Climb Your Impossible: Vital Climbing Gym
Rock climbing is one of the most up-and-coming sports all across the world. Living in Washington we are in the center of one of the most extraordinary places on Earth for climbing, with Squamish, BC a few hours North, and the Cascades of Washington just to the East. But with the nature of living in the Pacific Northwest, we have to battle with uncooperative weather frequently throughout the year. This is where indoor climbing gyms come into play, allowing climbers to test themselves on problems, and train throughout the year. “There are now 436 of these climbing gyms in the United States and Canada, according to the Climbing Business Journal, including multiples in most major metropolitan areas” (Duane, 2015). Vital Climbing Gym is an indoor bouldering gym located in downtown Bellingham, WA. Vital is a very unique place that is different from any other gym I have climbed at, and truly stands out compared to the rest.
Growing up in Boulder, Colorado I was exposed to the lifestyle of climbing at a young age. I started getting into the sport before I was 10 years old and have been climbing on and off ever since. I was spoiled in Colorado with nice rock nearby, and frequently nice weather, making it easy to go climbing outside. Even more so, Boulder has 4 indoor climbing gyms, providing plenty of options for my friends and I to go climb year round in a safe, and consistently challenging environment. We took advantage of these resources whenever we could find time, all throughout high school. When I made the decision to move up to college in Bellingham, I knew it would be challenging to find a climbing gym that stacked up to what I had back home.
Vital lived up to my expectations. Despite being smaller than any of the gyms I was used to climbing in back home, Vital makes extremely good use of it’s space. It has climbing walls on 3 sides of the building and one top out boulder in the center. The walls are made up of simple flat geometric shapes at various angles, ranging from overhanging to slab style, to create variation in the types of problems. I am a big fan of this design, as opposed to other gyms which have fake textured surfaces trying to mimic outdoor rock that ends up only limiting what can be set. Another aspect in the route setting of problems at Vital that I am really impressed with is their use of volumes, or large protrusions off of the wall, that other holds can be attached to. This allows them to have virtually infinite ways change the shape of every wall keeping the problems new and challenging. But the walls alone are not what makes Vital an extraordinary place.
The gym is set up to be more of a universal place to spend your time, rather than to just go and climb. They have a quiet study room upstairs where you can do school work or just step away and relax from a long day. I have found this space to be very productive, as I will go in there and use climbing as motivation, not letting myself go start climbing until I have finished my work for the day. They also have a weight training corner of the gym, where you can stretch out or lift weights to build strength. This is really nice to have in the gym, rather than having the focus be entirely on climbing. Another aspect of Vital that sets it so far apart from other gyms that I have climbed in, is the fact that it is open 24/7, 365 days of the year. This really opens up a lot of possibilities that I had never had before. With my prior gyms you had to worry about when they were closing, but with Vital, if you get the sudden urge to go blow off steam and go for a climb at 2 AM, there is nothing holding you back. You can run down to the gym, punch in the code on the front door, and throw the big red lever to turn on the lights, illuminating the completely empty gym that you have entirely to yourself. Another really unique aspect of Vital is the yearly climbing competition they put on, called Boulderham, which is held during the anniversary weekend of when the gym first opened. This comp is open to the entire public and offers a great way to see how you compare to other climbers in the community, in a friendly social setting. Check out this short video below, produced by Vital highlighting this year’s Boulderham Competition!
With all of the positives about Vital, it is hard to identify any sort of shortcomings that it may have. In fact all of the positives may be the cause of one of the only downsides to Vital; Overcrowded. The popularity of the gym has increased so quickly that going into the gym during peak hours, between 5 and 7, you will be met by a zoo of people all trying to climb their latest projects.This coupled with the youth team practice overlapping during this time, with little kids running around, can be very overwhelming and make it difficult to get a fully satisfying climbing sesh in. But this drawback of Vital can easily be overcome by simply going to climb earlier in the morning/afternoon, or later at night, when you can find the gym virtually empty. The only other slight downside is the cost. At $12 for a day pass and $3 for shoe rentals, it is hard for many to justify going in to try climbing for a couple hours. For a student the membership costs $50 per month, which to some sounds very expensive, but realistically compared to other climbing gyms, it is a pretty reasonable price, even on the lower side of things (I paid $60 a month for my gym back home). Plus if you’re someone like me who is spending roughly 3 hours in the gym, 3 days a week, then you’re definitely getting your money’s worth out of the monthly fee.
Vital Climbing Gym is an incredible place that has created an amazing community and environment for people to spend their time. A quote from an interview I conducted regarding Vital, really sums up why the environment is such a special place. “I like the energy. The people there are just so positive, and always pushing you to be a better climber, really supporting the whole community” (Gebe). The climbing is unique and challenging and the gym is very clean and nice looking. The staff is especially friendly and helpful. There are so many positive aspects of this gym, that the only way for you to truly experience them is to go check out the gym for yourself. Regardless of your prior experience in the sport of climbing, Vital will have something that you’ll enjoy!
Works Cited
Duane, Daniel. “The Rise of Climbing.” New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast) ed.Jul 26 2015. ProQuest. Web. 4 May 2016 .
Gebe, Deryck. Personal Interview. April 27, 2016.
Vital Climbing Gym. “Boulderham 2016.” Online video clip.
YouTube. YouTube, 24 Apr. 2016. Web. 4 May 2016.