Owner Josh Bochniak says that business at Scrapyard Climbing Collective remains viable because members have been helpful, gracious and understanding during the pandemic. All photos courtesy of Scrapyard Climbing Collective
Previously, CBJ reported on some wisdom that On the Rocks’ General Manager D.J. Snell gained amid the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio. Like many gyms around the country, On the Rocks reopened with various mitigation protocols following temporary pandemic-related closure.
But a number of other gyms find themselves in an entirely different situation. For example, Scrapyard Climbing Collective, a 5,000-square foot facility featuring bouldering and roped climbing in Holland, Michigan, has been closed since March 16—with Michigan’s state policies making any reopening this month unlikely as well. “August will put us at nearly five months closed,” reiterates Scrapyard’s owner and founder, Josh Bochniak.
Such an extended closure has been an incredible challenge for Scrapyard, but Bochniak has still managed to learn a lot throughout the whole experience; there have been new lessons acquired and old lessons reinforced by the ongoing COVID crisis, and Bochniak took some time between all the planning and preparation to share some of that wisdom.
LESSON 1: People are gracious and generous
Long before the pandemic, Scrapyard made a point of highlighting its communal uniqueness. “The word ‘collective’ doesn’t represent a legal distinction or organizational structure for us,” reads the Scrapyard homepage. “We are not a co-op or non-profit climbing gym. Scrapyard Climbing Collective is a climbing facility that chooses to see our greatest opportunities not in the amount of revenue we can generate but by the number of people we can engage.”
And when speaking about the COVID crisis, specifically, owner Bochniak is frank in citing the people of Scrapyard as a vital component, even amid the gym’s ongoing closure. “My business remains viable because of the gracious generosity of more than a few members of our collective,” Bochniak says, pointing out that a number of people have continued paying their membership dues and even reached out to offer help in additional ways.
That connection with others is “life-giving,” according to Bochniak, and keen awareness of it could practically be another lesson in and of itself. “Every email, phone call, Zoom meeting, text message or other communication with members and staff has been a light in my days,” he says. “Things as simple as an email from a member saying, ‘I miss you,’ or checking in about what they’re up to has been life giving. This has been a good reminder of how much our work connects people and creates community and relationships.”
It’s hard to consider anything resulting from the pandemic a positive, but Bochniak says one silver lining has been seeing gyms around Michigan come together on virtual meetings to discuss reopening and mitigation strategies.
LESSON 2: Transparency and genuineness are vital
For many gyms, and under “normal” circumstances, it might be natural for the inner workings of a gym’s staff to carry a degree of mystique in the eyes of the customers; indeed, there is often a legitimate separation between what the members see compared to what the staff knows or does behind the scenes. But Bochniak has made an attempt to eliminate such disconnection at Scrapyard: “I have chosen, during this closure, to be as open and honest about everything as I possibly can be,” he says. “I have tried to keep in regular contact with members as I learn new information or have needed to ask for help. People appreciate being able to look ‘behind the curtain’ and feel informed about what is happening and as much about what the future holds as possible.”
Another way of looking at such honesty and transparency is that a gym is thus not sending mixed signals to its members. “It’s better to communicate, ‘I don’t know’ than it is to try to create a false sense of positivity,” explains Bochniak.
LESSON 3: Patience is necessary
Almost like an offshoot of transparency, Bochniak admits that he has had to get very comfortable with phrases such as ‘We’ll see’ and ‘I am hopeful.’ To a large degree, he shares all the same emotions with the Scrapyard member base. For instance, like the members, he has not been able to plan for a specific reopening date, and has had to roll with the ever-changing information about the pandemic from the powers-that-be in Michigan and elsewhere.
Having to plan and then repeatedly being let down is something that Bochniak bluntly calls “exhausting and frustrating.” But the real key is to garner some knowledge from the arduous process and spin it into something positive: “Freedom has come in the ability to walk away after those plans have been made and just wait for the next step,” he notes.
The pandemic has allowed time for focusing on other projects at the gym, including facility maintenance, website development and marketing.
LESSON 4: There’s only so much you can do
“It’s ok to not be busy,” Bochniak explains. For example, in the early days of Scrapyard’s temporary closure, Bochniak and the staff compiled a list of projects and tasks to be accomplished during the closure. However, as the reality of a long closure set in and staff were temporarily furloughed—laid off, basically—that list of projects got put on the shelf.
Bochniak says he has continued to chip away at smaller projects related to the gym, but, “the urge to be ever-productive during this closure has also been tempered by the fact that at some point there’s only so much that can be done right now.” For Bochniak, this means giving himself permission to step away and fill the other roles in life that need filling—largely being home with his family and helping run a household that is occupied continuously as a result of the pandemic.
Still, there is a flip side, which is that it is often hard not to be busy. So, there must be a balance. “Feeling a lack of productivity has made me examine how I assign value to my life and work,” Bochniak points out. “If my worth is tied up in being busy, then I am going to constantly drive toward busyness. This closure has made me examine life a little more, how I assign value to activity or time.”
LESSON 5: Be willing to ask for—and receive—help
For Bochniak and many other gym owners who have corresponded with CBJ over the past five months, the COVID crisis seems to have brought out some of the best aspects of the global climbing community—and this has been detectable at the local level too. “People want to provide help when they can, and even more so in these times,” Bochniak says. “Being willing to ask for help and receive it increases ownership and buy in from all of those around us.” As an illustration, Bochniak has received help for aspects ranging from cleaning and organizing, construction and maintenance, photography and marketing, to website work and video creation.
Similarly, a little bit of help from everyone makes a big difference, and this is a valuable realization that Bochniak admits he is continuing to learn: “There are few tasks that should be considered too small because the sum of those small tasks or contributions, when scaled up, becomes significant. It may not be a large stress for some of our members to contribute what they are monetarily, but it most certainly makes an enormous difference in our ability to continue as a business.”
LESSON 6: We are better together
In speaking to CBJ, Bochniak is quick to give a shoutout to a number of other gyms in Michigan—Climb Kalamazoo, Terra Firma, Planet Rock, Higher Ground and Inside Moves. The owners of those gyms, along with Bochniak, have been meeting on Zoom every couple of weeks to compare notes, collaborate on communication and procedures, and focus on the climbing community. It has been an unprecedented example of alliance and positive open discussion among many of Michigan’s leading climbing gyms. Simply, the temporary closures of all the gyms brought the owners closer together.
“I had never met several of these folks and now I look forward to our conversations,” Bochniak explains. “We are making the Michigan climbing community stronger and our individual gyms better through conversation, and it has made me feel far less alone during the past four months.”
Share Your Story
Are you a gym owner, manager or staffer who would like to share what you’ve learned from the ongoing pandemic challenges? If so, send us a message here. And stay tuned to CBJ for additional “Lessons Learned from the COVID Crisis” featurettes in the future.
Scholastic climbing like Wisconsin’s High School Climbing League has explosive potential for exposing students to an untraditional sport, says Trevor Russell, coach of the Dominican High School climbing team pictured here. Left to Right: Margo Cushman; Collin Trafton; Rosa Romero; Paul Manley; Jacob Moser; Colleen Fischer; and the author, Trevor Russell. Photo by Beth ManleyBy Trevor Russell
Picture 250 students gathered together on a Friday night, all doing the same thing. Do you think of the student section at a high school football game? Prom? No. Here, students dance up walls. In a climbing competition of Wisconsin’s High School Climbing League, teenagers socialize across teams, shouting encouragement. Fists pump in the air after successful sends. Forgotten chalk bags lie on bleachers. Everywhere there are team shirts full of word play, such as “Pirates of the Carabiner.” Voices carefully recite all the magic belay words in the correct sequence in order to begin climbing.
