HELLO AND THANK YOU SO MUCH for visiting our newest Sendhaus™ Fitness, Lifestyle, and Climbing Center.
My name is Rain and I’ll be taking you on your mandatory tour of our 130,000-square-foot facility. To begin, I’d like to show you our wall of iPads. Go ahead and use one to fill out a waiver. It only takes 20 minutes. Don’t worry about the emergency contact; just sign the part that says we’re not responsible for any injuries. Then slide your credit card. Yes, this tour costs an additional $5 on top of the $50 day pass. No, it’s not optional.
For a bit of history: This $100 million gym first opened in 2017, roughly six hours ago. We chose this location after a competing climbing-gym chain opened nearby. We assumed they did their due diligence in researching this market, then we opened our gym two blocks away out of spite. Can this market support two gyms? Good question. I’m curious if the market can even support one gym after the climbing bubble bursts. I guess we’ll see.
This story is from the Issue 155 edition of Climbing.
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This story is from the Issue 155 edition of Climbing.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
New Dawn
On November 21, 2016, after an eight-day push, 23-year-old Czech climber Adam Ondra topped out the 32-pitch Dawn Wall (VI 5.14d) on Yosemite’s El Capitan, a line many consider the hardest free big wall on the planet. With eight pitches of 5.14 and 12 pitches of 5.13, the route garnered mainstream-media attention in January 2015 when Tommy Caldwell, who had put seven years of work into exploring and freeing the route, and Kevin Jorgeson nabbed the first free ascent after 19 days on the wall. Ondra, who had never been to the Valley, trad climbed, or been on a big wall before, nabbed the second ascent, thanks in part to his support team of Pavel Blazek and Heinz Zak.Although Ondra has ticked some of the planet’s hardest sport climbs and boulder problems, critics assumed the experience-driven discipline of big wall free climbing would shut him down. Despite success that seemingly came easy, conditions, skin, and the route’s pure technical difficulty posed challenges along the way. Caldwell, Jorgeson, and Ondra spoke to us about the nuts, bolts, and near-invisible micro-crimps of this historic ascent.
Climbing To A Better Future
Against a background of 10,000-foot peaks, icebergs, and the vast Atlantic Ocean, local Inuit kids in East Greenland are growing up stuck somewhere between traditional ways of life and the quickly encroaching modern world. Communities struggle with record suicide, alcoholism, and abuse rates. Four Icelanders and an American asked the question: Can rock climbing help?
"Cliff Camping": The Latest Bucket-List Tick
WHILE WE CLIMBERS only camp hanging on a wall when we have to, for many in the non-climbing public, portaledge camping ticks a box on their bucket list.
The Freerider
What it took to free solo El Capitan
Welcome To Sendhaus TM: America's Hippest New Climbing Gym
HELLO AND THANK YOU SO MUCH for visiting our newest Sendhaus™ Fitness, Lifestyle, and Climbing Center.
Climbing For Mental Health
WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT the mental side of climbing, like how to overcome fear, visualize success, and be a better overall climber.
Next-Gen Visualization
IMAGINE ADAM ONDRA lying on his back, eyes squeezed shut in concentration, while a physiotherapist holds his heel in space, helping him visualize and strengthen his body specifically for a move.
Pink Rain
Pink Rain
Southern Super Nova
Thirty-plus Years Ago, Driven First Ascensionist Rob Robinson Discovered the Tennessee Wall. In His Career, He’s Authored Hundreds of New Routes and Dramatically Expanded Chattanooga Climbing.
Green Ice
The Comprehensive Ice and Mixed Climbing of Vermont.
