The modern indoor climbing gym transitioned from a niche off-season training solution for outdoor climbers into a distinct commercial industry over a ten-year period between 1983 and 1993. The development of First Indoor Climbing Gyms relied on specific logistical shifts, industrial real estate adaptations, and manufacturing breakthroughs.
Early thoughts when the first climbing gyms opened:
Paying for climbing? That, ludicrous! What a lame idea to bring climbing indoors.
1. Early Commercial Foundations (1986)
Prior to the mid-1980s, indoor climbing facilities were generally limited to non-commercial, university-owned brick structures or small climbing walls integrated into multi-sport centers.
- Terre Neuve (Brussels, Belgium): Opened in 1986, this facility is recognized as the first standalone, independent commercial climbing gym. It proved that a business could generate revenue solely by charging admission fees specifically for artificial climbing walls.
- Mile End Climbing Wall (London, UK): Developed inside an old canal-side pipe-bending factory originally managed by an outdoor youth charity. The facility initially featured an indoor pool utilized for kayak training. Climbers covered the interior brickwork with plywood sheets, eventually draining and roofing over the kayak pool to establish the “Monkey House” bouldering room.
2. Plywood and Raw Materials in the United States (1987)
In 1987, climbers Rich Johnston and Dan Cauthorn founded The Vertical Club in Seattle, Washington, establishing the first indoor climbing gym in the United States.
Because commercial plastic climbing holds were not mass-produced or widely available in the U.S. at the time, the founders used raw materials collected from outdoor areas like Joshua Tree and the Buttermilks. They drilled holes into actual rocks and secured them with bolts and industrial glue onto a plywood subframe. The facility operated its first winter without a central heating system, relying on portable gas heaters placed directly on the floor. Selling memberships at loss, surviving on the sales of climbing shoes and classes.
3. Industrial Conversions and Systematic Route Setting (1991)
By 1991, the concentration of high-level sport climbers in Sheffield, England, led to the development of dedicated commercial training hubs designed to replicate regional outdoor gritstone climbing.
Inspired by the belgium gym Jerry Moffatt and Paul Reeve established The Foundry inside a former carpet warehouse that had originally operated as a Victorian iron foundry. The facility introduced several systematic concepts to commercial gyms:
Instead of chaotic hold placement, the setters implemented color-coded tracking circuits where specific hold sets dictated fixed routes of progressive difficulty.
4. The Development of Specific Training Cellars (1993)
As bouldering decoupled from traditional sport climbing, standard commercial gym designs lacked the steep angles required for high-grade physical training.
In 1993, Ben Moon and Jerry Moffatt constructed The School Room in Sheffield. This private cellar stripped out commercial amenities to focus entirely on high-angle power. Lacking dedicated climbing training manuals, the founders adapted physical methodologies from track-and-field plyometrics books. They built fixed, highly overhanging wooden panels packed with specific wooden crimps, which later served as the structural template for the commercial MoonBoard.
5. The Technological Catalyst: Manufactured Holds
The scaling of these facilities from private spaces to global commercial businesses was made possible by a material breakthrough in 1983.
French climber François Savigny formulated a polyester resin mixture that could be cast into durable, highly textured shapes featuring a single central bolt hole. He established the manufacturing company Entre-Prises.
Prior to this development, altering an indoor route required completely unbolting or ungluing timber or rock fixtures from behind the wall frame. The single-bolt plastic hold allowed route setters to quickly swap, rotate, and reset climbing lines using a standard T-wrench, creating a scalable, endlessly variable business model.
Sources
1. The Vertical Club & America’s First Gym (1987)
.https://climbingbusinessjournal.com/the-big-idea-memories-from-americas-first-climbing-gym/?hl=en-US ~
https://climbingbusinessjournal.com/where-it-all-began-memories-from-americas-first-climbing-gym/?hl=en-US
2. Mile End Climbing Wall & Terre Neuve (1986)
https://rungne.com/blogs/news/the-evolution-of-climbing-gyms?hl=en-US
https://terresneuves.be/salle/
3. The Foundry (1991) & The School Room (1993)
https://www.foundryclimbing.com/our-history?hl=en-US
4. The school room
https://youtu.be/SnX5PT6ROPY?is=VC_C7Q2ZwyOcsfXr
5. Entre prises by Francois Savigny
https://epclimbing.com/en/news/40-years-of-entre-prises-a-vertical-journey-that-shaped-indoor-climbing