In recent years, it has never been easier to discover the sport of climbing. The chances of living close to a climbing facility in the United States have skyrocketed, with 300 new climbing gym openings in this country in the last decade, according to Climbing Business Journal. While that robust growth is being impacted this year by the ongoing COVID pandemic, there’s little doubt that climbing has been more in the public eye than ever.
But let’s not get carried away. Early this year I asked a class of freshmen to submit their dreams of the future. Amid the typically ambitious and touchingly idealistic responses were the requisite NBA, WNBA and NFL dreams. I questioned the class, faux-naively, “Doesn’t anyone want to be a pro rock climber?” Laughter. “Is that a thing, Mr. Russell?” Another asked, “Wait, can I get paid to climb trees?” The rejoinder: “If you want to be a lumberjack!” For many students, climbing is still not considered a “real” sport.
Around the country there are a few places, besides Milwaukee, that are spearheading scholastic climbing teams and clubs. Among the areas with an organized network of teams are Colorado; the Washington, D. C., area; Chattanooga and Knoxville, Tennessee; and St. Louis. The list is not extensive. But, multiplied all over the country, this model has explosive potential for exposing young people to an untraditional sport that many of them will love and can do for life.
In addition to the social and athletic benefits, high school leagues provide a gateway into the sport of climbing, from climbing technique to belaying like Dominican team member Rosa Romero does here. Photo by Beth Manley
The Start of an Adventure
Craig Burzynski, co-owner of Adventure Rock, the gym that hosts the teams in Wisconsin’s High School Climbing League, hatched the idea to start high school clubs about 15 years ago. “When I found rock climbing, really found rock climbing at the age of 19…it was like a respite from all the crazy stuff that I had going on as a young adult,” Burzynski says. “I thought if we can provide this outsider, but constructive, [activity] to do, that it would be a really awesome thing.”
Burzynski initially pitched the idea to a teacher he climbed with from a nearby high school. That became the first club; slowly more schools joined. In 2009, to develop it into a more structured climbing league, Burzynski hired an intern, Andy Miers, who later joined as a full-time employee. Miers had started climbing late in high school after he felt he had, based on his small stature, maxed out with football. Thinking about the barriers to entry of climbing, Miers says, “It was limited. You had to know somebody…to learn how to belay and how to tie knots.” Considering the missed opportunity of experiencing a league, he says, “I wish I had that when I was in high school. I wish I had had something that I could…turn to as a lifelong thing.”
The origins of the team I coach, Dominican High School, a Catholic school on Milwaukee’s North Shore, were students questioning traditional school offerings. Our team began where many good teenager ideas start: in a high school study hall. With four athletic students not yet playing a school sport. One of them, Bennett Artman, a freshman at the time with mental and physical energy to burn, has parents who had been serious climbers when they lived in Colorado years before. Both athletic and competitive, Artman disliked conventional high school sports. With a new gym opening not far away, he suggested forming a team. The others agreed, and the team’s eventual first captain, Colleen Fischer, already a little involved in the sport, was particularly keen on the notion. She asked me about being the adult leader, simply because I’m the resident outdoor adventure sports guy at the school.
Today, with an infrastructure in place and Andy Miers having ten years of experience helping to set up teams, Adventure Rock makes the process of starting a team easy. They offer a free day for students to try it out and a portable climbing wall on location to drum up interest. They coordinate weekly team practice times and give high school team membership discounts. And they organize and run the competitions.
Dominican teammates Emmy Wiensch (left) and Margo Cushman (right). Photo by Beth Manley
Transitioning from a Club to a Sport
At first, the league was merely a loose confederation of a few clubs. Burzynski says, “We always started it from the idea that these were teams and the students were athletes, even though it was cluby, and at some point in time we got the understanding that a lot of parents had a hard time committing to having their children in this thing that they thought was a club because sports were more important.” In 2009, to increase credibility by branding it more as a sport, they decided to add competitions. “In hindsight that was probably the most brilliant portion of it,” he says, “because it changed the dynamic of what this was considerably.”
Although for a few years the competitions were more small group hang-outs, the athletes got culminating events to organize the season and test themselves. But parents would show up to spectate, which got them more behind it, leading to more school support. After about four years of development, some of the participants began to get very competitive. Still the model remained “big tent”—a place for everyone.
“Our focus for the comps,” Miers says, “is how are we going to…open it to as many kids as possible? How can we make this easy and as unintimidating as possible?” Adventure Rock’s goal was to bring in climbers—youth that are already into the sport—and youth looking to experiment, those looking for a social activity and community, and those wanting something fun and casual. The competitions allow them to select their level of seriousness—”challenge by choice”—ranging from looking at it as another night of climbing with friends but with greater team focus, to butterflies in the stomach tense. The strict “You’re going to run ‘til you puke!” coaching style of my high school football coach would be out of its element here. With the goal of inclusiveness in place, Miers says, “Once we broke the 120 mark at a comp, we were like, ‘Oh my god!’” The biggest competition this past year had about 275 participants.
Wisconsin’s High School Climbing League makes inclusiveness a priority, and Adventure Rock—which launched the league and hosts the competition nights like this one—has a program for students who can’t afford a membership. Photo by Trevor Russell
A Chance to Excel and to Be Recognized
Fast forward to last year’s state finals competition, an on-sight format that Adventure Rock organized and presented with the hype of a USA Climbing event. Two hundred and fifteen athletes from the climbing league’s 23 teams squared off.
One of those students was Gavin Olig, a sophomore who had been climbing for two years. Although very athletic, Olig hadn’t competed in any other high school sport—only training for parkour on his own. He was searching for another sport when he chanced upon climbing at a summer camp. That experience sent him to Adventure Rock in Milwaukee. From the gym he got the idea to begin a home school team, a team that’s regularly in contention for the team title.
Olig is one of many success stories of the Wisconsin High School Climbing League, in his case of a teenager who found both a new sport and personal affirmation in climbing. In the state finals, with the crowd holding its breath, he on-sighted a 5.12, winning the highest division. “Finishing that route was amazing, basically the best feeling ever,” he says. “It was really cool to see that all my hard work paid off.” Being good at something may be its own reward, but many people want recognition—to be good in public and to be acknowledged for their excellence.
Dominican team member Paul Manley enjoys an award recognizing his victory during a league competition. Photo by Trevor Russell
Bringing Individuals Together
Still, for many team members, the competitions are the least important component. They like climbing; they love how social climbing is. Olig too notes, “There’s a lot of sitting around on the mats exchanging beta, just hanging out…Some of my best friends I made through the team. And I’ve made a lot of friends on other teams.”
Others love the individual aspects of climbing. Paul Manley, another student on my school’s initial team and a senior at the time, went into it reluctantly and unsure. A risk-free trial day at the gym for our team whetted Manley’s appetite enough to commit. Within a week, he says, he was captured by the sport, and two weeks after that he was already a certifiable gym rat, climbing three to four days a week. A person who thrives on a challenge, he won two competitions within the first six months, advancing to the highest division. The individual facet of the sport helped him thrive. “I just don’t like relying on a team…but climbing, it’s based on how much I want to put in,” he says. Now a graduate, he helps to coach our team.
Similarly, Artman fell in love with the sport because, in his words, “you’re by yourself; it’s only you on the wall, and this is infatuating to me.” Last summer he competed at junior nationals in speed climbing. More interested in rock climbing than climbing competitions, Colleen Fischer puzzled her art teacher by repeatedly drawing and painting pictures of El Capitan and Zion big walls. She was able to recite, to the minute, how long it takes to drive from Milwaukee to Yosemite.
