Climbing Gyms Re-Opening. Systems for New Health Environment

Maybe. Maybe not. It’s going to be interesting to watch it play out.

Less overhead and upkeep with a hypothetical 1/4 attendance of previous levels?

I'm under the impression that gyms in general make most of their money from people who attend infrequently but still pay every month;  and not from people like me who are there 5x/week. So if people like me can only go 2x/week anyways, seems like it's a win for them!

High clips will be a thing of the past. Pretty hard to bite rope while wearing a mask. We can call the waist high clip the Covid clip! 

Im Sorry wrote:

which is only valid if the person who is coughing is sick....a.e. a mask doesn't do shit unless you are sick. A.E. technically I WAS RIGHT.  Man u must love the news and believe everything ur little mommy n daddy tells you.  Hey make sure to keep wearing your climbing helmet and don't tie in with a Bowline!  Stay safe

Technically you’re wrong. Read up, you in particular shouldn’t believe everything you think.

jessie briggs wrote: High clips will be a thing of the past. Pretty hard to bite rope while wearing a mask. We can call the waist high clip the Covid clip! 

Someone will be along shortly to tell you that high clips and biting the rope is wrong and dangerous.

jessie briggs wrote: High clips will be a thing of the past. Pretty hard to bite rope while wearing a mask. We can call the waist high clip the Covid clip! 

don't worry it will all work out

Cole D wrote: Maybe. Maybe not. It’s going to be interesting to watch it play out.

Less overhead and upkeep with a hypothetical 1/4 attendance of previous levels?

Less growth strategy and investment towards expansion?
Possibly raise rates a little bit instead of quadrupling them?

With 25% of previous business, the gym owner still has some troublesome responsibilities like ~20,000 square feet of floor space to light, heat, cool and clean; state and local taxes; insurance on the building and the business; employees;  maintenance (everything from auto belays to new holds to toilet-seats) a little advertising and social media presence; minimum purchases to maintain gear dealerships; and, just maybe she/he would like to see some profit unless your local climbing gym is a socially conscious, cooperative non-profit, established for charitable reasons...  

Come to think of it - that might be the future: climbing clubs, cooperatives, collectives; smaller facilities; focussed on the core users. Birthday parties for eight year olds will have to relocate to Chuck E Cheese's. Pity.

jessie briggs wrote: High clips will be a thing of the past. Pretty hard to bite rope while wearing a mask. We can call the waist high clip the Covid clip! 

A lot of the climbing or ninja warrior type gyms rely on the birthday parties to make money.  If anything they’ll probably shut down to everyone else when a party is going on rather that stop having them.

Adam W wrote: A lot of the climbing or ninja warrior type gyms rely on the birthday parties to make money.  If anything they’ll probably shut down to everyone else when a party is going on rather that stop having them.

Could be...but  how long will the core constituency ( the membership) stick around if every other Saturday the climbing (or ninja) gym which they pay for month in and month out, is closed to them so kids can swing on the autobelays? I will be surprised if they maintain monthly memberships; In the post-COVID era, the birthday party/summer camp/yoga studio part of the business could be in direct competition with the serious climber part. It may prove out that smaller gyms, more exclusively tailored to the niche clientele - (climbers and/or ninjas) had a more resilient business model. We'll see.

Allen Sanderson wrote: Think of wearing a mask like it is an O2 mask and yer training for sending the West Ridge Of Everest.

I actually looked this up a couple months ago after breathing heavily going up the stairs.

It's been studied, essentially you can develop stronger inspiratory muscles but a mask or other restrictive breathing device doesn't increase your red blood cells or hematocrit.

I don't know what, if anything this would do for you at altitude.

highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion wrote:

I actually looked this up a couple months ago after breathing heavily going up the stairs.

It's been studied, essentially you can develop stronger inspiratory muscles but a mask or other restrictive breathing device doesn't increase your red blood cells or hematocrit.

I don't know what, if anything this would do for you at altitude.

You’ve got the alpine farter calling BS, the case is closed.

Colonel Mustard wrote:

You’ve got the alpine farter calling BS, the case is closed.

Yep, when alpinefartguy speaks it the biz

highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion wrote:

I actually looked this up a couple months ago after breathing heavily going up the stairs.

It's been studied, essentially you can develop stronger inspiratory muscles but a mask or other restrictive breathing device doesn't increase your red blood cells or hematocrit.

