New (big!) gym opening in Golden - Earthtreks

Darren Mabe wrote: i think the cracks in our gym are consistently my favorite.

Yoga pants?

Can't speak for how often others use gym cracks, but I always find them to be the most memorable part of a gym, and the ones at the ET gyms in Maryland are by far the best I've seen. Both on their own and used as part of a well set route, they're fantastic for learning the technique and getting mileage, especially when combined with good instruction.

Of course if ET were trying to continue their trend of outdoing their previous facilities, a roof crack would be a perfect addition. Just sayin' :)

Anyone here climb at Momentum in SLC? They have an amazing selection of cracks, but I'd be curious to hear how they climb and if they get used....?

The Good Life Denver wrote:This is progress! I'm excited about this, about the Denver Bouldering Club's expansion, and about the fact that, according to Movement, this isn't changing the trajectory for them bringing a gym to Denver in the slightest! thegoodlifedenver.com/2012/…

I agree with the author of this article. While Earthtreks is cool, I don't know that it's capitalizing on the full potential of the market with a location in Golden. There is still a dire need for something IN Denver. Earthtreks is located about 20-25 minutes from Capitol Hill/LoDo, making it really no more accessible than the Boulder gyms. I think Movement would do really well with another gym in central Denver and hopefully a membership gets you access to both the Denver and Boulder facilities for all the Denver/Boulder commuters.

Great news about the Maryland ET cracks, Robin.

Chris - cracks please. :). Thank you! Wally

TheBirdman wrote: I agree with the author of this article. While Earthtreks is cool, I don't know that it's capitalizing on the full potential of the market with a location in Golden. There is still a dire need for something IN Denver. Earthtreks is located about 20-25 minutes from Capitol Hill/LoDo, making it really no more accessible than the Boulder gyms. I think Movement would do really well with another gym in central Denver and hopefully a membership gets you access to both the Denver and Boulder facilities for all the Denver/Boulder commuters.

ET-Golden is definitely going to be more accessible for Denver residents than the Boulder gyms, but it will be almost the exact same distance from the Capitol as is the current Rockn and Jamn gym in Thornton. The new gym is definitely a step in the right direction, and I applaud it very loudly--especially on behalf of those who live in Golden/Arvada/west Denver. But you're right--it isn't the solution for the the Denver market.

The cracks at momentum are great, and they get a lot of traffic. Lots of people use them to get ready for Indian Creek.

TheBirdman wrote: I agree with the author of this article. While Earthtreks is cool, I don't know that it's capitalizing on the full potential of the market with a location in Golden. There is still a dire need for something IN Denver. Earthtreks is located about 20-25 minutes from Capitol Hill/LoDo, making it really no more accessible than the Boulder gyms. I think Movement would do really well with another gym in central Denver and hopefully a membership gets you access to both the Denver and Boulder facilities for all the Denver/Boulder commuters.

Hahahaha and to JoeP who said "... Keep in mind that there are not sufficient numbers of "existing climbers" to support such a large gym,.."

As I'm sure the good folks at EarthTreks know, there are a HUGE number of climbers who live or work on the west side of town stretching from Arvada down to Littleton. Including rush hour traffic, most are at LEAST 40 minutes, and more often close to an hour, away from any existing rock gym of significance (Movement, R&J 1&2, BRC, etc.) While a gym IN Denver would be great for those who live in or near downtown, I seriously doubt it would draw much from the surrounding ex-urbs (once the light rail system is built-out and if a downtown gym is near a station, this might change). We all live out here, in part, because we don't want to deal with Denver rush hour traffic.

Though my wife and I don't have kids, child care would be a nice and unique(?) perk (as long as it's pay-as-you go and doesn't increase the basic cost ;^). Lotta climber couples around here. Also some ice holds would set this gym apart in the Denver/Boulder area and draw the, sometimes distressingly, huge population of ice climbers in the Denver metro area.

Only other unsolicited advice I have is to be sure to set routes to the local standards. My DC friends and I have a long-running but good-natured dispute going - they insist CO gym routes are soft and I insist DC gym routes are massively sand-bagged. Granted, I'm way far from a rock jock, but when I can't TR a 5.8 gym route without hangs, something ain't right. :)

Long and short... WOO HOO! Totally psyched that we'll finally have a gym on the west side - something I've been advocating for for probably 10 years now. Can't wait!!!

Andy Laakmann wrote:Anyone here climb at Momentum in SLC? They have an amazing selection of cracks, but I'd be curious to hear how they climb and if they get used....?