“The events bring individuals together, promote an overarching community, and create one more opportunity for young people to thrive,” sums up Dominican coach Trevor Russell on the value of high school climbing leagues. Photo by Beth Manley
A Sport for High School and Beyond
Climbing is a sport that stimulates dreams of adventure. Miers says, “I think one of the coolest parts [of the climbing league] is seeing students…choose where they go to college based off what rock is in the area, so watching kids go to Boulder or out to Utah or California…It’s been cool to see how that’s changed lives.” It’s not a college scholarship or bust. Seeing Olig descend from the top of his successful send in the finals, pumping his fist in the air in celebration like in other sports, you can’t help but think about what other youth are missing.
One thing that they’re missing is a Friday night gym full of climbers cheering teammates on in competitions. Fifteen year olds performing powerful moves on sick looking boulder problems. An announcer, hamming it up, will introduce the next climber in the finals, saying, “Next up for division two girls, the Captain of Crimps, the Sultana of Slopers, just in from her world tour, it’s Katie Smith!” Pewaukee High School’s team of about 35 climbers will form a tunnel to welcome and pump up their climbers who are entering the stage for finals. Then they’ll all yell, “P-K-E!” followed by a single loud clap. Kettle Moraine High School’s team of about 40 climbers will do their in-unison “Chop! Chop! Chop!” cheer for its climbers, while they all chop the air. Whatever it signifies, it stirs up the crowd. Burzynski will grab the announcer’s mic, egging on other teams: “Dominican, where’s your team cheer?” The events bring individuals together, promote an overarching community, and create one more opportunity for young people to thrive.
Rendering of the new High Altitude Fitness gym in California, which will be the brand’s second facility and built from scratch. All photos courtesy of High Altitude Fitness
High Altitude FitnessTruckee, California
Specs: Elaborate 26,000-square-foot facility will feature bouldering and roped climbing, along with a weight room, a functional fitness room, a yoga studio, a group fitness studio, a cycling studio, and other rooms separated by glass walls. The exterior of the gym will offer an “outdoor fitness area” as well. Childcare will be offered for customers using the various indoor and outdoor accouterments.
As it currently stands, the Truckee gym is the result of six years of planning, according to co-owner Jason Burd, who also owns a High Altitude Fitness facility in Incline Village, Nevada. Unlike the Nevada gym, which was remodeled and repurposed, the new Truckee gym has been designed “from scratch”—and ground was finally broken for the gym on July 8th.
Jason Burd has been working on getting construction of the Truckee facility started while his wife, Gabi Burd, has handled the day-to-day operations at the Nevada gym. A press release noted that members will have access to both facilities. The release also noted that High Altitude Fitness, as a brand, offers summer camps, after-school programs and a competitive climbing team.
The planned Truckee gym will include bouldering and roped climbing, as well as a full array of fitness opportunities.Design: Jason Kehl
Walls: Walltopia
Flooring: Climbmat
CRM Software: Mindbody
Instagram: @highaltitudefitness
Website: http://www.highaltitudefit.net/In Their Words: “I take great pride in building a facility like this in a ski town like Truckee. After living in the Tahoe area full time for the last 16 years, I now run this business with my wife, Gabi Burd. Together we have lived in the mountains for over 40 years. The Truckee facility will focus on providing fitness for all types of mountain athletes, families in this community, youth, anyone who chooses health and wellness as a part of their lifestyle.”
—Jason Burd, founder of High Altitude Fitness business and co-owner of the Truckee gym
This week’s HWOW was built before the coronavirus in Scottsdale, AZ. Professional climber Sierra Blair-Coyle needed a place to train and had this gem built – a serious home training space for a serious comp climber. Check out past HWOW here.
When did you begin building the SBC gym?
February 2015!
How long did it take to build?
It took about 3-4 weeks to build the wall.
What did those work days look like over the initial 3-4 weeks?
I wasn’t crazy involved with the physical labor of the build. I was in University at the time, so I was focusing on training and my classes. I paid friends from the gym to drill out the panels, then the majority of the labor switched to our family friend (Brad) putting the walls up in the gym. While we were reaching the end of the vert wall build, another family friend (Steve) who is a civil engineer joined the team to help with the slab, 5 degree, and adjustable wall build. My main help during this time was making lunch for everyone each day and paying them for their work. Except for Steve…he would only accept Swedish Fish as payment!
What were the training features you added on? Your favorite?
My favorite training feature I’ve added is the MoonBoard. It has helped me become so much stronger and is one of my favorite training tools.
Not including holds and padding, how much did it cost you to build? Any surprises there?
The cost of wood/hardware for the initial build was $4,100. I’ve added some training tools since the initial build and the wood/hardware cost of those was $2,000.
What was your primary incentive for the wall? Did anything in particular inspire your wall design?
I have always loved the layout of The Front’s original gym (one singular bouldering wall). It looked so clean and utilized the space they had really well! It made more sense for me to create a “U” shape, but I was absolutely inspired by the simplicity of The Front.
What was the most difficult aspect of the design and build?
Honestly none of the aspects were too difficult! The design/build was fairly easy and simple.
Do you set your own routes or have people come in to set?
For the first 3 years or so I didn’t set anything and would pay setters to come in. I still pay setters to come in, but I’m also much more comfortable setting myself. I love that having a home wall has helped me become a semi-decent (or at least I think I’m semi-decent) route setter.
What would you do differently?
I would have different padding. I made the mistake of getting loose padding instead of consistent/level padding. It would have been way easier to walk on, set on, and clean.
What is your favorite aspect?
My favorite aspect of the wall is my slab. It’s big so I’m able to do a lot of unique movements on it and never feel constrained.
If you could never train at another gym again, do you think your gym would properly prepare you for all of your comps?
With enough motivation and creativity on my end, I think my home gym would properly prepare me for all of the comps! I would like access to more… but I could make it work if I had to.
Any words of wisdom to aspiring homewallers?
To the best of your abilities, do it right the first time. A home wall is too big of an investment and takes too much time to cut corners on any areas. Also… you will LOVE having a home wall!
Want us to consider your woodie for a future Homewall of the Week? Submit your homewall here to be considered. If yours is chosen you’ll win a prize like this (varied prizes each week):
Hold Emporium is a Canadian company which is releasing a “monster” of a hangboard. The Mönster Board is designed to build “monster finger strength,” and features a variety of edges on a relatively large board. There are 14 edges clearly labeled ranging from 5mm to 35mm in depth. There are also three single edges designed for one arm hangs or offset training. We would be remiss to mention this board was designed by professional climbing coach Matt Chapman. holdemporium.com
Digit Climbing
Digit Climbing is a Canadian company that specializes in wooden training holds and equipment. They have recently released several additions to their lines including the new Campus Crimps, Three In One (featuring 3, 4 and 6 mm edges), the K-Yubi which is a smaller portable hangboard version of their larger Yubiboard as well as Paraletts, Nano Trainer and new shirts. digitclimbing.com
Magus
Magus Holds is a Japanese company which has recently released two polyurethane hangboards. The Basic is a typical hangboard oval shape while the Vamp is a hangboard that looks much like the Magus Holds bat logo. Both feature multiple edges, jugs, pockets and slopers – but the Vamp is specifically designed with more advanced climbers in mind. magusholds.theshop.jp
Upah
Upah Holds is a newer climbing brand based in Portugal which manufactures polyurethane holds. They have recently released The Hangboard, described on their website as a “simple yet effective fingerboard with nice slopers on the top with two sets of small half-pad crimps, one set of full-pad crimps and two single bigger edges for one arm hangs.” upaholds.com
Vola
Vola is a company based out of Thailand specializing in training equipment but they also have a large selection of wooden dual texture, single texture holds and volumes. Recently they released 3 training sets including Small (30 holds), Medium (44 holds) and Large (51 holds) which are all wooden and range from jugs, crimps, pinches, rails to pockets. These holds feature both screw-on and bolt-on options and can be attached to any training wall or hangboard station. thevola.com
On The Rocks reopened in late May, after months of temporary closure due to COVID and subsequent virtual offerings for members. All photos courtesy of David Snell / On The Rocks
The summer of 2020 was supposed to feature climbing’s Olympic debut, a highly anticipated World Cup circuit, and numerous new gyms opening around North America. The COVID pandemic changed all that, with the Olympics, World Cup events, youth climbing camps, and numerous other competitions being cancelled or postponed. Fortunately, there have still been some recent new gym openings, which are refreshing indicators that the industry is successfully adapting to the ongoing challenges. But this has certainly not been the summer anyone expected or planned for.
