April Gym Round Up
With the Easter break, and numerous brands heading over to the States for the annual CWA Summit things calmed down this month. Rest assured, there is always something happening for us to report on!
As always, if you have announcements to share with the industry, be sure to tag/email/DM us.
France
A Good Spot in Lille
Block’Out Lille has changed hands to become Bon Spot Lille, an independent gym, and from April 26th members no longer had access to the wider Block’Out gyms as the changeover took full effect. The site closed for a few days toward the end of the month in order to renovate the facility with new branding, a wall paint job, plenty of new holds and a full-centre reset with the help of ClimbWithUs.
Climb Up #33
French mega-chain Climb Up have completed the ground-up structural build of their 33rd site in the country (including the 3 MROC sites) in Istres, on the southern coast. The Escatech-built full-service site includes kids crazy-climb area, roped walls up to 14m, 450sqm of bouldering across two floors, campus and KilterBoards, extensive social/cafe space, and a sauna. The site will be opening in July and we can’t wait to see the final product!
French Gym Strikes
Reported in Planet Grimpe, Vertige Media and Blast, gym staff at Climb Up Auberville and Port d’Italie, and Climbing District Paris have been on strike recently. Read our summary article here.
Ablok Returns to their Roots
Boulder chain Ablok has unveiled a gym in Voiron, the third for the business. Voiron holds a special place in the heart of the founding team as it is where they met 35 years ago, and brings them great pride to open a site in the city. Their grand vision for the site includes 1000sqm of bouldering walls, spraywall, KilterBoard, bar/restaurant, Yoga and Pilates studio, and a sauna. Built by Optimur, and matted by Tyyni, the gym aims to open in June and will also host a live music night once a month, Voironnais locals prepare yourselves!
Germany
Griffwerk Upgrades
German megacentre Griffwerk has completed upgrades to its UG Bouldering section; with remodelled sections, new matting throughout from Bloc Matting, and a fresh coat of paint, the walls were ready on April 4th and put straight into action with a competition set. Griffwerk also took the opportunity to review their approach to setting'; going forward they will focus on setting larger areas at a time, focusing on ‘King Lines’, and slightly reducing the density in order to improve overall boulder quality.
Brewery Reborn
Construction has been completed on the new DAV Kletterzentrum Tirschenreuth, in the small Bavarian town near the Czech border. The full service gym features tall roped walls, both indoor and out, 180sqm bouldering, MoonBoard and Spraywall, and bistro area. Routesetting is well underway and the site will be open to the public on May 24th.
Teamwork makes the Dream Work!
Lingen-based Fingerfood Boulderhalle announced cooperation partnership arrangements with Osnabruck bouldering gym Zenit Boulderhalle and Oldenbloc in Oldenburg. What this means in practice is that members of all sites will be able to climb at the others for a discounted price, opening more climbing opportunities for the combined community.
Escaladrome gets Urban Apes Makeover
As part of the Urban Apes/der Steinbock deal, Escaladrome Hannover became part of the UA group. The first major sign of that deal is becoming evident at Escaladrome with a partial remodelling of the walls and full black and white paint job. VerSys had completed the remodelling works of both bouldering areas, with one being painted and attacked by the routesetting team whilst the second was being finalised. The new look of the gym breathes new life into the building with a much airier, brighter feel to the place, when paired with plenty of new holds the gym is almost unrecognisable, we hope gym regulars will appreciate the upgrades!
Poland
Redpoint Opens
We mentioned a while ago that Redpoint had broken cover on instagram, on April 26th the gym opened and now we can share more information on the impressive site! Featuring 100 routes across 1000sqm of roped, and 220sqm of bouldering walls, a cafe and pizza bar the climbers of Walbryzch have a special addition to the city.
Slovenia
Kranj Loves a Party!
Slovenian Boulder gym Bolder Scena opened its Kranj site on April 12th with a huge competition and after party. The large, showroom-style gym cements the city as a legendary climbing destination.
UK
Social Climbing buys Flash
On 6th April it was announced that Social Climbing owners Ben and Sam Prior had purchased Flash Climbing Centre in Solihull. Flash Climbing will undergo a full rebrand and modernisation effort including new walls and holds. Members of the gym will now have access to the existing Social Climbing sites in Coventry and Leicester.
A Teaser for Rainbow Rocket 2
Rainbow Rocket, recently acquired by Lakeland Climbing Centres, teased the scale of their new site which is now well into the construction phase with Walltopia. The 1600sqm (footprint) site will feature 4 islands - 3 as a cluster and one as a standalone feature similar to the classic Walltopia ‘Rhino’ as seen in multiple UK gyms, a large competition wall and a vert-into-barrel section. Customers will benefit from an insulated cafe/retail/changing space with great views into the main climbing area.
Wolves to get a Hut
On 14th April, the BBC reported that the Climbing Hut will be opening their third site in Wolverhampton, in the former offices of a local newspaper. The bouldering-only gym will employ 33 staff members, and is part of a wider redevelopment of the city centre area which will also include 38 apartments, salon, restaurant and offices.
