It was announced today that The Spot has purchased two gyms in Colorado that were previously part of the EVO brand. These newly acquired facilities, in Golden and Louisville, will be rebranded as The Spot Golden and The Spot Louisville, respectively. The Spot already includes bouldering gyms in Boulder and Denver. With the acquisition of these two additional facilities, The Spot will feature a total of 50,000 square feet of climbing surface area across its locations and will have the most gyms (4) in the state of Colorado than any singular climbing gym brand. The Spot Louisville, in particular, broadens The Spot’s offerings by featuring roped walls, autobelay stations, and an IFSC-sanctioned speed climbing wall.   A press release noted that EVO staff will mostly be retained amid the rebranding. Members of any location of The Spot will be granted membership access to the newly acquired gyms. Dan Howley, founder and CEO of The Spot, said: “After nearly 20 years in operation, I’m thrilled to continue expanding the unique culture we have built in Boulder and Denver. Members and customers get more options for their climbing and value for their dollar, and our larger staff will enjoy new career opportunities. It’s a win-win-win all around.” The Spot’s original location, in Boulder, was founded in 2002 and was recognized at the time as the first bouldering-focused gym in the United States. As a host of several early American Bouldering Series (ABS) and Professional Climbers Association (PCA) events, The Spot played an integral role in the American competition scene and the eventual formation of USA Climbing. Some of the most influential routesetters in American history have worked or set at The Spot in various capacities over the years, including Mike Pont, Ty Foose, Scott Mechler, Ian Powell, Jackie Hueftle, Sarah Filler, and many more.

Aspire Climbing Vaughan Vaughan, Ontario

Specs: 20,000-square-foot facility will include bouldering and five auto belay stations. Specifically, the bouldering walls will reach up to 16-feet (with 70-degree overhangs, slabs, and various other angles). The “biggest boulder” in the facility will entail a 27-foot ascent from start to finish. The auto belays will be 23-feet tall.   The gym will also feature a Ninja course and a space for birthday parties. The facility will offer a wide range of programming, from corporate team-building events to summer camps and instructional classes. As the gym expands, a training area will be added, which will include a campus board, a Tension Board, weights, and other fitness equipment. A cafe is also planned to be opened when government COVID regulations allow.

Walls & Flooring: Impact Climbing (Impact’s Head Designer, Rebecca Machan, designed the facility and worked with the owners of Aspire Climbing Vaughan to finalize the gym’s layout.) CRM Software: Rock Gym Pro Website: www.aspireclimbing.com/vaughan Instagram: @aspireclimbingvaughan In Their Words: “When we began, we set out to create a gym that would grow the climbing community and so we wanted to be as accessible as possible for new climbers. We chose Vaughan, Ontario, because Vaughan is an underserved community for rock climbing—currently people of Vaughan have to travel to other areas such as Brampton, Markham, and Toronto to access a rock climbing gym. Our 20,000-square-foot facility will create a space for friends and families to spend time together while promoting physical activity.” —Michelle Vanderheide, co-owner

Inside Moves, located in Byron Center, Michigan, is one of the oldest gyms in the country. It was founded in 1989 and has been serving climbers of the greater Grand Rapids area ever since. But even with such longevity and heritage, the gym has evolved with the times. Most recently, Inside Moves completed a 4,000-square foot expansion that was the result of the closure of an adjoining business—a mechanic shop. The whole process proved to be a DIY accomplishment and a bright spot for the gym during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The landlord—who works in the adjacent lot—wanted to rent [the mechanic shop space] out as soon as possible,” says Inside Moves’ owner Paulie Abissi, when explaining the genesis of the gym’s expansion project. “So, it was really one of the few instances—maybe ever—where we’d be able to go ahead and rent the space beside the gym.”   Abissi has owned Inside Moves since purchasing the original gym space from a previous owner in 2016. (His father, Frank, actually started another time-honored Michigan gym, Higher Ground, in 1995—which the Abissi family also operates.) Paulie Abissi says that purchasing that attached mechanic space, and then turning it into part of the preexisting Inside Moves gym, was all about calculating the financial implications and then “just going for it.”

The Appeal of DIY Projects

Abissi chose to handle most of the construction of Inside Moves’ expansion himself and with a small crew, largely for economic reasons. He had some previous DIY experience, particularly in building a few homewalls for kids he coached on the gym’s youth team. So, he felt ready and eager to undertake a larger construction project related to climbing walls.

Abissi points out that there are benefits to purchasing any space for gym expansion that has already been operating as a viable business; for example, there is typically already usable insulation, roofing, and siding in the acquired space. Of the mechanic shop, in particular, Abissi explains, “We just had to do a thorough power-washing of the walls and floors. But pretty much it was move-in ready for us. It already had cement floor for us to work off of. All of our features are free-standing, so we were able to just bolt into the ground the way the previous mechanic shop had their lifts bolted to the ground.” Abissi clarifies that he is not at all averse to bringing in companies for construction projects: “I definitely love the works of the climbing wall manufacturers,” he notes. However, he admits that he feels a personal sense of satisfaction from doing any DIY construction at the gym—especially this recent expansion. “It gives a lot more personality to it, a lot more character, and a lot more feeling of appreciation for it,” Abissi says. The process to build various bouldering structures in the adjoining space that had formerly been the mechanic shop did have some challenges (“hiccups,” according to Abissi), most notably because it was all taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic. At one point all the construction, along with every non-essential business in Michigan, had to cease operations. And even when construction was allowed to restart, Abissi still encountered challenges in obtaining wood for the bouldering walls and holds on time. But the entire expansion endeavor was a success in the end, with the adjoining wall to the former mechanic shop being torn down—to reveal all the new bouldering structures—just one day prior to opening the expansion to the public near the end of last year.

The Importance of Preparation

When asked what advice he would offer to other gym owners who are keen to expand, Abissi says planning is key. He summarizes this as “strategic placement,” meaning it is well worth the time to examine precisely how the expansion will be used—not as vacant space, but as a populated entity. “You definitely have to be very conscious of the future, and if you’re expecting to try to accommodate a lot of people, how would you like to accommodate them?” Abissi explains. “You definitely want to take a lot of time to think ahead and make sure you understand where everything is going to be, exactly. That way, you know—if I have this boulder over here, will I have enough space to make sure I can safely have some climbers here spotting on either side and they’re not going to get fallen on by accident by climbers over here?” Inside Moves is currently operating—with the new, expanded bouldering area—at 25-percent capacity due to COVID mitigation. Abissi considers the successful expansion project to be a silver lining to the pandemic. “I just love this perspective of DIY and all the stuff that we had to do to get it done—even the hiccups,” he says.