Yet, since it is the summer we have, it is worth reflecting on how we got here and picking out some key wisdom garnered during the initial pandemic stretch from spring to summer.
Like most gyms around the country, On The Rocks—an 8,000-square-foot facility in Elyria, Ohio, that features bouldering, autobelays, top roping and lead climbing—temporarily closed in mid-March, when various government agencies began recommending the suspension of non-essential travel and public activities. On The Rocks’ autopay memberships were thus frozen, and the gym soon partnered with several brands—such as Trango, Butora and eGrips—to offer promo deals during the shutdown. Virtual yoga and fitness classes—and even virtual Bingo—were quickly offered by the gym as well, until the facility finally reopened on May 26th with new COVID safety protocols such as recommended masks and registered climbing time-slots for members.
“Our reopening announcement came only a couple of days after most gyms in the area, and in hindsight, for us, that extra time seemed to be what was needed to make sure everything was sorted for what we believe to have been a relatively smooth relaunch,” says David (D.J.) Snell, the General Manager at On The Rocks.
Snell shared with CBJ some of the specific lessons learned from On The Rocks’ temporary closure and that “smooth relaunch,” while also noting that none of the acquired wisdom was necessarily unique to the pandemic. “Rather,” explains Snell, “the pandemic seems to have required the employment of the lessons more frequently.” [Note: This is not to imply that the pandemic is a thing of the past; if anything, Snell’s lessons might prove useful as the industry continues to adjust with COVID in the present tense.]
D.J. Snell, pictured here, says being able to adapt and adjust has been essential to navigating the COVID crisis at On The Rocks.
LESSON 1: Keep Adapting. Making adjustments as situations change improves the likelihood of reaching a goal
Situations changed a lot for On The Rocks starting in early March. The gym had a number of programs scheduled, including monthly parties, an information session with the Ohio Climbers Coalition, the planned appearance of a local iCrave food truck, college night for Oberlin College students, and various other community initiatives. Those plans not only got upended, but On The Rocks has had to continually integrate various COVID-related mandates from the state of Ohio, an action that Snell refers to as “the name of the game for affected businesses.”
Snell says that one of the most significant integrations for the gym has been encouraging physical distancing given the relatively compact size of the facility. “For us, this has meant, among other things: creating two time slots per day of two hours—45 minutes in which a maximum of 30 people can climb, and creating a rotation in which every other top rope is ‘off’ for the day.” On The Rocks has also spread out seats and even removed some seating in areas where the previous layout promoted congregation.
Another small adjustment—to reach the ultimate goal of customer COVID safety—has been the implementation of additional cleaning procedures, and particularly a more robust cleaning schedule at On The Rocks. Categorically, the gym has a COVID-specific cleaning schedule before guests arrive, between waves of guests, and at the end of the night in addition to the facility’s normal cleanings. Unique to COVID has been a focus on disinfecting high-contact areas such as door handles, counters, faucets, lockers, handrails and the credit-card machine. Hands-free washing stations around the floor encourage guests to keep hands clean after each climb too. (“We figured that people are more likely to wash their hands if they don’t have to walk to the bathroom,” says Snell.) At the end of each night, whichever top ropes were used during the day are washed. Lead ropes—which are only allowed to be checked out once per day—are washed at the end of the night as well.
Yoga is a consistently popular activity at On The Rocks. It continued to be featured during the gym’s temporary closure—albeit virtually.
Snell says that increased cleaning has made a noticeable difference in the gym’s appearance—even though the gym already felt consistently clean even prior to the pandemic. Such additional cleaning has been effective and is likely something that will remain part of the gym protocol even in the ideal future when the pandemic is long gone.
Finally, the pandemic forced On The Rocks to make some difficult decisions regarding revenue and expenses. On The Rocks’ reopening with limited capacity resulted, of course, in a dip in profits and also a reduction in the need for staff. “Fortunately, we have an incredibly selfless, understanding [staff] at the gym that have collectively been able to find ways to make fewer hours on their paycheck work in their lives, and it cannot be understated what an attribute having hard-working, compassionate people that care about the success of their workplace is,” says Snell.
LESSON 2: Learn from Criticism. Employing a “growth mindset” improves the likelihood of making appropriate adjustments.
Snell is quick to point out an affinity for psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck’s “growth mindset” over the alternative “fixed mindset.” A growth mindset employs persistence and welcomes challenges, and advocates learning from criticism. A “fixed mindset,” in contrast, avoids challenges and ignores useful feedback.
Snell summarizes the growth mindset in a climbing context by recommending gym managers “embrace challenges with effort,” which includes brainstorming frequently. And Snell sees a corollary between the amount of effort put forth by staff and the product—the gym itself and its programming—that is eventually put forth for the customers.
The pandemic has reinforced the idea of embracing challenges with effort, according to Snell—best summarized by embracing a growth mindset.
“On a macro level, there has been a good deal of communication amongst staff regarding new operational procedures; if we are not on the same page, there will most likely be issues with parts of the guest experience (booking, policy in the climbing area, etc.), and these hiccups and inconsistencies would probably lead to frustrated and unsatisfied customers (and staff members),” explains Snell. “This [pandemic] is obviously not an ideal environment at any time, but seems to be especially important now for those that use climbing as a physical and/or psychological escape, particularly as diversions seem to be in shorter supply (and therefore possibly more therapeutic than normal) for many due to COVID-related restrictions.”
Inherent in the growth mindset is a willingness to learn from criticism; and since the pandemic and its safety protocols are all so unprecedented for gym members, there is a lot that customers might question or even blatantly disagree with: “Listen to what guests and staff are saying, and listen to listen—don’t listen to talk,” advises Snell. Remember: what seems like a fringe issue to one gym employee or one gym staffer might be a large matter for someone else. In practice, learning from criticism could be as simple as changing confusing language on the gym website—something that On The Rocks has had to do—or making larger alterations to the gym’s floor plan to distance customers.
LESSON 3: Patience Is a Virtue. Many answers to questions and concerns are not needed right away.
The heightened anxiety that comes with the pandemic causes many people—not just climbers—to seek concrete explanations and clarification immediately. This is understandable, but it is also acceptable for a gym to take some time to think deeply about any given subject and investigate an issue in order to give an optimal answer.
Prior to the COVID crisis, friendly and communal congregating was common at On The Rocks. Now people social distance and the gym works hard to maintain a floor plan that encourages distancing—but the climbing stoke is high nonetheless.
