Forums: Climbing Disciplines: Indoor Gyms:
Top 5 things you like about your gym?
RSS FeedRSS Feeds for Indoor Gyms

Premier Sponsor:

 
First page Previous page 1 2 Next page Last page  View All


flesh


Jan 31, 2012, 11:37 PM
Post #1 of 46 (17469 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Mar 11, 2011
Posts: 419

Top 5 things you like about your gym?
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (2 ratings)  
Can't Post

I'm planning on starting a gym. Looking for feedback. There's all sorts of differences in gym around the country, some of you have been to many. I'd like to know the top five things you like about your gym, things that not every gym has. Also, the top five things you wish it had that you've seen or heard about elsewhere. Thanks.


djlachelt


Feb 1, 2012, 5:41 AM
Post #2 of 46 (17404 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 26, 2005
Posts: 261

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Well, it's not a "thing", but...

* New routes (or problems) nearly EVERY week. I think they missed a handful in the last year.


Traches


Feb 1, 2012, 2:57 PM
Post #3 of 46 (17352 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jan 26, 2012
Posts: 83

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (2 ratings)  
Can't Post

Have a good difficulty spread, lots of interesting features, and lots of lead climbing (not just top roping!) Try not to have any big difficulty jumps, for awhile my gym was bad because the jump from 5.10 to 5.11 was HUGE, and it caused me to plateau.

Reset routes often, have several people setting routes, and don't go overboard with your safety rules or have stupid ones (banned ATCs or GriGris, nitpicky belay cert tests). Keep a vigilant eye on your equipment, especially holds. Nothing is worse than a spinning hold on your project route. (Edit-- Oh yeah! Tape too. It sucks when you're fighting with a bouldering problem for an hour, and then someone wanders by and says "Hey bro, that white hold's in.")

If you're going to make it mandatory to use an anchor for top rope belaying, don't put the anchors right next to the wall. To be honest, I'm more of a fan of the big pipe at the top with a wrap around it than just having a set of chains- it makes lowering easier and you don't get pulled off the ground when someone falls. (It's a convenience thing, not a difficulty thing.)

I'm sure someone will disagree, but for a beginner top-rope belaying a grigri is safer. Dropping someone with an ATC requires no action or the wrong action, while doing the same with a grigri requires them to actively disengage the cam. The first is far more likely in a panic situation.

Try to keep things in stock in your gear shop-- My gym runs out of chalk and won't get any more in for 2 weeks sometimes. Stupid!

That's all I can think of, other than the obvious (Bigger and taller is better, nice bathrooms, etc).


(This post was edited by Traches on Feb 1, 2012, 2:59 PM)


sungam


Feb 1, 2012, 3:17 PM
Post #4 of 46 (17339 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jun 24, 2004
Posts: 26804

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (1 rating)  
Can't Post

I can tell you what I hate at one of the gyms I go to - condensation/humidity. It gets so damp and nasty in the winter. You can chalk up then rub your hand flat on the wall and the chalk will be saturated. Try for good temps/humidity conditions (hard, I know).


Partner camhead


Feb 1, 2012, 3:28 PM
Post #5 of 46 (17336 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 10, 2001
Posts: 20939

Re: [Traches] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Yes! An "I love my gym" thread!

My suggestions might not all be applicable to what you're planning, since my gym is a co-op, but it is without a doubt the best facility that I've been a regular at, and I hope to be able to start something like it when I move to another area.

1. It's a co-op. Low membership fees, no corporate feel, limited access for non-members (NO birthday party kids), and 24 hour access.

2. Constant supply of new holds, features, and macros. The manager/owner of the gym sculpts holds for several major companies, and gets LOTS of freebies and deals on them. We never have old, slippery holds, the only thing that suffers is your skin!

3. Bouldering only. This keeps out riff-raff, makes it easy to get on what you want. I have never been a fan of roping up indoors (leading indoors scares me). We have quite a few traversing routes, up to 75 moves long, so we can still train endurance/ARC.

4. Training facilities: weights, "perfect pushups," campus boards, 6 different hangboards. It would be nice if there were a bit more space, and maybe a bench press or dips setup, but it's still a great addition.

5. Solid community. This is the toughest to quantify, but a combination of small, static membership, having some really strong mutants in the gym that are still low-key and humble, not rating problems, and allowing everyone to set who wants to guarantees that most everyone who climbs there are friends with each other, there is very little negative energy, and no status-based scenes.


Some things I think could be improved with my gym, even though you didn't ask.

-needs better ventilation, AC for the summer, and vinyl-covered padding to cut down on dust. Right now, we've got donated mattresses and boulder pads, which get really chalk-dusty.

