What would you want in the Perfect Rock Gym?

[Zspider]

VE sucks.

The only thing it has going for it is that it is tall.

Not true. The staff and the clientele are friendly, the place is always wonderfully clean (there are some climbing gyms that smell like climbing shoes), the auto-belay system allows me to toprope without a belayer, and the fake rock makes a great boulder traverse just off the deck.

ZSpider

[Pete]

1) both gyms in lex make their big $ on birthday parties, scout troops, etc. - not regular boulderers like most of us who are currently pining away for a place to boulder... so, a gym would need to appeal to both the masses and the folks interested in climbing. a dedicated bouldering area seperate from the climbing area would be on my "must have" list. the bouldering area would have to be good - big enough to absorb the tuesday/thursday crowd - with a good variety of routes, including mindless jug hauls for the end of the workout...

2) a tread wall - or two! there was often a queue for the tread wall at Lex Rocks and Climb Time - and, keeping kids/scout troops, etc. off of the tread wall -

3) a decent bathroom and changing area would be nice - lex rocks had no bathroom on site (in the building, but not close by) and climb time's bathroom was really, really nasty...

4) i don't think that a gym needs to have a resturaunt or anything like that - seems it'd make your overhead higher and you wouldn't get good returns - generally, climbers are not going to spend big $ at the gym if they just paid $10+ to get in... but, to have a small offering of Ale 8, power bars/something similar and coffee would be a nice touch! Climb Time was always brewing a pot of coffee and Barry generously loaned out his moldy mugs to anyone who was interested -

5) $10/12 per visit or a monthly pass for $40... family and/or student discounts are always a bonus.

6) since folks seem to think that kids are a problem, it might be a nice gesture to have a small area w/ a couch and a TV/VCR and some space for kids to play, that way marathonmedic won't fall on the 3 year old! that said, parents' need to be responsible for their kids at the gym and most are/were in lexington. it was the scout troops/birthday parties that got out of hand w/ kids jumping on the mats, etc.


7) good hours. lexington rocks had limited hours - i.e. opening at 4pm on weekdays - it would have been nice to have access to bouldering earlier in the day for those of us with flexible work/school schedules.

ED, are you just asking these questions for kicks, or is there some motivation behind the line of questions? is there going to be a gym in lexington again sometime? or are we stuck with taking out home equity loans to build garage gyms, suffering with what is available at UK, and mindless sessions on the campus board that now hangs in my kitchen?

Di

[pawilkes]

what pete said was crucial: Gyms don't make money on climbers, they make money on birthday parties and groups. for this reason, gyms need to be cleaner, better laid out and more finished than what climbers demand. Rock Sport in louisville is a perfect example of how not to do it. i have no personal issues with construction equipment being right next to the wall and a concreat floor but i doubt that parents bringing kids in would be very excited about it. to that extent you need to make the gym appeal to these customers. Adventure Rock in Milwaukee has a seperate room where the birthday parties can open gifts, eat food, play games etc when they aren't climbing. they also have a class room for teaching classes. the gym area has padded floors everywhere and there is good light in the place. i guess what im trying to say is that it doesn't look like a warehouse and because of this they make lots of money on groups.

[pigsteak]

Anyone visited Upper Limits in Bloomington, IL or St. Louis, MO? Or the Ratho gym in Scotland? Three of the best.

[Toad]

...

[J-Rock]

Interesting features and creative routesetters would be a must.

[Spragwa]

Did I mention an overhanging lead wall? That would be saweet!!!!!!!!! Lex Rocks had slabby scary lead walls...ewww.

[Yasmeen]

Yeah, and a leadable roof a la RockQuest. That thing's fun!

[Rizzo]

Ah... what makes a perfect rock gym. Easy...

Just follow the lead of one of the Midwest's better known gyms (not to be named here.)

First, make sure your staff understands its fundamental purpose is to ignore and offend customers. Screech admonitions at rule offenders. Tact and dimplomacy are for woosies, not rock gym owners. Don't ever greet the customer with a smile and a friendly welcome. Don't express any interest in interacting with and offering advice and encouragement to inexperienced customers.

Next, make sure the place is cluttered, dirty, and smelly. Don't bother to clean the holds, floors, walls, etc. After all, climbers are mostly dirtbags and won't notice anyhow.

Be sure to paint all the walls with a cheap slick glossy paint. Don't bother using the gritty stuff. Hell, real climbers don't have to smear. Besides, a sea of black skid marks and pealing paint just adds to the ambience.

Install worn ATC's on worn caribines tied down with worn rope to the floors. Climb on worn ropes. After all, who needs to learn about good belaying techniques to apply outdoors? Stripped threads on a Jake just add to the thrill.

And finally, learn how to be thick skinned; don't be bothered when many of your customers leave to climb at a competitor's gym clear across town because of the way you do business. Who needs those woosies, anyway? Now, back to that bouldering problem...

Just the opinion of an old rockrat...

Rizzo

[Meadows]

The $b$o$uldering was still good (thanks to the addition of Johnny to their staff).