Snell notes that this is especially important when the stakes for providing a poor answer might be high. “This was especially prevalent as Ohio was beginning to release plans for opening gyms and other climbing gyms in the state started making reopening announcements—and we were being contacted by people ready to climb again; it would have been very tempting to make empty promises about re-opening before having a solid idea of how we were going to abide by and implement the new protocols in the name of keeping up with everyone else,” says Snell. “But we chose to give a general statement along the lines of ‘We’re working on our reopening plan and will make sure that it’s communicated as soon as it’s finalized.’”
Gyms might feel pressure to expedite reopening plans—On The Rocks certainly did, Snell admits. But the consequences for doing it wrong “far outweigh taking some extra time to make sure it is done as best as possible,” says Snell.
Share Your Story
Are you a gym owner, manager or staffer who would like to share what you’ve learned from the ongoing pandemic challenges? If so, please send us a message here. And stay tuned to CBJ for additional “Lessons Learned from the COVID Crisis” featurettes in the future.
Different from the towers and prefabricated walls often seen at schools around the U.S., Fountain Valley had a modern vision in mind for its scholastic climbing gym design. All photos courtesy of Futurist Climbing Consultants[Branded Content]
In the Fall of 2019, Climbing Business Journal (CBJ) reported that climbing has been thriving at the college level. “The sport of climbing is being offered by more schools every year,” wrote CBJ last August. Later in 2019, USA Climbing (USAC)―the governing body for competition climbing in the U.S.―created a new position with the goal of getting climbing recognized as an NCAA sport. Colleges nationwide have been competing in climbing for over a decade, and most recently over 100 institutions participated in the USAC Collegiate National Championships last year. In July, USAC realigned the divisions of its youth and collegiate competition series to better position the sport for future growth.
Universities are not the only schools where climbing has been blossoming in recent years. In addition to being able to compete on youth teams at local gyms, in multiple regions high school (and sometimes middle school) students can compete on their school teams. There are nearly 600 athletes on last season’s leaderboard of the American Scholastic Climbing League (ASCL) in Colorado. In the Midwest, 23 teams from around Milwaukee and Brookfield, Wisconsin, squared off last year in the Wisconsin High School Climbing League state finals. Similar scholastic climbing leagues exist in D.C., St. Louis and Tennessee.
But for all the development at the high school and collegiate levels, climbing remains a relatively fringe activity at many institutions. As a result, many students are still not exposed to climbing as a sport, and students already interested in climbing do not have a place to train on campus like for many sports.
“Most institutions and their building project services providers are not developing climbing gym projects which reflect the rapidly shifting trends in our sport and the programmatic needs of the end user groups,” says Timy Fairfield, Founder and Creative Director of Futurist Climbing Consultants. A professional climber and U.S. national competition climbing team veteran, Fairfield has experienced those programmatic needs first-hand. Fairfield and Brandi Proffitt, Futurist Climbing CFO and competition climber, established and coached the inaugural University Of New Mexico collegiate climbing team in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which had 45 members in 2010.
Now, the need for change in institutional climbing gym design is greater than ever. With the evolution of youth and collegiate climbing competitions and decades of climbing gym growth, “An increasing number of students have already been indoctrinated into the sport by the time they reach college, so they have discerning taste when it comes to climbing terrain, routesetting and programming,” says Fairfield.
Futurist Climbing Consultants is one of the entities working to address this demand. In helping universities, high schools, rec centers and other institutions pursue a modern vision for scholastic climbing gym design, Futurist is helping advance the development of climbing at the youth and collegiate levels―one project at a time.
FVSC consistently ranks among the top climbing teams in the state and wanted a state-of-the-art facility for training and hosting competitions. The school and booster club fundraised the entire $23.5 million for its campus upgrades.
Shifting Mindsets from Towers to Competitions
For over a decade, the climbing teams of Fountain Valley School of Colorado―an international college prep school in Colorado Springs for grades 9-12―have consistently ranked among the top teams in the state. In 2019, the Varsity Boys won the ASCL State Championships, and this year the Varsity Girls placed second. The future is bright as well. The JV Boys handed Fountain Valley another state title this year.
As part of a $23.5 million project in 2018 to upgrade its campus―set on 1,100 acres of rolling prairie at the base of the Rocky Mountains―Fountain Valley wanted to include a climbing area in the design of its brand-new athletic center. Instead of a small prefabricated wall on the side of the basketball gym or a tower, Fountain Valley got to work fundraising to invest in a state-of-the-art climbing gym.
In years past, the climbing team would travel to CityROCK gym to train, a bus ride across town. Having a place to climb on campus would avoid the commute and bring one of the school’s top sports on school grounds. Its elite climbing athletes would finally have their own place to train, and maybe other members of the student body would be encouraged to give climbing a try. What’s more, Fountain Valley would be able to host competitions themselves and showcase all the school had to offer.
Instead of hiring large, national corporations to make that dream a reality, Fountain Valley selected a unique group of engineers and architects local to Colorado Springs for the campus upgrades. Kristen Buckland at CSNA Architects, the architectural firm for the project, even brought a climbing background to the table. However, it was that insight into the sport that showed the team needed another member. For Buckland, it was crucial that the climbing gym be designed in a manner that targets the needs of the Fountain Valley climbing team and that it be future proof.
“The initial plan was for myself and the structural engineer to design the climbing walls in the space,” says Buckland. “But once we started doing a little bit of the conceptual design, we realized that we certainly could design the walls, but it was obvious that we were going to be in way over our heads.”
Cost and safety are often compromised when working with design-build wall contractors, and the unique team hired for the FVSC project had the foresight to sub-contract an independent design specialist in the climbing industry.
Great Teams Build Great Projects
In an effort to enlist expert help, often institutions will hire a company to do both the climbing wall design and build for an indoor climbing project. But according to Fairfield this can create a conflict of interest when the same company designing the climbing walls makes more money from selling more climbing surface and expensive faux rock wall products, rather than modern surfaces conducive to training and competition. Besides the unnecessary financial burden, safety can be compromised. Especially at schools, climbing spaces need to be as safe as possible when the schools are responsible for the well-being of hundreds of students. Unfortunately, different from other industries, there are no universally accepted engineering standards in North America when it comes to aspects of climbing gym design like fall zones and flooring.
Greg Collier, founder of iiCon Construction and general contractor behind the Fountain Valley project, took a different approach and sub-contracted Futurist Climbing Consultants to design the school’s new climbing gym and collaborate with CSNA Architects. Futurist is an independent climbing project development and design company which has designed over 20 climbing gyms in the commercial and institutional sectors of the industry nationwide. After years of working in the private and public sectors, Collier understood the importance of collaboration, quality control and preplanning on projects that in many ways the climbing industry is still learning and appreciated that Futurist took a similar approach.
“We feel like we really support the project. We don’t want to be the next biggest general contractor in the state of Colorado. We just really want to get back to the basics of customer focus,” says Collier. “I think if we would have just gone with a traditional design-build climbing wall contractor that it would have been a lot more vanilla throughout the space, a lot more watered down.”
Planning Makes Perfect
One of iiCon Construction’s philosophies around quality control is to have 80 percent of the preplanning completed in the first 20 percent of the job. The philosophy can be applied to all construction projects, including indoor climbing projects. From holds and volumes for the climbing routes on the walls to the routesetters needed to maintain the routes, there’s a lot more than just climbing walls that needs to be planned early on to meet the end programmatic needs of a training and competition climbing academy.
From safety to programming, there were numerous factors to consider at the start of the Fountain Valley project, including integrating the climbing gym design into the overarching plan for the athletic center’s modern architecture.
