$1.9M quickly needed to save Climb Nittany. Those who call it a ‘second family’ have hope

In the three years that Abigail Voigt has been going to Climb Nittany, the facility has become more than just a climbing gym to the Delta Middle School eighth grader.

It’s become her home away from home, a place where she can go to de-stress after a long day at school, and a place where she feels as if she can truly be herself. She often hangs out there late into the evening with her friends and fellow climbers, who in many instances feel as if they can do the same.

But Voigt and dozens of others who have built a community at Climb Nittany were left in despair last week when the gym announced that unsustainable occupancy costs would force it to close on May 31.

In the days since the announcement, climbers, gym staff and community members have kicked off what some have called a “Hail Mary” attempt to find solutions to keep it open. While there are several options being floated, about $1.9 million must be raised by the end of the month.

“When I found about the closing, I was definitely a bit of a mess,” Voigt told the Centre Daily Times at the gym on Thursday. “I feel like we’ve been worshiping the community that we have here for like years, saying that we love this community and this place, but then when people say that we don’t have any hope to keep the gym open, it feels counterintuitive to me.”

Without Climb Nittany, Voigt said the area would turn into a “climbing desert.” Some facilities like State College YMCA have climbing walls, but the next closest climbing-dedicated gym is Boulders and Bubbles in Northumberland County, more than an hour away.

It’s not just local youth who’ve built a community at Climb Nittany though. Cynthia DeVries, 67, has a physical disability and said she’s always been supported there by her fellow climbers, regardless of their skill levels.

“In terms of gym spaces, this is one of the most caring and professional spaces you visit in the area,” a teary-eyed DeVries said. “I have the cane, I have the whole brace, I’ve got everything, and when I came in here the staff didn’t tell me to reconsider climbing — I was greeted with nothing but kindness, and a willingness to help me succeed, regardless of my age.”

How did it get to this point?

The $1.9 million cited as what’s needed to keep Climb Nittany open is based on financial troubles that started before it even opened, according to Mardi Roberts, the CEO of 5 Life Climbing, which operates Climb Nittany.

The company operates Climb Nittany and three other climbing-dedicated gyms in Ohio, and Roberts said Climb Nittany’s issues started during the construction of the gym, which kicked off in the fall of 2019.

“Shovels went in the ground that fall, but then we all know what happened in March with the [COVID-19] pandemic,” Roberts said. “Things were delayed a bit, but we continued construction through that, and increased costs took us about $1 million over budget. The first couple years of operation out of that situation were rough.”

Following the gym’s completion in 2020, the property’s landlord, Store Master Funding XIV LLC, set a lease rate that directly reflected the cost of construction, Roberts said. While she declined to share that rate, Roberts said that it’s high enough to have prevented the gym from bring profitable throughout the six years it’s been open.

“We’ve controlled all the costs that we can, and we’ve worked hard to keep costs down as low as we can, but we can’t reduce that lease rate, and so really, the only way to reduce the lease rate is to restructure it,” Martin said. “And unfortunately, they don’t want to and are not willing to renegotiate.”

Store Master Funding XIV did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, Roberts said the landlord notified her of an offer from another business to purchase Climb Nittany for $1.9 million, with intentions of obtaining the property by July, and not keeping the building as a climbing gym.

To keep the gym open, that $1.9 million would have to be matched in its entirety and paid before the month’s end, effectively buying Climb Nittany out of its lease.

While it’s a hefty amount, community fundraising efforts kicked off within hours of the gym’s closing announcement, and some considerable headway has already been made.

How could Climb Nittany be saved?

According to Roberts and General Facility Manager Jake Tinklepaugh, four ideas have emerged for the goal of raising the $1.9 million and keeping Climb Nittany in operation.

The option Tinklepaugh said most in the Climb Nittany community would like to see is an angel investor coming in, paying all or the majority of the $1.9 million and taking over operations. That way, the building could still remain a climbing gym, just with a separate landlord.

“They would come in, pay the fee and obtain the gym, and we would retain all of the equipment in here,” Tinklepaugh said. “We would retain all the holds and everything as it is now, just with a new head honcho. That would by far and away be the smoothest and most convenient way of doing things, but obviously finding an investor like that won’t be easy.”

The second idea is to find medium-sized investors to provide anywhere from $15,000 to $200,000, and then make a board of directors or steering committee out of those investors to operate things — another challenge, especially given the time constraints.

