Louisiana climbing???

Does anyone have any contacts who might be interested in opening up a climbing gym in Louisiana, specifically near Shreveport?
There is absolutely no climbing gym in that whole area and it could be a potentially huge market, especially near the college there. The reason i ask is my sister lives there and would love to climb but has no means to nearby, i'm trying to help her out.

Any help at all would be awesome. Thanks all!

I've been in Baton Rouge nine times in the past 8 months. Googled and GPS'd "climbing gym" last time I was there, I think the nearest one I found was 60 miles away. So, if you find someone willing to open one in Shreveport, sell them on Baton Rouge, too.

haha will do, thanks!!

There is Rok Haus in Lafayette and the LSU Rec center in Baton Rouge has a gym. There is also a tower in baton rouge where there are auto belays and they allow you to set up top ropes on. She's pretty close to some great climbing in Arkansas. Perhaps she could make weekend trips to the ozarks.

snicho wrote:There is Rok Haus in Lafayette and the LSU Rec center in Baton Rouge has a gym. There is also a tower in baton rouge where there are auto belays and they allow you to set up top ropes on. She's pretty close to some great climbing in Arkansas. Perhaps she could make weekend trips to the ozarks.

My sister lives in Lafayette. I've been to the Rock Haus a few times and was surprised at how much fun I had. Not a world class gym by any definition, but not bad. I was also surprised at how many people were in there, given that most of the people in that town spend more money on alcohol than everything else combined.

Plenty of sober protestants up in Shreveport and it's a bit closer to the climbing in OK and AR so I can see there being a market. If you want to have a big gym in the south, you'd need to sell hurricanes and daiquiries.

Ryan Williams wrote: If you want to have a big gym in the south, you'd need to sell hurricanes and daiquiries.

Eric Krantz wrote: Hurricanes, daiquiris, and CRAWFISH!

A Hurricane is the name of a strong alcoholic drink mix that is very popular in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Swamp Cookie wrote:A Hurricane is the name of a strong alcoholic drink mix that is very popular in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Nick K wrote: I've been trying to figure out how and why you would want to sell large, destructive storms to people.

That is so sick Mike. I was just elaborating on that subject on the way to a crag this past Sunday in Southeastern,TN.

I'm obviously late to this thread but I just stumbled on it.

I started climbing in Idaho in 1977 and have climbed in Idaho (obviously), Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Virginia, and some places I've forgotten about. I moved to Baton Rouge in 1990 and I hated the place. It's almost 2016 and I still despise it. Having said that, it's a veritable gold mine for someone with a bit of drive and some startup capital. There would be an initially slow but overall enormous response to a quality indoor climbing gym. Some clever marketing would be necessary but overall one could make a substantial profit off of a climbing enterprise. Occasionally some concern will erect a "portable mountain" in one of the local malls and the response is always amazing. I'll close this post with a "I can't believe no one has done it yet!" exclamation and it's true. Someone stands to make a sizable income but it requires a sizable investment. Good luck!