Boalsburg rock climbing gym is now open while construction continues. Here’s what’s next
Centre County’s only dedicated indoor rock climbing gym is now open.
The about 12,000-square-foot climbing hub at 328 Discovery Drive opened last month. Once construction is complete, it is set to feature rope climbing up to 42 feet, bouldering and a training area, Climb Nittany General Manager Michael Molony said.
Classes on belaying, rappelling, lead climbing technique and advanced movement workshops are also expected to be developed.
“I already see the social circle of some of these climbers expanding, and you see these connections being made that were totally absent before and wouldn’t have happened without this space,” Molony said. “And that is really the most exciting thing. Not any one physical feature, not any one particular offering that we’ll have; but the opportunity that it provides to build a community and then sustain it long term.”
Conversations about developing a facility for climbers in Happy Valley date back to 2011, one year after Organic Climbing owner Josh Helke uprooted his outdoor and sporting goods company from Minnesota to Philipsburg.
Molony was one of Helke’s employees, and the two often discussed how Centre County was missing a gym where climbers could immerse themselves.
“There were so many people that we spoke to who were avid rock climbers and our close friends, who would have come to Penn State or were going to move to the area, but they had nowhere to climb or spend their down time,” Molony said. “They wound up not coming here and they went to other places in the country.”
Their efforts began in earnest in 2017 after a series of “failed attempts,” Molony said. That’s when Helke reached out to 5.Life and made his pitch to the Ohio-based rock climbing gym company.
The business has operated three climbing gyms in the Buckeye State since 1994, but opted to expand its footprint and open a fourth gym in Boalsburg.
Climb Nittany has three employees, but Molony said the business hopes to expand to 20-40 employees.
“In a college town like State College, it’s so easy to see the potential for these generic, Penn State economy things,” Helke said. “But I think as COVID has shown us and different ups and downs that football has shown us, maybe we should focus on some of the natural things around us.”