It’s an absolute myth that gym owners, or any climber for that matter, have to only climb at one specific venue. Where on earth did people get that idea?
We get it a lot. “Do you really climb at other venues?” “Why would you support the opposition?” “Aren’t you scared that you’d lose customers?”. As far as climbing dates back, it is shown to be a community-driven sport. A sport where people get together to have fun, to climb and to share experiences. Only later on us bunch of ‘hippies’ combined climbing with overall fitness and health.
And today we witness the growth of a climbing community through indoor wall climbing and fitness.
But a climbing community should not be subjected to only one specific venue. A community exists and grows through shared experiences. Experience they get through trying multiple setting styles, climbing holds and ultimately different climbing venues.
Sure, you as a climber might have your ‘go-to’ climbing gym where you feel at home, where the staff just get you, or maybe it is close to where you live, but maybe on weekends, try somewhere different. Meet and make new friends and, if nothing else, base your opinion about a climbing venue on your own informed decision and climbing experience.
Anybody and everybody who has climbed at Rock Valley will know and can testify that we urge not only our athletes, but all our members to go climb at other venues. We do this to allow our athletes to get as much exposure as possible, to show our support for all venues out there and to gain experience ourselves.
In Gauteng alone we have:
● CityROCK Johannesburg, that has higher top rope and lead walls with a large boulder section and a speed wall.
● Friends and Allies in Johannesburg is one of the newer gyms that offer awesome and definitely harder boulder style setting.
● C4 Climbing, also based in Johannesburg, offers a training facility with boulder walls, a speed wall split into two sections and a lot of training apparrel to get stronger, fitter and ultimately become awesome athletes.
● The Climbing Barn is based far out in Pretoria on a farm-style setting, offering a good mix of boulder, top rope and lead climbing.
● And then of course ourselves, Rock Valley Climbing, offering boulder, top rope and daily athlete coaching classes.
Each of our venues are different. Each have their own uniqueness and charm. And each definitely will offer an experience!
It is up to us, climbing gyms as a whole, to promote each other in a positive way to grow the sport and ultimately grow the community. Today we paid a visit to Friends and Allies again, and man, were we pumped!
A note from the goodBETA team:
This wonderful piece was originally published on social media by Rock Valley Climbing on 15 July 2022, and they were kind enough to let us share it here – thank you RVC! Check them out on Facebook and Instagram, give them a follow and pop in to try out some quality climbs!