At the start of the project, Futurist conducted a comprehensive Preliminary Project Assessment for the Fountain Valley climbing gym, which entailed reorganizing the climbing infrastructure budget to correspond with the envisioned facility design. Guided by Fairfield’s industry knowledge and competition experience, Futurist identified the essentials needed for Fountain Valley to train at the highest level and host climbing competitions. The budget range given anticipated all the project items for a new climbing gym and included just the right amount of climbing surface―no more, no less.
During the design phase, Futurist collaborated with CSNA Architects to scale the climbing surface back to the amount of bouldering, lead and speed wall that was actually needed to host competitions and serve the student body. Futurist’s design changed up the angles too, replacing overly challenging sections with tactful angles that would help young athletes improve their skills across different types of terrain.
Futurist also worked with CSNA Architects to make the area safer, setting the bouldering walls at a reasonable height for students and repositioning the climbing walls so as to remove intersecting fall zones where climbers could land on one another. And while there are no universally accepted climbing flooring standards in North America, Futurist applied the strict standards required in the UK and EU that it respects on all climbing gym design projects.
“That’s one of the ways that we’ve been successful on all our projects. We come out at the beginning talking about this 80-20, we talk about how great teams build great projects and that everybody’s opinion matters,” says Collier. “It was a great team. Futurist was absolutely the right choice for us.”
Celebrating a Vertical Sport with a Modern Design
There’s a hierarchy on construction projects, and for many indoor climbing projects that often means the architect hands the climbing wall designer a predesigned space to fill in with climbing walls. However, according to Collier sub-contractors are the most specialized artists in their respective crafts. Climbing gym design is an art form at Futurist, and integrating this art into the architecture of a modern building―while maintaining sport-specific training and competition relevance of the layout and climbing wall design―requires a high-level of customization and collaboration between designer and architect.
When you first walk into the Julie and Spencer Penrose Athletic Center at Fountain Valley, a wide-open, 6,000-square-foot climbing gym is the first thing that you see. From the concourse, a conspicuously placed window under the bouldering roof establishes an inviting view of the climbing gym. Inspiring 37-foot climbing walls tower above, with motivating training options like an integrated Tension Board and dedicated training station.
The open feel serves multiple purposes. Coaches can supervise their athletes without climbing wall “islands” blocking their sight lines, and students on their way to practice other sports will see their classmates climbing and maybe consider giving it a try. Since climbing has a unique visual appeal as a vertical sport, Futurist and CSNA Architect worked to position the climbing wall front and center.
Inspired by the tiered competition viewing at Movement Climbing + Fitness gyms in Colorado, the elevated track encircling FVSC’s climbing walls and basketball court was an efficient solution to manage expectations for comps.
Additionally, the climbing area embodies the overall modern and high-performance feel of the athletic center. Just as students can look through glass panes into the spin room and swimming pool, so too a window arch frames the entrance of the climbing gym. Smaller windows also surround the climbing walls―which boast the same elegant wood trim, school colors and bright feel as the rest of the building.
In addition to the aesthetical value, the lighting plays a role for competitions. With overhanging walls, climbing gyms are often difficult (and expensive) buildings to light with classic ceiling lighting. Besides installing natural daylight devices for the ceiling, Futurist and CSNA Architects strategically placed the windows at a height that would light the ascent of climbers on the lead wall during competitions.
But arguably the most important feature for competitions is felt off the wall. Anticipating the hundreds of athletes, coaches, officials, families and visitors that would attend the events, Futurist and CSNA Architects worked together to find a creative solution for the seating. Efficiently placed above the bouldering wall, an elevated running track was extended from the basketball gym through the climbing gym to get fans eye level with the lead walls, not craning their necks to watch from a crowded floor.
“Instead of me as an architect simply designing a square box and somebody after the fact dropping in a climbing wall into that space, we were able to really work together and design something that’s very unique and specific to the building that worked functionally and is beautiful to look at,” says Buckland.
Breathing Life into Your Climbing Gym Project
At their core, schools are about learning, and intentionally and intelligently designed climbing spaces can be energizing forces for students to keep learning to move and grow. After the athletic center opened, Collier got to see the new building in action. The experience confirmed Collier picked the right team.
“The building lives and breathes, and it has a life,” says Collier. “When I walked into this building after it had opened, I could immediately feel the energy. There were so many different components of the building being used at the same time. It was just awesome to be in there when that was happening,” says Collier.
To breathe life into your climbing gym project, contact Futurist Climbing Consultants for a free quote.
This story was paid for by the sponsor and does not necessarily represent the views of the Climbing Business Journal editorial team.
This week’s HWOW was built in a barn after Covid-19 struck. Owner Josh LeRay knew he needed a place to climb with the shut down, and fortunately his grandparents had space in their barn. Check out past HWOW here.
When did you build your wall?
I built my wall the week of May 18th.
What did your workdays look like when you were building? Highlights/lowlights of the process?
The workdays were nonstop for 2 days. I built a frame that was 8×8 feet because I had seen a lot of similar builds on Youtube. Highlight of that design was that I had enough 2×4 pieces but I could not fit the frame in the doorway of the barn stable! Humorous now, not so much then. I should have measured – I had to take the frame apart and build it again back in the stable. The days were super rainy and dreary, I was out of work for those two days and since I built my wall in my grandparents’ barn I was able to stay out of the rain.
How long did it take you to build?
It took me about 2 days to build.
Not including holds and padding, how much did it cost you to build?
The plywood and the 2x4s that were used to make it a 45-degree angle was about $100.
Can you tell me a little bit more about your cost structure? Did you do any budgeting beforehand? What was the most/least expensive part? Were any costs of materials particularly surprising to you?
I had no budget for the wood that I got. I only bought two 4×8 pieces of plywood which was about 50 dollars and the 2×4’s were around the same. My goal was to build a 2×8 kickboard and the rest of the wall be 45 degrees. Since I was cramped for space I figured I would make it 45 degrees – it makes for intense training sessions. T-nuts were around $20 per 100 count bag and since I had planned to build volumes, I knew I did not have to make my wall super dense with t-nuts. Although my wall is sheltered, it is not climate controlled. For my bolts, I started out buying normal indoor commercial wall bolts but they ended up rusting with the change in moisture in the atmosphere. I decided on stainless steel after the third bulk set of holds I ordered. Though stainless steel is more expensive it was definitely worth it.
Did anything in particular inspire your wall design?
Since I was cramped for space I knew if I wanted longer routes I needed to make it inverted. I decided on the 45 because I was able to miter the studs to make it a perfect 45-degree angle. I definitely do not regret doing it. It makes for some really nice routes. I also wanted to be able to walk behind my wall in case I needed to replace any t-nuts. With this design I was able to do just that.
Had you thought about building a wall prior to the virus? Any particular builds you saw online that helped you DIY?
Since my semester at NC State was cut short because of Covid-19, I not only had to go home but also had to leave all of the commercial gyms behind and any outdoor local boulders. I had no idea how constricted I would feel from not being able to climb on a regular basis. As a result, I went for it. There were not that many simple DIY builds on Youtube since Covid had become a reality. I found REI’s guide for home walls to be a great reference for my build. I definitely would have done a lot of things differently if I had a large budget, but with $500 to work with, I knew the design that I completed would work.
What was the most difficult aspect of the design and build? What would you do differently?
Making a plan of what you want in your home wall is really important. There was a point where I had to go back to Lowe’s because I either measured wrong or didn’t have enough resources. Plan!
What is your favorite aspect?
I made my kick board 8×2 feet. I like having a bigger kick board because it makes for more starting variations with feet. It definitely has helped my foot technique.
How often do you guys use the wall? Do you think you’ll still use it as much when all of the gyms open back up?
