Local Rock Climbing Gym Expands

Rise up Climbing has been a fundamental part of downtown Lynchburg for 16 years. Founded in 2008, it boasts over 400 members.  This summer, renovations at Rise Up Climbing were completed and are attracting crowds of all ages.

Marketing and outreach owner JB Askew and finance and strategy owner Stephen Baker started out doing smaller renovations; however, the need for a big change came from the influx of children participating in their children’s programs.

“We had hired a new full-time person to manage our kids’ programs, and they had tripled our kids’ programs and maxed out our space we currently had, and we had to figure out how do we continue to make the kids program grow and how do we do that in our own building,” Askew said.

Over the course of the summer, Rise Up Climbing expanded its gym by 2,000 square feet of climbing space, featuring a space above the check-in area with a moon board, fitness equipment and a yoga studio.  Renovations added nine new auto belays and a backspace where younger groups and clubs can practice. The newly added spaces have allowed community members to utilize a wide variety of new gym equipment.

Employees have also enjoyed the changes to the gym both for their sake as well as for the customers.

“I definitely see some more growth in the gym,” Melissa Knapp, the front counter manager said. “It’s brought a lot of people in from the community. We had a grand opening, so it’s getting to meet more of the community … and getting to introduce a lot more people into climbing.”

For example, the back area was expanded for more inexperienced climbers which in turn allows for more youth and novice climbers to be able to experience rock climbing.

“I brought six children today, and they’re all able to climb and hook in on their own, which is great,” Anette Everly, a mother of three who was hosting an event for her kids, said.

On the flip side, more experienced climbers appreciate the gym’s increased wall space.

“The traffic of families and young kids has gotten less in the main area, which has freed up a lot of climbing area in the more public area,” said Greg, a regular climber.  The renovations also signaled to Lynchburg citizens that Rise Up Climbing was not going anywhere.

“I see it as a good sign that they’re financially healthy too, which makes me think that this gym will be around quite a bit longer,” Greg said.

The owners themselves have stated that there is more to come over the horizon.

“We have built out this space, and before we finished building it out, we were at capacity again,” Askew said. “I’m pretty excited about what we’re able to do and what’s coming up.”

For more information visit www.riseupclimbing.com.

Editor’s note: Greg declined to provide a last name, so we chose to respect his wishes and quote on first name only.

Wilson is a news editor for the Liberty Champion.