Going up

By Liz Barry

Published: October 1, 2008

The cliff looms 40 feet tall.

The path to the top is a test of strength and endurance. The wrong move leaves you dangling in the air, suspended by ropes to catch your fall. The right move elevates you one step closer.

You climb. Thirty feet up, your heart is pumping; your arms feel weak. Three more maneuvers to the top.

You’re not on a mountain peak. You’re in an old warehouse in downtown Lynchburg, which has been transformed into a rock climbing gym. Still, fear and exhilaration pulse through your body.

Rise Up Climbing, which opened Saturday at 1225 Church St., is an indoor playground of climbing walls and simulated boulders. The gym provides 6,000 square feet of climbing, with close to 40 routes that change on a regular basis.

It’s Monday evening, the gym’s third day since opening. A small but steady stream of customers arrives, eager to flex their climbing muscles.

They scale the massive walls, which are made from a steel frame covered with plywood and cement, and painted gray and tan to resemble natural rock. Black safety mats line the floor, and are powdered in spots with white chalk, which climbers use, like gymnasts, to improve their grip on the rock. Color-coded hand- and foot-holds are strategically placed on the walls, labeled with numbers that indicate the route’s difficulty.

The gym was launched by climbing veteran Dan Hague, who founded three climbing gyms in the D.C. metropolitan area in the early 1990s. Hague says he was at the forefront of a nationwide climbing trend, and saw his company, Sportrock Climber Centers, become one of the largest climbing companies on the East Coast.

Thirty years ago, rock climbing was seen as an extreme sport mostly for adrenaline-junkies and daring mountaineers. These days, indoor climbing walls make the sport more accessible, drawing people young and old, and from all walks of life.

“The sport has become much more mainstream. People are more willing to try it now then they were 20 years ago when it was seen as a crazy subculture, a counterculture type of activity,” Hague says.
Like many trends, Lynchburg is a few steps behind the big cities. Almost every major metropolitan center has a climbing gym, Hague says. Rock walls are becoming staples at college gyms, including Liberty University, which completed construction of a rock wall this summer.

Hague hopes to put Central Virginia on the map for indoor rock climbing.

“Lynchburg needs some kind of indoor recreation,” he says.

The gym is also another step toward downtown revitalization. Hague and a crew of workers transformed a brick warehouse in the historic district, a building that used to provide storage for electrical equipment. Hague, who lives in a Diamond Hill home he renovated, views Lynchburg as an often-overlooked city with a strong potential for development.

“I live downtown, and I like to see a vibrant business environment in the area where I live,” he says.

Opening a gym in Lynchburg is riskier than his past ventures in the D.C. area because the population here is much smaller, Hague says. At the same time, Rise Up Climbing competes with fewer entertainment venues for customers.

That, combined with the city’s sizable outdoor and athletic community, makes the gym a good fit for the city, Hague says. Plus, some of the best climbing in the nation — New River Gorge and Seneca Rocks — is just a short drive away in West Virginia, he says.

Part of the challenge, if the gym is to succeed, is to convert non-climbers into climbers. That is why the gym offers something for everyone. Beginners can take lessons and practice on easier routes, while veteran climbers can hone their skills on more challenging routes.

Hague hopes others will love climbing for the same reasons he does: the physical and mental challenge. Unlike sports that require little thought and much exertion, rock climbing is like solving a puzzle; it requires problem-solving skills to get to the top.

“Climbing to me is an athletic pursuit, not an extreme sport,” he says.

Monday night brings a mix of new climbers and veterans.

Lisa Floyd brought her two children, Lindsey, 12, and Sam, 10, for the second time since the gym opened. She watched nervously as her children climbed up the bouldering wall.

Bouldering is a type of climbing without ropes and a harness. The boulders are only about 10 to 15 feet tall, so climbers can drop onto they safety mat below if they get stuck.

Floyd doesn’t climb, but has taken her kids to climbing gyms while visiting family in other parts of the country. They are excited about the new gym.

“Finally this makes it to Lynchburg,” she says.

“We’re big supporters of downtown. It just seems like things come to Lynchburg 20 years late.”

Claire Gregory, 42, came tonight for the basic skills class, where she learns how to use a rope and harness, and how to belay a partner. The mother of three and a part-time dietician is the rock climbing pioneer of her family. She used to climb before her children were born, and now hopes to get the rest of her family involved.

“It’s play instead of exercise, but you’re working your muscles, muscles you’re not used to working,” she says.

Liberty students MacKenzie Stephens and Jonathon Higham — both experienced climbers — have been checking out the progress of the gym since May. They joined as soon as it opened.

Higham, a former cross-country runner, is drawn to climbing because it pushes him mentally and physically.

“It’s pushing a lot of basic fears people have,” he says.

The friends, who came to the opening day, were surprised to meet so many fellow climbers. They hope the gym will connect them with other climbers.

“We used to not think there was a climbing community here,’ Higham says. “This single space in a building has already built a community.”

Hague describes Lynchburg’s existing climbing community as “loose-knit.” The gym, he hopes, will provide the anchor that brings climbers together.

if you’re going
WHAT: Rise Up Climbing
WHEN: Monday through Friday, noon to 10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday noon to 6 p.m.
WHERE: 1225 Church St.
COST: Prices vary
INFO: Call (434) 845-7625 or visit http://www.riseupclimbing.com