I’m the only one who climbs in the family. I am often called spider man because the rest of my folks do not understand the concept behind bouldering. 🙂
Any words of wisdom to aspiring homewallers?
Home walls are awesome. Being able to climb during a pandemic at home has been a game changer. Any aspiring homewallers, go for it!
Want us to consider your woodie for a future Homewall of the Week? Submit your homewall here to be considered. If yours is chosen you’ll win a prize like this (varied prizes each week):
Photo: USA ClimbingUSA Climbing recently released a press announcement celebrating young athletes who have competed in a Youth National Championship every year for at least nine years (and thus progressed from the youngest Youth D age category to the oldest Junior category). But, in addition to celebrating well-known former youth athletes such as Lauren Bair, Joe Goodacre, Natalia Grossman, and others, the announcement introduced a number of new honors known collectively as the “Best-of-Season” awards (and more formally as the organization’s Annual Awards and Recognition Program).
These “Best-of-Season” awards are intended “to honor individuals, teams, facilities, and events that stand out in the USA Climbing Community each year,” according to USA Climbing. Categories for the new awards include: Athlete of the Year, Teammate of the Year, Team of the Year, Coach of the Year, Routesetter of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Event of the Year, and Gym of the Year. Each award has its own set of criteria. For example, qualifications for Gym of the Year range from demonstrating outstanding contributions to the community and demonstrating improvement in the facility to acting as a role model for other gyms. (It should be noted that multiple gyms can receive the award).
“We cannot succeed without the tireless efforts and passion of our community,” said USA Climbing’s CEO, Marc Norman. “These awards will celebrate those who keep our sport vibrant and exciting.”
More details and information about applications for the various awards can be found here. The deadline for submissions is August 20, 2020. Stay tuned to CBJ for information about the winners, which will be announced in September, and the latest USA Climbing news.
The majority of climbing facilities responding to a recent survey by Climbing Wall Association are requiring customers to wear masks, but enforcing the protocol hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Photo courtesy of Scott Rennak / The SpotBy John Burgman
One of the most noticeable safety protocols in response to the ongoing COVID pandemic for many reopened gyms is requesting that members wear facemasks while climbing or belaying—or in some cases while doing anything inside the facility. In fact, for some gyms, the facemask protocol is not merely a request; it is a required mandate by local or state authorities.
Wearing a facemask inside a gym sounds like a fairly straightforward protocol, but the request can prompt questions from some members about facemasks’ effectiveness against the spread of COVID. And the concept of a required facemask can be perceived by some as an infringement on personal liberties.
These are all challenges that Matt Lambert, owner of Rogue Rock Gym in Medford, Oregon, has personally had to deal with for weeks since he reopened his gym after a temporary closure. Lambert says that most of the members have complied with his gym’s enforcement of the state’s mandatory mask requirement, but there are a few who have not. “Climbers are an independent bunch, especially the younger generation,” says Lambert. “They think it’s all a big hoax or whatever and it doesn’t affect them and they really don’t care about masks. I don’t know what to do about that.”
Lambert offers some context, noting that Jackson County (where Rogue Rock Gym is located) has seen only 178 documented cases of COVID amid a total population of approximately 220,000 people. The gym members who repeatedly disregard the gym’s mask requirement tend to be the “regulars” who frequent the gym several nights per week—and stay until closing time—and consider the facility almost like a second home. Lambert greatly values such loyalty, but says, “Those people love the gym and community, but they feel in a way like it’s ‘their gym’ and they can do whatever they want.”
Lambert has found some success in approaching the matter with kindness, simply asking members to accept the gym’s required mask policy and letting them know he “hates having to be the mask police.” But the issue has grown more serious recently, with some staff at Rogue Rock Gym being yelled at or “intentionally coughed on” by members who object to the mask requirement. Lambert made a post in the Climbing Gym Operators Facebook group asking for advice on enforcing mask policies. At this point, in order to protect his gym staff, he is even prepared to temporarily close his gym (again) because some members refuse to follow the mask requirement. “I don’t know what the right answer is,” he says. “It’s infuriating. I feel personally disrespected by people not wearing the mask, and I feel they are being disrespectful to others in the gym.”
Facemasks are the new normal for the staff at Rogue Rock Gym—pictured here—as well as the members. Photo courtesy of Matt Lambert / Rogue Rock Gym
Adopt a “Three Strikes and You’re Out” Policy
Gyms around North America are dealing with customers’ adjustment to facemask protocols in various ways. One approach that has been successful for several gyms is the concept of members getting a finite number of chances to comply with the facemask policy. And those chances have increasing consequences. For example, Jesse Waldorf, co-founder of Strait Up Climbing in British Columbia, has recently reopened his gym with a mandatory mask policy that utilizes a three strikes approach for discipline: First, customers who choose to not wear masks will get a verbal warning, then they will get a written warning, and finally those who still refuse to wear masks will receive a week-long suspension from the gym.
“The three strikes thing is something we have adopted for all non-life-safety violations in the gym,” Waldorf tells CBJ. “Similar warnings would be given at our facility for being shirtless, taking food into the gym [as the removal of snacks and beverages is yet another COVID safety protocol], or horseplay/running, in juxtaposition to something like a belay safety violation—which would prompt an immediate incident investigation, potential revocation of belay certification, and other actions.”
Waldorf notes that the community around the gym has only had eight positive COVID cases—partly due to the community taking the matter very seriously. This made the decision to require masks at climbing gyms in the region “a bit easier.” But Waldorf realizes there will likely be a learning curve as Strait Up’s members get used to the requirement, the new normal of having to climb with facemasks. “We feel the three strikes is a reasonable procedure to allow people to adjust,” he adds. [Note: Waldorf’s mother has also played a part, joining a local group—Mask Making on the Sunshine Coast—that hand-sews masks for anyone in the region who needs them.]
Jason Groves, owner and manager at Ozark Climbing Gym in Springdale, Arkansas, says he has not had any issues related to members and facemasks, so Ozark does not possess any formal mask enforcement policy. However, Groves says he would likely use a comparable three-tiered warning system if members’ refusal to wear masks ever became an issue at his gym.
Approaching the customers with a couple warnings softens the sternness—at least at first—while also conveying some necessary strictness. And being firm is important, as Matt Lambert at Rogue Rock Gym has noticed that some people do not accept the seriousness of the matter when first confronted about a facemask infraction. Lambert says that people tend to respond with a lighthearted quip along the lines of “Uh oh, I’m busted” or “Ya got me!” So, giving multiple warnings helps amplify how serious a gym is taking the facemask matter.
The seriousness of the issue can’t be understated; for many people, COVID is life threatening like belay safety violations. At The Spot, which has gyms in Boulder and Denver, Colorado, customers and members have been a natural first line of defense, with peer culture playing a significant part in mask enforcement. “When your fellow climber asks you to put your mask on properly, it’s more powerful than our staff asking. We are fortunate that our community cares enough to speak up,” according to Josh Paton, facility manager at The Spot. To reinforce their policy, regular announcements are made that include the statement “we all thank you for wearing your mask properly”.
Despite the cordial approach, an occasional “anti-mask” visitor from out of town has made the situation difficult by abusing the policy to make their point. In one rare case, the visitor became belligerent, and like any time when customers are acting very poorly and refusing to leave, the police were notified. (Fortunately the problematic customer left of their own accord.) Josh explained, “We hated to do that, but wearing masks is incredibly important in our community. It’s one of the reasons we can be open.”