-more diverse route setting. I'm guilty as well, since I set there, but we have very few problems in the v3-5 range, all the angles are really steep, and most problems tend to be reachy. This is probably mostly because we have a lot of setters setting for themselves, and no shorter females setting.

-more space. We're in a converted auto shop that is basically a three-car garage. Slightly higher ceilings and topout problems would be cool, too.


Partner camhead


Feb 1, 2012, 3:31 PM
Post #6 of 46 (17332 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 10, 2001
Posts: 20939

Re: [sungam] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

sungam wrote:
I can tell you what I hate at one of the gyms I go to - condensation/humidity. It gets so damp and nasty in the winter. You can chalk up then rub your hand flat on the wall and the chalk will be saturated. Try for good temps/humidity conditions (hard, I know).

dude, that's horrible, and I thought that my gym had it bad!

Adequate ventilation, plus maybe a dehumidifier would be nice.


mojomonkey


Feb 1, 2012, 3:43 PM
Post #7 of 46 (17326 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Aug 13, 2006
Posts: 869

Re: [camhead] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

camhead wrote:
1. It's a co-op. Low membership fees, no corporate feel, limited access for non-members (NO birthday party kids), and 24 hour access.

That one seems tricky to pull off - I've always heard that the parties are what bring in the money, and a party-free gym would need a higher membership fee.

Related to parties, one of the gyms near me has a separate room for parties, which works out well for the partiers and the regular members. They even have a high platform for the parents to get photo ops are just watch.


Partner camhead


Feb 1, 2012, 4:02 PM
Post #8 of 46 (17321 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 10, 2001
Posts: 20939

Re: [mojomonkey] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

mojomonkey wrote:
camhead wrote:
1. It's a co-op. Low membership fees, no corporate feel, limited access for non-members (NO birthday party kids), and 24 hour access.

That one seems tricky to pull off - I've always heard that the parties are what bring in the money, and a party-free gym would need a higher membership fee.

That's true, and we cut costs in quite a few ways. The first is that the manager of the gym began it as a home basement woody, gradually accumulating panels, tools, and holds. So, no huge initial startup costs.

Second, no paid employees. All setters are volunteer, there is one kid who gets free membership in exchange for sweeping, taking out the trash. As said earlier, we get a lot of deals on holds. And, most important, the manager/owner does a lot of the large maintenance just in his own free time, and has a full-time additional job, so he's not relying on the gym for income.

Also, because it is not a for-profit gym, the insurance rules are a bit different, but I don't know the details of that.

We get some extra cash by having open climbing nights where non-members can climb for $5 a person, too.

But yeah, if we were ever to expand to a bigger building, invest in AC, or anything like that, the expenses would add up, and we'd probably have to have some sort of full-time, paid custodian.


sungam


Feb 1, 2012, 4:25 PM
Post #9 of 46 (17314 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jun 24, 2004
Posts: 26804

Re: [camhead] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

camhead wrote:
sungam wrote:
I can tell you what I hate at one of the gyms I go to - condensation/humidity. It gets so damp and nasty in the winter. You can chalk up then rub your hand flat on the wall and the chalk will be saturated. Try for good temps/humidity conditions (hard, I know).

dude, that's horrible, and I thought that my gym had it bad!

Adequate ventilation, plus maybe a dehumidifier would be nice.
To be fair it is a hard situation. Firstly it's Scotland, so it's humid as fack, secondly it's right by the ocean, so it's humid as fack. They really could do more about it though.


flesh


Feb 1, 2012, 6:12 PM
Post #10 of 46 (17275 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Mar 11, 2011
Posts: 419

Re: [sungam] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

How would you feel about having say, the best 20% of routes/boulders being reset once a year for a couple months, in addition to new ones oc?

Assuming it's a large gym and likely that most are not year round regulars.


(This post was edited by flesh on Feb 1, 2012, 7:08 PM)


erisspirit


Feb 1, 2012, 7:15 PM
Post #11 of 46 (17249 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Dec 15, 2004
Posts: 3770

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

I like:

- it has tall routes
- can top out on the bouldering
- many setters so there tends to be a variety of styles
- clean (old gym was a haze of chalk dust)
- gym equipment and yoga

don't like
- there is 1 setter in particular that it seems most people don't like... would be nice to switch setters if enough complaints are made (this of course relies on people actually filling out the suggestion cards

- there are times they really need the AC on, but try to avoid doing it

-BUSY! Obviously they need to make money so this is a tough one... but recently in the evening its tough to even find a single rope open


smallclimber


Feb 1, 2012, 7:39 PM
Post #12 of 46 (17240 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 301

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (1 rating)  
Can't Post

Your gym should have a coffee shop......


iknowfear


Feb 1, 2012, 8:29 PM
Post #13 of 46 (17212 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 8, 2004
Posts: 670

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

flesh wrote:
I'm planning on starting a gym. Looking for feedback. There's all sorts of differences in gym around the country, some of you have been to many. I'd like to know the top five things you like about your gym, things that not every gym has. Also, the top five things you wish it had that you've seen or heard about elsewhere. Thanks.

