Movement in Denver--it's on!

http://www.thegoodlifedenver.com/2013/08/07/good-indoor-climbing-gym-finally-coming-to-denver/

It's official: Movement has locked in land at 1155 W 5th Ave, Denver, CO 80204, near 6th and I-25 (currently a vacant lot). They are breaking ground on their Denver gym later this year. It is expected to open next year. Finally!!

Could they not find a spot to open inside of the DBC? Had to settle for on top of it?

I don't care where they move, but if they don't get some damned AC that ACTUALLY works then they can keep their fancy walls, hardwood yoga floors, and the (6) lead climbing ropes they'll have available for the 100+ people any given night. Until they work on all the the things that they got wrong in Boulder I'll be climbing at Rock'n and Jam'n.

Hard to get excited about climbing plastic when you live here on the front range. Actually had a couple up in Morrison the other day say.." We're here because the gym was closed ". Good for snow days, but the DBC has better setters.

Y'all are a bunch of haters. I'm way psyched.

They have consistently better route setting than RnJ ever had. Building difficulty that doesn't hurt your fingers vs. the RnJ style (get tall, hurt your shoulder, tweak your finger, traverse).

The route setting alone at RnJ has pretty much brought me there 1-2 times a month in the winter and never in the warm months. I used to train at the gym 2-3 times a week (depending on weather) when the route setting wasn't stupid.

I can bring my own rope. Although I've never failed to get one of theirs at movement.

And I won't have to drive out to BFE to use the gym.

Good to see a new gym in Denver. It is much needed. Glad to hear we will soon have more options closer to town and won't have to fight the soul sucking traffic on I-25 north after work.

Here's one climber that is excited.

I have yet to climb at their Boulder location, but am enjoying the idea of having a ropes gym 5 minutes biking distance from my apartment. If they are open early enough in the morning, I'll try training there before work.

If I like it, I will be splitting my money/time between there and the dbc. Those guys are super chill and set some rad problems. And their training facilities are getting quite impressive.

Donald Kerabatsos wrote:Could they not find a spot to open inside of the DBC? Had to settle for on top of it?

Seriously! That shit ain't cool. I've never been to Movement but I would hate to see DBC get run out of town as a result of this. I love that place.

Do they have a bouldering set-up at Movement in Boulder?

nicelegs wrote:Y'all are a bunch of haters. I'm way psyched. They have consistently better route setting than RnJ ever had. Building difficulty that doesn't hurt your fingers vs. the RnJ style (get tall, hurt your shoulder, tweak your finger, traverse). The route setting alone at RnJ has pretty much brought me there 1-2 times a month in the winter and never in the warm months. I used to train at the gym 2-3 times a week (depending on weather) when the route setting wasn't stupid. I can bring my own rope. Although I've never failed to get one of theirs at movement. And I won't have to drive out to BFE to use the gym.

Hell I'm psyched just as much as the next person and I'm sure they'll do a better job with the new gym. Mike and Anne-Worley are definitely some of the nicest people I've ever met so I'm not a hater, but I do have my hang-ups with Movement-Boulder:

1) Parking has been a problem from the beginning.

2) Lack of gym ropes. My opinion is they have a limited amount of ropes to lend out because they'd like you to purchase a $65 rope from them. Yes you can bring your own, but it's the only gym I've been to (76 and counting) that doesn't accommodate enough ropes for the amount of climbers that need them.

3) HVAC system was not adequately designed for their space. Some of us cannot get outside (I'm off Lincoln and I-25 and live in Westminster) so getting to CCC, or other surrounding areas is not an option for me during the week. In Boulder when it's 90 degs outside, it's 100+ inside Mvmt. That area of Denver will be even worse.

4) Grades, grades, grades. I'm sorry, but it has to be brought up. What a freak'n joke! If it wasn't about grades I wouldn't be in the gym training. RJ may have some tweaky movement, but at the end of the day I'll take my sandbag RJ 5.11 vs. my onsight of every single 5.12 in Mvmt. RJ’s sandbagged nature prevents me from getting butt-hurt when I get outside.

Most of the complaints about Rock’n and Jam’n have been remedied within the last year with the change of ownership and the creative vision of the employees that are listening to the people that frequent the gym. New climbing holds are being ordered monthly, routes are getting changed 5 days a week, they recently updated a lot of their training equipment, and most importantly the cooling system actually works.

In the end it won’t matter. It’ll be a nice shiny gym with new terrain. I’ll go there because it’ll be a few blocks from the park-n-ride I use to catch the lightrail. I’ll be able to use my pass to head up to Boulder and climb with my friends that live there from time to time. We’ll have great setters and fun routes to climb on. I just hope that some of the hang-ups I’ve mentioned and those not mentioned will be considered in the design of their new facility.

I'm excited to hear it as well. I live relatively close and I'm always excited to see a new business come into the area...a climbing gym is just a bonus.

Good luck.

More options, more opportunities.

Different places harbor different vibes.

This is a good thing. I really enjoyed training at Movement in Boulder when I worked up in that area.

Mike McKinnon wrote: Amen to that. The worst route setting I have ever climbed on. Crimps, shoulder busters and stupid traverses. Nothing flows.

and another +1. I hope that R&J has indeed gotten better, but super-psyched for another great gym in the metro area. Especially awesome for me since I work in Denver West and now there will be great gyms at each end of 6th Ave!!!

Funny that these have been burning needs (a gym on the west side and near downtown) for more than a decade and solved within the same year.

Kills my plans for what to do with my winnings when I hit the next big PowerBall jackpot though. :^D

Mike McKinnon wrote: Amen to that. The worst route setting I have ever climbed on. Crimps, shoulder busters and stupid traverses. Nothing flows.

I thought it was me! But I guess a lot people agree RnJ routes suck.

Glad to hear about another Denver gym for those cold, dark months. I'll likely get my winter training sessions in at the Earth Treks gym, but hopefully the new Movement gym helps to thin out the Earth Treks crowds. They're located quite close to each other.