The third idea is what Tinklebaugh called the “true community effort,” calling on individuals and families from the climbing community and beyond to come together and pledge anywhere up to $15,000 or less to make up the $1.9 million.

In an email Monday, climber and fundraising leader Eric Chase wrote that the amount pledged from more than 75 local, potential investors sits at about $1-$1.7 million.

“The community has stepped up in a huge way,” Chase wrote.

Regulars at the gym have contributed to this effort, like Jason and Rebecca Woolfrey, who have visited Climb Nittany two to three times every week since the gym has been built with their daughter, Evelyn. Since Climb Nittany’s announcement, Jason Woolfrey said he’s called everyone he can think of who might be able to put money toward saving the gym.

“Evelyn basically grew up at Climb Nittany, and I think I could say, without sounding cliché, that the community in the place is really like it’s a second family for us, for all the climbing parents who hang out,” he said. “I know a million people’s names here, and I know mostly all of their faces too. It’s everything to us.”

The last, and least likely, idea would be to call on a local organization like the State College YMCA or Centre Region Parks & Recreation to pay the $1.9 million and take ownership of the gym. But Tinklepaugh, Martin and other climbing community members realize the difficulty that an organization would have doing that while operating a budget of their own.

“We’re still looking for those smaller investors, we’re still looking for those medium investors, we’re definitely still looking for the big investors and depending on what happens as the days go on, any news that comes in or any sort of leads that we get will hopefully allow us to create an actionable moving forward,” Tinklepaugh said.

He continued, “The important part is just filtering through and making sure actionable noise doesn’t get overpowered by — albeit, this is absolutely OK — but emotional noise, because no matter how much I have love for this place as a company, I’m not going to be, nor can I be, daft to the business side of things.”

Efforts have also included a YouTube video created by climber James Espy, and a town hall was held Sunday at Climb Nittany to discuss plans moving forward. Chase said more than 100 people attended, and it was shared that a potential buyer for the land Climb Nittany sits on has emerged, though additional early details have not been released.

Also during the town hall, the climbing community discussed forming a nonprofit to help underserved families and kids be able to attend the gym with full membership and no stigma, while also providing low-cost programming for kids if the gym remains open.

What Climb Nittany means to its community

As it stands, Climb Nittany has less than two weeks remaining. Reverdy Nourse, a Delta Middle School eighth grader, said she’d lose a “sanctuary” for her and her friends. The gym has become a hub for young climbers who are not only seeking out a place to strengthen their physical and mental fortitude, but to make friends, and be a part of a strong, growing and confidence-building friend group.

“This place has just really been my home,” Eric Chase’s son Dexter, a junior at Penns Valley Area High School, told the CDT. “I have so many memories here and I think, other than it being a home for the climbing community, it’s been a place where I’ve been taught so many lessons. I’ve learned so much here, and I’ve talked to my parents who also agree that I wouldn’t be the person I am today without this place and its community.”

Another young climber who would deeply miss the gym is Hazel Pollock, a 13-year-old climbing team member who qualified for United States Climbing’s Youth National Championships this year, which will be held June 26 through July 3 at the USA Climbing National Training Center in Salt Lake City.

Pollock qualified for nationals in the bouldering category, and she gets the majority of her practice in at Climb Nittany. If the gym were to close, she’d need to find somewhere else to practice elsewhere for the largest competition of her life, so far.

“When I’m at school, I’ll just think about climbing — like I know that I’ll have some homework and assignments, but practice will be all that I’m thinking about,” Pollock said. “It’s going to be pretty devastating if we do lose [the gym], but I’m trying to be as hopeful as I can be.”

Abigail Voigt, the Delta Middle School student, shares that hope.

“I feel like we should have hope for climbing in State College, because there is such a large amount of people who need and rely on this space — I don’t know what we all would do without it,” she said.

Aiden Wiley, a student at Penn State, agrees.

“There are so many people here to build you up, regardless of skill level,” Wiley said. “There are so many people here to help you, to teach you. This place and this community is people’s confidence, this is people’s communication, and it would be a massive disservice to take it away from them.”

For those would like to be involved in the efforts to save Climb Nittany, email saveclimbnittany@gmail.com. More information on the efforts to save Climb Nittany can be found on the gym’s Instagram page.