Good (!) new routes and boulders every week:
http://www.grimper.ch/...etterhalle-bloczone/

different holds/shapes/textures

Boulders with top outs

What I'd like to see is good ventilation. Honestly, the chalk dust is becoming a health hazard.

talk to guangzhou. he started a BF Gym in indonesia.
cheers


djlachelt


Feb 1, 2012, 9:04 PM
Post #14 of 46 (17196 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 26, 2005
Posts: 261

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

flesh wrote:
How would you feel about having say, the best 20% of routes/boulders being reset once a year for a couple months, in addition to new ones oc?

Assuming it's a large gym and likely that most are not year round regulars.

Not sure what you mean "once a year for a couple months".

The key for me is that I climb in the gym a couple of times nearly every week of the year, and I like to have something new each week to climb on. Now if there's been a big reset recently (say for a comp) then you can let it go a couple of weeks until the regulars have spent their energy running all the new stuff.

I like to climb the same route a few times, especially the ones that are at my limit that I had to work to send. Those I'll re-climb for a few weeks to cement the learned skills. But I also want a new challenge each week. As a member I'm paying for the routes. Of course, we all understand vacations etc, so a few times a year if I don't get some new routes I'm not going to leave the gym. But if the gym were to go a month without new routes, and that happened more than once then I'd definitely drop my membership.

The gym I climb at sets in sections. Dropping a whole section (~4-5 ropes) at a time, and putting up all new routes in that section. The new routes go up on Sunday night and Monday morning. Then over the week some small tweaks might be made based feeback. Each week a different section is changed - in a regular rotation. So any particular route is up for about 8 weeks.

The other thing that is quite nice is in the bouldering area they put up many more holds than are used for the currently set problems. This allows the regulars to make up problems on the fly for their crew.

(This post was edited by djlachelt on Feb 1, 2012, 9:04 PM)


climb4free


Feb 1, 2012, 10:49 PM
Post #15 of 46 (17161 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Apr 11, 2007
Posts: 283

Re: [djlachelt] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

djlachelt wrote:
flesh wrote:
How would you feel about having say, the best 20% of routes/boulders being reset once a year for a couple months, in addition to new ones oc?

Assuming it's a large gym and likely that most are not year round regulars.

Not sure what you mean "once a year for a couple months".

The way I interpreted that was having the best loved routes/problems recorded and brought back. Kind of like a best of 2011.

I kind of like the idea. Again, comes down to getting enough feedback from climbers.


majid_sabet


Feb 1, 2012, 11:54 PM
Post #16 of 46 (17140 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Dec 13, 2002
Posts: 8390

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

friendly all-round environment
no attitude from other climbers
easy going manager
great monthly membership prices
easy passable belay test for first time n00bs


trungmvo


Feb 1, 2012, 11:56 PM
Post #17 of 46 (17138 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jan 29, 2012
Posts: 1

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

The top five things I like about my gym are:

1. The quantity, quality, and variety of routes/problems. Even though the gym isn't terribly large in terms of square footage, there is a crazy number of routes on the walls. The routesetters are talented and passionate about rockclimbing.

2. The frequency at which the routes/problems are changed. The routes are changed in four-month rotations, so at any one point, there is no route older than four months old (most of the time). The boulder problems are changed a lot more frequently, which is a result of climber demand.

3. The ways they show appreciation to their members. Just last night they held a member appreciation event where they raffled off pint glasses, gift cards, and a rope. It was a great way to build community and to show that the gym cares about its members.

4. Their website / social media. This might seem trivial, but they've got a good-looking and functional website that is updated often. It provides bios for the routesetters, a list of currently available routes with their grades, and a useful calendar. In addition to their website, they've got someone in charge of the gym's facebook and Twitter accounts. Everytime some routes or problems get put up at my gym, a Tweet goes out. Quite handy.

