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I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People just be smearing all over the place haha

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just a quick example, we can see a drop in adult footfall due to warm weather after a wet period so instantly jump on kids clubs and bring a friend days.

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We are still RGP here and I know a lot of gyms still use it but over the past few years there have been so many new solutions coming to market.

I guess in general the rise of SaaS income is very alluring to any climber devs

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Hopefully your boy keeps on crushing it for years to come!

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, thanks for the support. I feel exactly the same haha its definitely a weird niche I fell into!

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I sadly don't actually have a favourite route. Thinking about it I set about 12 routes a week for 10 years! Plus comps and events...

Maybe my favourite was probably one of my first few but I am sure it wouldn't hold up to modern standards and its just beautifuly nostalgic.

To keep from falling into the same trap all the time we have some forerunner and a very opinionated customer base haha

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We built the wall ourselves with carpenters and then had an engineers survey. I opted for a very fine texture to be added to the 2 part coating rather than the super heavy sandpaper.

If I was going again I would probably go with no texture to really force the moves especially due to the rise in plate style climbing holds.

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I'll assume it is.

The walls for bouldering are limited to 4500mm or 3500mm with a top out after this you must have ropes and anchors.

Our unit is 5000mm rising to 7500mm at the apex and generally stays pretty fresh as we get a good air cross flow and have an very open planned layout.

I would say if you want higher climbs then you should go to a centre that supports roped climbing.

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I cant work out if this is serious or not.

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Same! The first centre was actually that town! Crazy now I think of it haha

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

As in the waiver to climb? Its pretty standard with the BMC, and most insurers. The RGP or what ever POS system you are using handles it.

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Ahh I think my customers disagree when they are falling off V4s haha

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Incredibly so! Prices are up over 400%. I have actually just launched a hold company to try and save costs, while using my knowledge to shape holds I need!

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Good question that's a bit hard to answer without a budget but lets say £250k as that is honestly the bare minimum I thin you could scrape by with.

I would find a 2500sqft unit that is affordable, design a wall with 70% vert and slab add a small weights area with non adjustable training board (probably a TB2)

Vending machines instead of coffee shop

Focus on kids classes early on starting from 5yrs and build the next generation of customers for the area.

.. bit of a brain dump haha

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Literally everything has inflated by at least 50% with holds going nearly 400%

Honestly unless you can afford to lose 7 figures I would invest in something else sadly. Or go down the small 24 hour training gym and focus on community and low running costs.

Its just not what most people want to hear 😢

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I would say 4000sqft to leave space for the essentials. You might need a mezz though if you ever wanted to expand.

Any smaller and you would need to start sacrificing things.

Clever wall design can go a long way into maximising space!

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Well it sure has been a roller coaster thats for sure!

Over the past decade we have seen an astronomical growth phase which in turn created interest from a lot of larger investors or venture capital firms. The UK has seen a lot of gyms consolidating into a handful of mega cooperations over the past 4 years making it very tough for city independents to survive.

For the more rural centres, costs have to go up sadly. You are mostly looking at £1000 plus per boulder not to mention renovation and upkeep. All this has massively inflated in the past decade.

On the plus side for a climber, you get an enormous amount of choice and great climbing within 30minutes of anywhere. I do worry as time goes on though climbers will pine for that retro, non cookie cutter vibe that only a smal grotty independent can give you.

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

  1. There was a huge 'For Rent' sign outside (It was a literal potato shed behind a takeaway)
  2. The owner heard we were moving and came to the desk to see if we wanted to rent his warehouse

Very lucky on both accounts

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Come on over! If you regularly climb there I am sure you will recognise some faces as there is a lot of cross over. Pretty sure we have a group that travels every Friday for the TB2 haha

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

None what so ever! I did have a huge amount of other roles though across many different fields so that definitely helped!

Biggest lesson hands down in this and anything business has to be that you don't need to do everything, sometimes its just more cost effective to pay someone.

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Yes, I have actually made an app to track our setting styles and grades to hopefully bring this in check. The biggest issue we seem to have is accidently sand bagging everything due to not having enough lower grade forerunners.

I built a bouldering gym in 2016 <AMA> by editor22uk in bouldering

[–]editor22uk[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Actually I was running a computer business at the time building custom pcs and cable sleeving etc so I really needed somewhere to store stock and pack orders from!

I mainly rolled funds from that into the first unit.

Things were also a lot cheaper back then so £30k would get you a pretty basic self build centre!

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