I climb here and yes, the cracks get used. Of course some see a ton more traffic than others (like the hand cracks and corners). We have a steep crack (fist/off-hands/thin hands)and some finger cracks that sees less traffic due to the harder grades. I think they climb well and are somewhat reminiscient of IC, but you would have to do them about 4-5 times back to back to get the pump factor of IC. I have not climbed at other gyms with indoor crack climbs to compare.

So excited for this.

Can you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE hire some of the setters from the Spot? They do an awesome job. I've never had anything but a great time at the Spot.

cheers.
-chris

I'm pretty excited about this too, since I could walk or ride my bike from my office to this location. But I'm poor, and hope the membership price isn't near what I read on the MD site ($89/30 days). Especially since I can also ride my bike to N. Table, or the Canal Zone in CCC. Most of these places can be climbed year round for free.

Still excited about the prospect though, and yes, if you guys put up Ice Holdz, then I'll get a membership for sure. And I too have kidz and my wife used to climb with me...would be nice to get her back into it.

You want expensive? Brooklyn Boulders in NY (emphasis on boulders) is $22 for a day pass or $95 a month for membership.

I type this as I get ready to head over there and plunk down $200 for a ten-visit card, climbers are a captive audience in NY!

This is a smart move. I have wondered for years why no one opened a gym in Golden while Boulder supports three. The sooner the better on this deal.

Hopefully ET does a better job of supervising its employees in CO than it did at home, but with four big gyms now, that's a lot of responsibility.

With two coaches arrested last year for sex with a kid they were coaching, not really psyched to see them in our area and keeping my children away from there for sure.

dpmclimbing.com/articles/vi…

Wonder how big of a problem this is in the gym-kid-coaching culture?

Soooooo....I take it you're not having Eldorado Walls build THIS one!?!?!?... what if they promise to be done in TWO months??? Hahaha

Eli Helmuth wrote:Hopefully ET does a better job of supervising its employees in CO than it did at home, but with four big gyms now, that's a lot of responsibility. With two coaches arrested last year for sex with a kid they were coaching, not really psyched to see them in our area and keeping my children away from there for sure. dpmclimbing.com/articles/vi… Wonder how big of a problem this is in the gym-kid-coaching culture?

As you've pointed out, the Earth Treks community was affected by child sex abuse in 2011. Our head coach at the time and one of his assistants victimized, namely a young teenage girl, but also an entire community including his peers and the parents and kids that had put their trust in them during their tenure. It was by far, the hardest thing Earth Treks as a community has ever had to deal with, and it's affects will never fully go away. Given I was his direct supervisor, I can personally attest to how child sex abusers weasel their way in and hide their motives to take advantage of others, despite your best efforts to shield against these risks. I am incredibly proud of how Earth Treks responded to this, both in the way we responded in the midst of the crisis, and in the way we evaluated all of our youth protection policies and safeguards and improved and broadened all our youth protection training. In fact, I'm quite confident that Earth Treks is one of the best climbing gyms with regards to safe guarding children, informed in part from our experience. I think the fact that our climbing team program has never been bigger or more successful than it is right now is testament to how we've responded. I'd also have to agree with the comment that more needs to be done with regard to youth protection in climbing coaching nationwide. While I'm not in the office today, I invite you or anyone else with questions to contact me directly at 410-872-0060 x117. Chris Jenkins, COO

Would have loved to see a gym closer to the child infested south of Denver suburbs. Golden is almost the same distance for us as Boulder and the coaching at Boulder Rock Club is stellar. Bummer about the high prices too as this is not the east coast.

I've been climbing at the Earth Treks in Maryland for 3-4 years, and they are a great company. Very friendly staff and members, frequently change the routes and they are dedicated to investing right back into the gyms. The gym in rockville is an (indoor) lead climbing wonderland.

M Lindfors wrote:Would have loved to see a gym closer to the child infested south of Denver suburbs.

You've heard, perhaps, about a place called R&J II? A fair bit closer to Highlands Hive than is Golden.

Eli, pretty harsh judgment. There are darned few organizations that involve lots of kids that haven't had at least one scumbag slip through at some point (whether you've heard about it or not), regardless of safe-guards. Sounds like EarthTreks has learned a tough lesson and taken steps to address the problem. I'd wager they're in a better position now to protect kids than a business that hasn't had a problem (or doesn't yet know they have one).

I will be interested in seeing how they will attract patrons in the Spring, Summer and Fall when CCC and NTM and even the UAC are 10 minutes away. And free. And real stone. And outside.

M Lindfors wrote: Golden is almost the same distance for us as Boulder

I assume you are at the East side and use I-25? This still makes no sense whatsoever.