5. The employees. This is critical. My wife and I visited "the other rock gym" in the area and the employees there seemed to hate their jobs. One of them was sleeping the entire time we were there. No smiles, no nothing. We're never going back. However, the gym that we currently go to staffs employees that are friendly and helpful, and are rockclimbers themselves. When they're not working, you can usually find them on the walls. It makes a huge difference for the person at the front desk to smile and ask, "how are you?" when you walk into the gym.


jmichael


Feb 2, 2012, 6:44 AM
Post #18 of 46 (17065 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Dec 21, 2011
Posts: 13

Re: [smallclimber] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

smallclimber wrote:
Your gym should have a coffee shop......

My gym has a coffee shop. It's not in my top 5 though.

1. Its always clean. The other gym in town has gravel floors and just feels dirty all the time.

2. The staff. They will let you know immediately if you're doing something unsafe, but they're super cool about it. If a hold is spinning, or any other insignificant issue is brought to their attention. They will fix it immediately, literally.

3. Route variety. There is a good variety of difficulty and style with a good concentration in difficulty from 9 to mid 11's where the majority of people can actually climb without being bored. The setters range from a guy with an arm span of 6'6" to a girl who's barely 5'0".

Also they keep expanding as much as possible. Its a big gym bu we just went from about 20 top ropes to almost 30. In addition to about 25% more bouldering space. We also have a high line in addition to a couple slacklines.

4. You can lead almost every route in the place. The only area with no draws is the somewhat low angle slab wall, and you can't blame the gym for wanting to avoid slab lead falls.

5. Its reasonably priced. We pay 85 a month for my wife and I. That's barely more than I have to pay for internet service. I know some gyms are cheaper, but I really think its a fair price for what we get.


I_do


Feb 2, 2012, 7:13 AM
Post #19 of 46 (17061 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Mar 2, 2008
Posts: 1232

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

flesh wrote:
I'm planning on starting a gym. Looking for feedback. There's all sorts of differences in gym around the country, some of you have been to many. I'd like to know the top five things you like about your gym, things that not every gym has. Also, the top five things you wish it had that you've seen or heard about elsewhere. Thanks.

To me the most important thing is regularly setting new high quality routes.

No stupid/unnecessary rules, have your employees now what's safe and not good employees can make their own assesments of safety and not just regurgitate the rules.

Also




guangzhou


Feb 2, 2012, 8:12 AM
Post #20 of 46 (17058 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 27, 2004
Posts: 3389

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

flesh wrote:
I'm planning on starting a gym. Looking for feedback. There's all sorts of differences in gym around the country, some of you have been to many. I'd like to know the top five things you like about your gym, things that not every gym has. Also, the top five things you wish it had that you've seen or heard about elsewhere. Thanks.

Some questions I have for you before I can make any recommendations:

Demographics of your location. (Feel free to share actual location)

Is there already an existing climbing community or will your gym be the start of the climbing community in the area?

Those two questions in my opinion determine everything about how you'll run and set up your gym. From how often you change routes to their difficulty level.

The gym is only the face of the business, a great gym revolves around a great program. Program meaning what the gym does, not what the gym has.

I've visit some gym that had next to nothing in terms of facility, but they had very loyal and dedicated members because the management, maybe owners, had great programs.

Give me the answer to the first tow questions I posed and I give you some simple answers.


guangzhou


Feb 2, 2012, 8:14 AM
Post #21 of 46 (17056 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 27, 2004
Posts: 3389

Re: [iknowfear] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

iknowfear wrote:
flesh wrote:
I'm planning on starting a gym. Looking for feedback. There's all sorts of differences in gym around the country, some of you have been to many. I'd like to know the top five things you like about your gym, things that not every gym has. Also, the top five things you wish it had that you've seen or heard about elsewhere. Thanks.

Good (!) new routes and boulders every week:
http://www.grimper.ch/...etterhalle-bloczone/

different holds/shapes/textures

Boulders with top outs

What I'd like to see is good ventilation. Honestly, the chalk dust is becoming a health hazard.

talk to guangzhou. he started a BF Gym in indonesia.
cheers

I can only imagine what BF means. I am leaning toward one of the positive meaning in this case.

I am currently consulting on three other gyms in the region and we are working on our second location here in Indonesia.


shockabuku


Feb 2, 2012, 8:30 PM
Post #22 of 46 (16987 views)
Shortcut

Registered: May 20, 2006
Posts: 4868

Re: [djlachelt] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

djlachelt wrote:
Well, it's not a "thing", but...

* New routes (or problems) nearly EVERY week. I think they missed a handful in the last year.

Man, I so like your gym. Though I hear some of the setters are controversial these days.


flesh


Feb 2, 2012, 8:47 PM
Post #23 of 46 (16981 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Mar 11, 2011
Posts: 419

Re: [guangzhou] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

guangzhou wrote:
flesh wrote:
I'm planning on starting a gym. Looking for feedback. There's all sorts of differences in gym around the country, some of you have been to many. I'd like to know the top five things you like about your gym, things that not every gym has. Also, the top five things you wish it had that you've seen or heard about elsewhere. Thanks.

