October Gym Round Up
Welcome to the October Gym Round Up!
The month saw continued growth across a large stretch of the continent, whilst the majority have now turned their focus to a cultivating strong winter for their businesses and maximising customer numbers.
Our first newsletter is now live, and with November upon us we are slowly gearing up for Vertical Pro 2025 in Friedrichshafen, Germany. If you’re attending and catch us wandering the tradeshow floor please do say hi!
As always, if you have announcements to share with the industry, be sure to tag/email/DM us.
Be sure to check out our podcast The ECN Podcast, if you have a project to share in this format please do get in touch!
Belgium
Reaching for the Heavens
As teased last month, Belgian gym operator The Wall have offered a glimpse into their full-service, third site - a converted church in Liege. The complex build will be designed and completed by EP Climbing, offering bouldering, speed climbing and some incredibly tall lead walls.
Harnessing the Sun
Belgian chain Maniak have added solar panels to their iconic church site. We imagine energy bills for such a large and historic building are quite high, any approach taken toward sustainability are a welcome addition!
Arsenaal Opening in Sight!
The third gym alongside Rhino Boulder and Klimzaal Bleau has an opening date - Klimzaal Arsenaal will be opening on November 5th. The bright, spacious former industrial building features an impressive EP Climbing setup with separate kids zone, adjustable KilterBoard, topout bloc, and an integrated TITAN wall.
A Spark of Ambition
Three climbers in Ronse have launched initial fact finding to construct the town’s first bouldering gym. Whilst no information is currently available on the design, there is definitely capacity for a thoughtfully conceived gym within the Ronse-Tournai-Ath triangle. We look forward to seeing their progress.
Czechia
Find the Limit
New entrant to the market Limit Boulder opened its doors on the 24th, in the southern city of České Budějovice. The spacious and aesthetic gym enjoyed a busy opening night, setting the bar high for continued success!
Denmark
Boulders One-Ups Itself in Aalborg
On October 30th Danish bouldering chain Boulders opened their eleventh and latest gym in Aalborg in the north of the country. The Vanloese site in Copenhagen was dubbed Denmark’s largest when it opened in May, now Aalborg has taken the honour. The 2612sqm, bright and spacious gym features the signature mix of spray- and training boards, the Walltopia bamboo-veneered ply panels and purple accents, cafe and training spaces.
Estonia
Roped Climbers Rejoice!
After taking the bold step of working on two gyms simultaneously, the teams at Falkors Group and Ronimis Ministeerium are on track to deliver the second of these - a roped gym - in the Pae area of Tallinn on November 15th. This will be the fourth site in the capital for the chain and climbers can look forward to a big launch party.
Finland
Burdens of a Dreamer
A new gym has opened in Helsinki, we noted earlier in the year that Project Konepaja was under construction; the gym is now open and welcoming customers. Conceived by a passionate group including world renowned climbers Nalle Hukkataival, Anna Liina Laitinin, and Ville Kurru from KiipeilyAreena. The bright, century-old train yard offers extensive bouldering, training space, multiple boards and comfortable cafe.
France
Combining Audiences
EP Climbing announced that their Global and US Instagram accounts will be merging to bring their projects from around the world to a greater, combined audience. The EP USA Climbing page will remain active until November 10th.
Germany
Battle-Ready
Visionary wall designer Christoph Bucher announced phase 2 of an existing project at the Allgäu barracks in Füssen. The Walltopia build includes a 30m tall ‘combat and climbing’ tower comprising 3 faces of varied climbing surface and the fourth of steel pipes, ladders and platforms to train various combat scenarios. The second addition is a 12m tall steel lattice pyramid structure topped with a zipline mast.
Guaranteed Good Boulders
That was the statement from the team behind the newly announced Rainbow Rocket Boulders in Kempten, Allgäu. Headed up by co-founders Raisa von Ristok & IFSC Chief Routesetter Christian Bindhammer, the gym features 1200sqm over 2 floors, ~650sqm of boulder wall space, adjustable KilterBoard “FullRide”, 2024 MoonBoard, 7x4.5m spraywall, bistro area, and a kids zone with slide and tunnels. Rainbow intends to have 6 or 7 new employees, and aim to open in January 2026.
Unsafe Roof Forces Closure
A climbing gym in Grebenhain was forced to close temporarily after a structural assessment of the roof found it to be unsafe. Remedial works are expected to take a month before it can reopen to the public.
National Routesetting Championships
The first national setting event has wrapped with the finals taking place at the Frankenjura Academy. Hosted by DM Rotenbau, including guest judges Peter Zeidelhack and Niklas Wiechmann, first place was award to Lena Nerb from Bambule Kletterhalle. All 12 finalists won a full-body harness and helmet from main sponsor Edelrid.