I don't know what, if anything this would do for you at altitude.

"inspiratory muscles" is baiscally your diaphram. There's some other exercises you can do to help with breathing deeply (belly breathing). Helps when you get asthmatic symptoms, and that's basically what you google.

Peter Beal wrote: The mask thing while climbing could be a huge turnoff to many climbers

Think of it as the poor man's bane mask that people pay big bucks to use for training.

A Non wrote:

Yep, when alpinefartguy speaks it the biz

And you’d best hope he’s only speaking. He’s Miles F’n Davis on the butt trumpet.

Mitchell Moreland wrote: I don't care if I have to wear a full body latex suit, I'd do just about anything to climb again.

Well we know who practices safe umm..  climbing.

Hello TRG Friends and Family,
I hope you and your family are healthy and safe.  These are challenging times for everyone and we have been working hard to get the gym prepared for a gradual reopening on Wednesday, May 20th. We will be starting with a members-only access at first and then as things settle we will later open to non-members.  

If you are interested in helping us with our (pre-opening flow test) contact roger@texasrockgym.com 
In order to limit the amount of people in the gym at any given time we have set up a reservation system to sign up for climbing sessions.  We will be starting with blocks of one hour and 45 minutes per climbing session, with a 15 minute window to clean before the next set of climbers. We will make adjustments depending on the feedback we receive from our customers. Please keep in mind we will be open for members only during our initial reopening; no day-pass/punch-pass customers and no guests.
CLIMBING RESERVATIONSDuring our reopening our hours of operation will initially be limited and will slowly increase back to normal in time. Our hours will be:

• Monday through Saturday - 10am to 8pm 
• Sunday - 12pm to 6pm
   

We are implementing New Health Protocols to help create a safe climbing environment for our climbers and staff.  Adjustments will be made as we move forward.
 New Health Protocols  

• Entry into TRG will be limited to help with social distancing.
•  Climbing reservations will help with occupancy management.
• Groups will be limited to a maximum of (6) participants.
• Please practice Self screening for Covid 19 using Texas screening methods. 
• Washing or sanitizing hands upon entering and leaving the gym.
• Sanitizing shoes in the sanitizer solution before climbing.
• Regularly sanitizing hands before and after climbing and belaying.
• Maintaining at least 6 feet separation from other participants not in your group. 
• Face covering required when climbing and interacting with other customers or employees.

 Youth Team members and parents will be receiving a separate email detailing how we are moving forward with practices.  Greg Simpson will be leading our team practices so if you have any questions feel free to contact him at team@texasrockgym.com. 
 For the latest up dates on our summer camp program keep an eye out on our website.
For our summer campers keep and eye out on our camp page. We are potentially starting summer camps on Monday, June 1st. The number of kids allowed in camp will be limited depending on the state’s rules.
 We are a small business and all financial support to keep TRG moving forward is greatly appreciated.  We have a few ways to help contribute so please tell your friends and family.

• Crowdfunder with Fundly.com (sponsoring: youth team kids, new route, and holds)
• Gift Certificates (can be used for anything TRG has to offer or give as a gift)

 Last, but not least, to our awesome members who have kept your membership going during all of this... we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You guys are why we exist in the first place and your loyalty to our community inspires us to keep going. You are truly family to us and we can’t wait to see you again very soon!
 Team Texas Rock Gym

rgold wrote: It's a hoot to hear climbers, whose lives are supposedly oriented around the confrontation and resolution extreme difficulties, whine about masks and liquid chalk.

This. I used to plant trees, which is possibly one of the hardest jobs out there. People battle elements to plant trees, even if it snows. Yet on days off, you'd still hear those supposedly badass people complaint about futil stuff. I guess some skills just don't transfer well.

I think this could be made to work. I hope they enlarge hours of openings. Where I live, they used to be like 13h-22h on weeks days, a bit sooner opening on week-ends. If more people work remotely (therefore I suppose have more flexible hours or better yet don't work at all!) then opening sooner may work out. If you only have a few dozen people at a time with reservations, then you can probably do with a lot less staff during those ours, too.

I think masks & forced liquid chalks are great, if they force out of the market the weak minded then it's more time slots available for the rest of us.

Then as with anything, it'll likely come with a bunch of measures that have no actual benefits in figthing the spread but they, that's part of the price we'll have to pay.