Dec. 17, 2020

The wait is over: The city’s first dedicated climbing gym is open.

Frontier Climbing & Fitness first opened the fitness side of the business at 5045 E. Grant St. this fall, but it took until now for the climbing side to be ready.

“There’s really nothing comparable” in the area, operations manager Aaron Kerkvliet said.

“The best (closest) option is in Minneapolis. We built it with what we thought would be very interesting to the climbing crew.”

The area climbing community is “very excited,” he added. “We get questions every day, and we have been for months now about when we’re opening and what our offering will be.”

Reaching 45 feet, there are sections dedicated to lead climbing, top rope climbing, speed climbing, bouldering and auto-belay climbing, which allows for solo climbing while taking up slack as you climb, negating the need for a belayer on the ground.

The gym, which is on the north side of Arrowhead Parkway not far from the east-side Walmart, is designed for climbers at all levels.

“We have all the equipment you need and give everybody a thorough orientation on everything you need to know to get started climbing,” Kerkvliet said.

There’s also a wall dedicated to kids with a small slide built in and padding throughout.

To start, the climbing space will be offered by reservation only while Frontier gauges demand. The hope is to roll into more walk-in options in the coming weeks.

There will be day passes along with membership options for singles, couples and families. League nights for men and women will start next year. Participants can access all the gear they need to climb at the gym, Kerkvliet said.

Best part: Try it out for free today through Sunday.

Climbing overall is “growing and thriving,” he added. “That’s kind of the way all over the U.S. It’s just a sport that’s really taken off. It’s going to be in the Olympics for the first time, so it’s becoming more understood and more enjoyed.”

The fitness side of the operation opened this fall with a 24-hour circuit-training side, a gym with cardio and strength-training equipment plus weights and the Frontier Performance side, which includes CrossFit classes.

“We got all new equipment on the fitness side in the last couple weeks, so there’s brand-new equipment in a very high-end gym, and we’ve had an influx of members and people excited about the CrossFit and opportunity to climb and the 24-hour fitness area,” Kerkvliet said.

Hours for the climbing side will vary over the next couple of weeks, but it will be open daily. For information, click here.