Some questions I have for you before I can make any recommendations:

Demographics of your location. (Feel free to share actual location)

Is there already an existing climbing community or will your gym be the start of the climbing community in the area?

Those two questions in my opinion determine everything about how you'll run and set up your gym. From how often you change routes to their difficulty level.

The gym is only the face of the business, a great gym revolves around a great program. Program meaning what the gym does, not what the gym has.

I've visit some gym that had next to nothing in terms of facility, but they had very loyal and dedicated members because the management, maybe owners, had great programs.

Give me the answer to the first tow questions I posed and I give you some simple answers.

First of all, thanks everyone who's contributed, I am reading and taking note of everything. I own a few businesses that are successful, however my dream has always been to own a climbing gym. My loves in life have been climbing and business for the last 12 years and I'm excited to combine them.

Guangshou,

There is already a rapidly growing number of climbers in the area. In the last 15 years, within a 20 mile radius, total climbing gym memberships have gone from 600 to 2700. In the last five years from 1800 to 2700.

I won't be disclosing the location.

It will likely be in a 15-20k sq. foot building and the lead are will have a 50 ft. vertical gain, some of the boulders will have top outs/mantles. I will be owning/designing the building myself, new construction.

I have one world cup setter from euro and one established setter who's been traveling to gyms around the country setting for 5 years who've committed to work with me. They are working with me on design as well.

Also, my main business is marketing, so I have some marketing tricks up my sleeve to open with a bang.

Feel free to pm me. Thanks.


flesh


Feb 2, 2012, 9:56 PM
Post #24 of 46 (16968 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Mar 11, 2011
Posts: 419

Re: [climb4free] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

climb4free wrote:
djlachelt wrote:
flesh wrote:
How would you feel about having say, the best 20% of routes/boulders being reset once a year for a couple months, in addition to new ones oc?

Assuming it's a large gym and likely that most are not year round regulars.

Not sure what you mean "once a year for a couple months".

The way I interpreted that was having the best loved routes/problems recorded and brought back. Kind of like a best of 2011.

I kind of like the idea. Again, comes down to getting enough feedback from climbers.

Yes, this is what I was thinking.


guangzhou


Feb 3, 2012, 6:03 AM
Post #25 of 46 (16910 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 27, 2004
Posts: 3389

Re: [flesh] Top 5 things you like about your gym? [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

flesh wrote:
guangzhou wrote:
flesh wrote:
I'm planning on starting a gym. Looking for feedback. There's all sorts of differences in gym around the country, some of you have been to many. I'd like to know the top five things you like about your gym, things that not every gym has. Also, the top five things you wish it had that you've seen or heard about elsewhere. Thanks.

Some questions I have for you before I can make any recommendations:

Demographics of your location. (Feel free to share actual location)

Is there already an existing climbing community or will your gym be the start of the climbing community in the area?

Those two questions in my opinion determine everything about how you'll run and set up your gym. From how often you change routes to their difficulty level.

The gym is only the face of the business, a great gym revolves around a great program. Program meaning what the gym does, not what the gym has.

I've visit some gym that had next to nothing in terms of facility, but they had very loyal and dedicated members because the management, maybe owners, had great programs.

Give me the answer to the first tow questions I posed and I give you some simple answers.

First of all, thanks everyone who's contributed, I am reading and taking note of everything. I own a few businesses that are successful, however my dream has always been to own a climbing gym. My loves in life have been climbing and business for the last 12 years and I'm excited to combine them.

Guangshou,

There is already a rapidly growing number of climbers in the area. In the last 15 years, within a 20 mile radius, total climbing gym memberships have gone from 600 to 2700. In the last five years from 1800 to 2700.

I won't be disclosing the location.

It will likely be in a 15-20k sq. foot building and the lead are will have a 50 ft. vertical gain, some of the boulders will have top outs/mantles. I will be owning/designing the building myself, new construction.

I have one world cup setter from euro and one established setter who's been traveling to gyms around the country setting for 5 years who've committed to work with me. They are working with me on design as well.

Also, my main business is marketing, so I have some marketing tricks up my sleeve to open with a bang.

Feel free to pm me. Thanks.

So there is an existing gym in the area already?

First page Previous page 1 2 Next page Last page  View All

Forums : Climbing Disciplines : Indoor Gyms

 


Search for (options)

Log In:

Username:
Password: Remember me:

Go Register
Go Lost Password?



Follow us on Twiter Become a Fan on Facebook