Round Up

2016 is shaping up to be another big year for the indoor climbing industry. As we roll into fall here is a quick a round up of the gyms opening their doors.

Sender One LAX

Los Angeles, CA

California is a notoriously difficult place to start a business and the city of LA doesn’t make it any easier. That’s why it’s taken a long time for Sender One to get approval for their second facility in SoCal. Raising the roof on the 30,000 square foot facility, which is located just down the road from LA Airport, to accommodate the 60 foot climbing walls triggered the need for FAA approval, which added to the complexity and delays. The team persevered and after many, many months of hard work they are very close to opening their doors to the public.

Highpoint Climbing and Fitness

Birmingham, AL

The Tennessee-based gym operator is moving south with its new Birmingham location. Highpoint went big with a massive ground-up expansion to an existing building, bringing the total footprint to 35,000 square feet. Just last week the gym opened the bouldering area and the kids fun-climbing zone, while the rope areas are being built. When completed, the full-service gym will feature 25,000 square feet of climbing surface.

Birmingham Boulders

Birmingham, AL

Also opening in Birmingham is the second gym for First Avenue Rocks (which opened their first in 2009 and was the original climbing gym in the city). BB brings 12,000 square feet of pure bouldering to the 212,000 people of Birmingham making the city one of the more climber-friendly places in the south.

Ascent Studio

Fort Collins, CO

This brand new, 18,000 square foot ground-up building is Fort Collins’ first full-service climbing gym since 1993 (when Inner Strength opened). With 14,000 square feet of climbing and all the amenities you would expect out of a modern climbing facility, Ascent Studio will be a welcome addition for the climbers of the front range.

Owned and operated by first-time gym owners Jon Lachelt (who is the tech genius behind CBJ’s Gym Map), Brandon McPhail and George Rehm, Ascent has many of the elements that make for a stand-out facility like a 35-foot long ramped bouldering wall for those enduro sessions.

Upper Limits

Chesterfield, MO

This is the fourth for the long-time gym operator Upper Limits, which now includes three facilities in St. Louis as well as their original Bloomington, Illinois gym housed inside a repurposed grain elevator, which clocks in at 110 feet.

The new facility may only have 8,500 square feet of climbing but the location is a strategic move by the company to surround the St. Louis metro area. The gym features extensive bouldering and a kids fun-climbing zone.

Cliff Hangers

Mooresville, NC

A mere 25 miles north of Charlotte, NC, Cliff Hangers opened the doors on their beautiful, ground-up climbing facility making it the only commercial climbing gym in the area. Known for the 60 NASACAR teams that call it home, Mooresvile now boasts an 18,000 square foot climbing gym with 20,000 SF of climbable surface. A couple notable elements of the $4 million gym are its sizeable outdoor, covered rope climbing area which is reminiscent of some European gyms, and a stand-alone cafe and lounge area complete with a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace.

Climbing Business Journal

Climbing Business Journal is an independent news outlet dedicated to covering the indoor climbing industry. Here you will find the latest coverage of climbing industry news, gym developments, industry best practices, risk management, climbing competitions, youth coaching and routesetting. Have an article idea? CBJ loves to hear from readers like you!