Belay ready? Check. Climber ready? Check. Masks on? Check! It’s the new routine at Strait Up Climbing. Photo courtesy of Jesse Waldorf / Strait Up Climbing
Train Staff on De-Escalating Conflict
Gyms in larger markets—and in some cases markets hit harder by the COVID crisis—have adopted a comparable approach. Grace Nicholas is CMO/COO and co-founder of Crux Climbing Center in Austin, Texas, a state with a COVID positivity rate of nearly 15 percent as of July 20 (although, it should be noted that that positivity rate was the lowest for the state in more than a week). Nicholas says that Crux has required masks since reopening, and having such an unchanging mask policy has helped with compliance. Crux also has many signs posted throughout the gym reminding customers of the requirement. “Our staff will alert anyone if their mask isn’t worn properly when they are on their standard lifeguard routine,” explains Nicholas. “If someone has to be told more than twice, then we will ask them to join us another time when they are able to comply with the mask policy.”
Nicholas says that Crux takes a “benefit of the doubt approach” for those first two reminders about wearing masks. In cases where customers intentionally or inadvertently remove a mask during a climbing session, a Crux staff member will use gentle prompts (such as “Oh, it looks like your mask slipped down,” or simply, “Can you please pull your mask up?”). The analogy to lifeguarding at a pool is apt, as Nicholas notes that a staff member’s gentle gesture from far away can also work as a prompt in a climbing gym. CWA recently released a useful piece on de-escalating customer conflicts, so misunderstandings and discouragement don’t swell into larger issues. Staying conscious of tone and body language as well as practicing empathy were among the strategies listed.
Nicholas adds, “If someone comments about how hot or uncomfortable [masks] are, we advise our staff to take a positive approach like, ‘Sure, but now I’m much more aware of my breathing while climbing.’ [or] ‘It’s a little like alpine training,’…[or] ‘Yes, the sooner we all wear these correctly, the sooner none of us will have to wear them anymore.”
Be Aware of Special Circumstances
It is important for gym owners to know that even something as seemingly straightforward as a mask policy is rife with nuance.
Some medical conditions, such as severe asthma, autism, and sensory issues make wearing (and breathing through) a mask difficult—even dangerous—for some climbers. In essence, the well-intended facemask protocol to combat COVID’s spread could end up being more dangerous for some gym members in the immediate sense. It is worth noting that there are modified face coverings that can be used to accommodate some medical issues, although whether or not gym members can acquire such masks is a different matter.
Waldorf points out that those climbers who cannot reasonably wear masks at Strait Up in British Columbia will be accommodated, and exceptions will be made as needed to his gym’s facemask requirement. “We plan to address these on a case-by-case basis the way we would handle any adaptive climbing situation where a practice is in conflict with a normal procedure,” Waldorf says.
CBJ Legal Analyst Jason Pill notes that gym owners usually cannot legally ask for proof of a member’s medical condition, which admittedly leaves room for some members to potentially be dishonest about the need for a mask exception. “Climbing gyms should avoid asking climbers for medical information and, really, gyms do not need proof of the climber’s underlying medical condition—only a doctor’s note explaining the limitation or restriction; the actual diagnosis is irrelevant,” Pill explains.
Medical exemptions aside, Pill, a longtime climber and an attorney for the Phelps Dunbar law firm in Florida, says that a gym does generally have the legal right to deny service to a customer who is not wearing a mask. A gym, as private property, can remove non-compliant customers in the same spirit of the old adage: No Shirt, No Shoes, No service.
Pill points out that there is a degree of mutual choice in the scenario: Gyms can refuse customers, and alternatively, customers can choose which establishments they patronize. For that reason, the idea of any Constitutional violation of rights is mostly moot because “a customer can exercise his or her rights by not frequenting that gym if he or she disagrees with the gym’s policy,” Pill says.
Climbing with facemasks is the new normal at Strait Up. For many people, it takes some getting used to, but there is solidarity in everyone following the rules. Photo courtesy of Jesse Waldorf / Strait Up Climbing
Frame the Logic and Explain the “Top-Down” Situation
Most climbers at any gym are aware that recommended protocols have been released by health authorities like the Center for Disease Control that reside beyond the climbing gym industry. The mitigation advice thus comes from the top-down, only being applied to a climbing gym setting after being sifted through medical professionals and other industries.
Lambert at Rogue Rock Gym says that acknowledging such higher-up nature of the safety protocols can aid with customers’ understanding and acceptance. For instance, when Lambert approaches customers who are not wearing masks, he is quick to point out that the discussion at hand is not whether facemasks are effective or whether facemasks infringe on one’s liberty. Instead, the discussion at hand is about the customer helping the gym adhere to a mandate that the state of Oregon has made.
Lambert often explains to customers that he, himself—as an honest business owner—is simply trying to follow the rules. Lambert also tells customers that he is trying to adhere to the state’s mask mandate just as he adheres to all other state mandates—properly and conscientiously. “I ask members to please have my back and support me in this,” he says. “Often it works.”
Consider Selling Gym-Branded Masks
Still, not every state has been requiring customers to wear masks inside businesses, leaving many gyms to rely on their own ingenuity to build solidarity around wearing masks. Another new industry development resulting from the ongoing pandemic has been the rise of a micro-industry for facemask production. A number of gyms have seen customers’ need for masks and decided to sell masks as another retail item, alongside longtime staples like athletic tape and gym logo t-shirts. Selling masks at the counter prevents irritation from boiling over when customers realize they forgot their mask at home. Plus, adding your own style or branding can help counteract any negative stigma with the positive force of group pride. And since wearing masks has become a new normal, might as well look cool doing it.
EVO Rock + Fitness in Portland, Maine, is selling a neck gaiter for $15 which “makes a great face mask,” according to the gym’s website. The gym notes that it is following Portland Public School, CDC and Maine governmental recommendations for COVID mitigation. In nearby Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Rock Spot Climbing is selling a limited supply of branded masks with a mountain background and its company logo.
Help keep yourself and others healthy while showing off your love for climbing,” reads the description for this branded mask on the Rock Spot Climbing website. Photo courtesy of Rock Spot Climbing
The trend is not only taking hold in the U.S. either. In Canada, Le Crux in Québec is selling a mask branded with the gym’s logo as well. The Hive in Vancouver is also selling a limited supply of masks, in addition to holding a free digital workshop on “breathing techniques with a mask.” In South America, Escalada Realization has helped encourage its climbers to wear masks during quarantine and feel part of the gym community from afar by offering branded masks when its members make a contribution.
On a related note, a few members of the youth climbing team at Climb Nashville recently created a tutorial on how to make masks of bandanas (branded with the Climb Nashville logo). The CDC has released its own tutorial on making face coverings. [Note: In some places there are certain requirements for what constitutes a mask, so just be sure to follow the guidelines for your area.]
In terms of other climbing industry brands, St. Louis, Missouri-based So iLL has released masks that retail for $26.99. On Instagram, Dirtbaggers and Static Climbing have both been promoting facemasks geared toward climbers. “For each mask sold, we will donate a mask to someone in need,” Static Climbing noted on its website. And according to the Dirtbaggers website, “Dirtbaggers always strives to source materials ethically, pay fair wages, minimize their environmental impact, and maintain relationships only with businesses that align with their values,” ideas which resonate with many people in the climbing community.
Crux Climbing Center has noticed a positive change in compliance since selling the Dirtbaggers mask. “We’ve sold over 300 of them, and now non-members come in to buy them for their work after they have heard about them from one of our climbers,” says Grace Nicholas. “Providing an option that people want to wear helps to have more people comply.”
Note: The statements in this article are not intended to be used as direct legal counsel. Gym owners should always consult a lawyer for any legal matters.
A few weeks ago we covered climbing holds – 
