Asheville’s original climbing gym reopens under new owners – Citizen Times
ASHEVILLE – Under new ownership, Cultivate Climbing, formerly Climbmax, the city’s original indoor rock climbing gym, is on a mission to reach new members, initiating monthly meetups that center queer, Black and brown climbers in an effort to shake the white and male-dominated norm of one of Asheville’s favorite sports.
Ethan Chandler, founder of Southeastern Queer Climbers, said the meetups encourage climbers, old and new, to “be bold in the spaces that we get to occupy together. There’s a power in the numbers.”
He described the thrill of walking into Cultivate on a queer meetup night, turning a corner and finding everyone with nametags on, “owning that space, together.”
“One of the people who regularly comes, was like, ‘the gym is so gay tonight,'” Chandler said. “When it’s an intentional queer space and you’re entering into it, it alleviates so many things.”
More:On Amboy Road, Asheville Adventure Company plans music venue, outdoor hub
Related: Smoky Mountain Adventure Center opens in RAD
Meetups for the Southeastern Queer Climbers began at the Riveter, an indoor climbing gym in Fletcher, as did meetups of the NC BIPOC Climbers, founded by climber Danielle Johnson.
Johnson said she was encouraged by Cultivate’s excitement to embrace the meetups and to offer discounted passes and gear rentals for participants.
“I think having meetups is a basic first step to opening the door for more community building and access to be made possible for groups that have been historically underrepresented and excluded from climbing (and) from gym spaces,” Johnson said.
“Further strategies to help create more access are definitely on the horizon.”
New owners for Asheville’s first indoor climbing gym
Stuart Cowles founded Climbmax in downtown Asheville in the early 1990s, making it among the first climbing gyms in the country, said new owner, Devin deHoll.
DeHoll and business partner, Shiloh Mielke, purchased Climbmax from Cowles in April, and held the grand reopening for the River Arts location on Amboy Road in September. The gym’s original downtown location on Wall Street has been retired to the public after 29 years, but will still open for private events, climbing teams and programming.
Pickleball, tennis make peace: Asheville announces compromise. How will your parks change?
Related:Asheville outdoor outfitters expand during COVID, move to bigger digs in River Arts District
Membership spikes under new ownership
Upon acquisition of the gym, deHoll said it was clear it needed a breath of new life. He and Mielke brought on general manager Blaikley Thompson, who was quick to note a shift at Cultivate, a place where she’d been climbing for years under original ownership.
“There was a spark that was missing there,” Thompson said. Partially at fault was COVID, she said, but also a focus on experienced and veteran climbers, which sometimes left limited space for those just starting out.
“I remember how that felt for me, not feeling welcome or not feeling good enough, and not having opportunity, friends or connections,” Thompson said of her experience getting into climbing. “I wanted to be able to provide that space for other people who feel similarly to me, who had it worse off to me.”
In two months, deHoll said new membership at Cultivate has grown by about 40%, more than 200 new members joining in the last 60 days.
More: Asheville ABC revenues spike 30% in FY22; What is driving increased sales?
Answer Man: Is the Riveter’s climbing wall back open? Tourists’ salary bump?
Initiating free classes, discounts and new partnerships with local affinity groups, such as NC BIPOC Climbers, Asheville Women’s Climbing Collective and Southeastern Queer Climbers, have helped to grow the gym’s focus on inclusion, deHoll said.
“We could be an inclusive space, and we could really shout that in a loud way,” deHoll said of Cultivate’s reopening. “Make it known that’s what we are, and if that’s not what you’re looking for, you can climb somewhere else.”
DeHoll is also co-owner and founder of Asheville Adventure Company.
‘Lean into community’
Though the gym is a relatively small space, about 7,000 square feet, deHoll said they have new training equipment and an increased emphasis on changing routes − so even with limited space, there’s always new terrain to climb.
“What we can do, and what those big facilities can’t touch,” deHoll said, “is making a really cool smaller space that leans into community.”
Pink wave:Women win big in local Asheville elections; What’s next for 1st elected school board?
Thompson said with five bouldering walls, seven autobelay routes and a large lead climbing wall, there are over 100 routes at the gym.
She’s been climbing since 2018 and got her start at Linville Gorge. A grassroots climber and an indigenous woman, Thompson is a newly named ambassador for Ladies Climbing Coalition, and is starting monthly meetups for women and nonbinary climbers at Cultivate, as well.
As with the surge in new membership, deHoll said he has noticed a shift in the gym’s clientele, mimicking a trend in the sport at large.
DeHoll said climbing, unlike other outdoor industries, such as mountain biking, skiing and whitewater rafting, is moving in a different direction, with gyms around the country embracing a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion that was more than marketing or lip service.
Read:New Asheville reparations project launches to do what city, county ‘might not be able to’
Asheville mayor: Manheimer wins 3rd term; council member Roney trails with 45% of vote
While it can no doubt be an expensive sport, he said there’s a lower barrier to entry than others − “you need climbing shoes and chalk on your hands.”
Chandler also noted the shift in culture. Though Asheville has a reputation for being an LGBTQ-friendly town, Chandler often felt that inclusivity was missing in outdoor sports.
“Inclusivity without action is just words … what I think has been really great to see is (Cultivate) is on board with making things as accessible as they’re able to,” Chandler said.
“It feels like a big shift for me when I go to that gym, from the first time I went to that location four years ago.”
Previously: Almost 125 townhouses approved for Weaverville, Arden
Outdoor news:Master plan for DuPont State Recreational Forest moves forward as visitation soars
For Thompson, it’s about redeveloping the community that she fell in love with. As coalitions and affinity groups mass nationwide, and as gyms turn focus to center climbers of color and other marginalized communities, she hopes for permanent change for better.
“We’re here, we’re not going anywhere, we love this sport just as much as you do. We have the right to belong here,” Thompson said. “I definitely have seen that come out more and more.”
If you go
Cultivate Climbing hosts NC BIPOC Climbers meetups the second Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. and Southeastern Queer Climbers on the third Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. Both meetups are held at the River Arts District location at 173 Amboy Road.
Cultivate Climbing will also hold an Intro to Climbing course free of charge to existing members.
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky.