Gym with Roped Climbs in small markets? Viable?

Not sure this is the best locations for this but what the heck.

I live in a gym dead zone. The closest climbing gym to me is over an hour in any direction. I also live in a small population zone. If here was a gym in town it would be the closest gym to maybe 70,000-100,000 people total(35,000 in a 15 minute drive, ~50,000 in a 20 minute drive the 70,000 inside 35min and the rest at about 45minutes though if they drove 50 minutes in the other direction they'd be at a big city gym). So my question is, are there any gyms of decent size surviving (thriving) in small markets like this? There are probably small bouldering gyms doing alright, maybe in co-op models but I already have that in my attic.

Not that I want to start a gym, but I'm curious if I'm going to be confined to my attic to train for the rest of my life.

Must be nice, I'm in NW North Dakota and have to drive 6 hours to get to a gym or outdoor climbing.

It sure seems like it would be feasible if there was a college nearby without a climbing wall, that would give you a customer base.

Steve Pulver wrote:Must be nice, I'm in NW North Dakota and have to drive 6 hours to get to a gym or outdoor climbing. It sure seems like it would be feasible if there was a college nearby without a climbing wall, that would give you a customer base.

Grand Junction has about twice that many and is doing fine. Durango has much smaller market and is doing fine.

Eric Carlos wrote:Grand Junction has about twice that many and is doing fine. Durango has much smaller market and is doing fine.

Napa, CA has a population of 70,000. The local gym, Rockzilla, has been in business for quite a while and does alright. it helps to have few employees, many volunteers, and to buy holds off of ebay and craigslist with patience instead of from the manufacturers themselves.

With that population there's absolutely opportunity for a roped gym, and a nicely profitable one as well. How many fitness clubs are there in your area? Same business model but a climbing gym has an even better opportunity to fill a niche. If you want to know more PM me, been working in gyms for 15 years.

Having real rock and seasonal weather helps. Living in NH, you've got to have plenty of climbers, but they need somewhere to train in the winter.

Concord, Manchester and Nashua have gyms then there another in Hadley, MA. I live in Keene which is the dead spot. And there's very little real rock in the area so even in summer there would be plenty of use especially this summer being 90* plus day after day. Current major gyms are YMCA and a Plant Fitness (both new facilities in the last 5 year) and a few small ones but those don't tend to last. While it'd be sweet to open one i don't have know how or capital. Hopefully one day someone will decide it's worth it.

All you need is someone, anyone, with capital.

Remember you are starting a "business" - not just a place to practice something you love. A solid business plan should be your first step.

Tradoholic wrote:All you need is someone, anyone, with capital.