Bouldering Refurb Complete
Camp4 Kletterzentrum have completed works on their bouldering area, offering a full matting replacement, an improve range of angles and a better use of the space available. Additions also include an adjustable Kilter-, 2024 Moon- and Campus boards.
Italy
Spider Partially Re-Opened
As we alluded to in June, Ragni di Lecco has now partially reopened for climbers. The tall roped hall, a short drive from the iconic lakeside town Como, opened on 13th October and offers climbers a variety of grades on predominantly vertical walls.
Open GRIP
Grip Climbing has opened to the south of Modena, in the central north of Italy. On October 20th Grip welcomed customers to the new, Walltopia-built full-service facility. It features over 650sqm of climbing surface, with 350sqm of bouldering wall accommodating 80 blocs. The gym also includes an area dedicated to functional training with a custom rack and hologram barbells, an adjustable KilterBoard and a 7-meter high roped wall
Crazy Progress
Nestled at the foot of the Appenine Mountains, Crazy Climb Prato completed a substantial rebuild of their wall to combine two islands into one, large competition-focused island with a great range of angles. They also splashed out on an eye-catching range of new holds, the wall opened to climbers with an event on the 14th.
Netherlands
Mono 2.0
Ede-based bouldering gym Mono have announced a large second site with an excellent video sharing light-hearted customer complaints of the original gym. Mono 2.0 will include additions such a kids zone, physio studio, spraywall and a significantly upgraded HVAC system.
Norway
A Gleaming Triad
Triaden Klatresenter in the south east of the country opened on the 18th October. The CityWall-built spacious, bright, and neutrally-coloured gym offers both extensive bouldering and ten 10m autobelays, it also features an adjustable KilterBoard and 2024 MoonBoard.
Poland
Flow Progress
The second site for Flow Climbing is progressing quickly. The owners have shared an appetising render of 1400sqm gym, plus details of the mammoth task in restoring a 19th century warehouse - including replacing 250sqm of glass skylights! We particularly like the pink highlights on the natural-toned walls. Opening is still pencilled in before the end of the year.
Slovakia
Crossing the Danube
Bouldering gym Block Dock have established their second Bratislavan site, south of the river in Petržalka. The site opened on the 26th, and combines an industrial aesthetic with exposed concrete ceilings, and stylised lighting with modern grey/natural toned walls and a cosy, closed-off cafe area.
Never Stop Building!
The Spot Climbing Gym in the north of the capital continues to maximise every metre of space it has available - after a mezzanine expansion earlier this summer, the site is now having a bank of autobelay walls installed accommodating approximately 6-8 units.
Spain
A Clean Start
Zaragoza bouldering gym, BulderLand, began construction on their second site this month. The northern town offers ample development space, which the operators have made use of with a complete new build. Whilst there aren’t details available for the gym, we can presume it will be spacious, host a variety of angles, training spaces, and a welcoming bar to relax in.
UK
Victory Beacon
Beacon Climbing in North Wales have now fully completed their recent bouldering walls refurbishment. The lower and mezzanine sections offer an improved climbing experience with a more open-plan layout, a comprehensive range of angles and an upgraded range of holds.
A Rapid Turnaround
The second site of Nottingham Climbing Centre, in the Lenton area of the city, has opened to the public - this comes after announcing it only at the end of July. The Kong-built wall welcomed climbers on the 18th with a party atmosphere and workshops with Steve McClure, and features moon- spray- and tensionboard2, extensive bouldering with an impressive hold selection, and cafe space.
Partial 24hr Access
ChalkUp Somerset have announced their fitness space will be open 24hrs from November 1st. With the push to diversify income streams, we are seeing that gyms are quickly adopting a high street fitness attitude - welcoming those with no interest in climbing, yet value a high spec, and often quieter, training environment.
Frome Wasn’t Built in a Day!
South eastern gym Frome Boulder Rooms will be undergoing a rolling refurbishment through the busy winter months to ‘bring Unit 4 to its full potential’. Wall builder Climbing Collective will be orchestrating the works with an increase in bouldering wall space and an improved kids zone offering. Phase 1 will cover the bouldering walls and will commence 10th November, whilst the phase 2 Kids Zone will start in March ‘26.
Cruel Weather Gods
October rains proved too much for the Lock Climbing Wall in Essex, the gym was forced to close for two days to recover from water damage. The site reopened to customers on Saturday 25th.
One Small Step
Southampton-based Boulder Shack have announced that commencing November 1st the business will become a not-for-profit. As owner, and recent ECN Podcast guest, put it “Boulder Shack has always been about more than climbing or profit. It’s about the people who fill the space, the energy they bring, and the community that’s grown around it.”
