Want to Start a Rock Climbing / Bouldering Co-op?

tiwonana

Hello!

I've been quite frustrated by the limited and expensive indoor climbing options in NYC and was thinking it would be nice to start a climbing co-op in Brooklyn where members can work-out/have fun on a bouldering wall and hang-out with like-minded people.

I figure if we can get together a critical mass of about 40 people, that would be enough to get this off the ground.

Just imagine a place where we can go climb before or after work as long and as often as you want, where we can ask around to see if anyone's interested in going to the gunks or central park on the weekend, where we can have climbing movie nights, kids climbing days, Halloween climbing, climbing workshops..the possibilities are endless.

Spread the word. Thanks!

daniel

40 people? Someone has not thought through what it costs to rent a large enough space, get insurance, not to mention the expense of building an actual climbing wall. Good luck, though.

tiwonana

actually, the space doesn't have to be large to start with so few members. secondly, it would probably be much easier to look for wall space at a place such as the lyceum rather than looking to rent out an entire building. thirdly, the bouldering wall is not too hard to build, and all the materials are reusable in the event that it needs to be relocated, and most of it lasts for a long time. lastly, there would probably have to be a liability waiver policy to boulder.

thanks for being the first to respond..want in?

homeowner

Can I tell you how much I miss Harmony Atrium?

tiwonana

please do because it tells us what kind of climbing place you like

homeowner

Just a low key place with a lot of differing levels of climbing and a broad cross-section of climbers who all got along, climbing at a place that didn't require you to sell your first born to climb every week.

opossumqueen

Are thinking of something better than the wall at the kids gym on 3rd Ave, near 7th (can't remember the name)? B/c their rates aren't terrible but the wall sucks. I don't think people would want to put the money and effort in unless it was going to at least be better than that.

longtimesloper

What about going out to the wall at Aviation Recreation? i think their prices are ok.

brooklynjack

You should start a Meet Up at meetup.com

tiwonana

Powerplay Recreational Ctr on 3rd ave is probably the most affordable, yet they charge 20 dollars per day of use, and free climbing is limited to the hours of 6~9ish three days a week during the weekdays.For many that's quite affordable, but it's really more than a price issue.

Firstly, I think it's nice to be able to climb when you feel like it, after a long day, right before lunch, on your way to the park, as opposed to having to pick and choose the day and time in advance because the gym is only open for 3 hours a day on certain weekdays.

Secondly, i hate the idea of having to pay for each day you use the wall - makes you feel you need to get the most out of it, you're vying for a turn with others who are also there during the hour or two that you are, and generally not very conducive to just chilling, hanging out, and enjoying climbing with friends and others. I think the beauty of a climbing coop is it creates a home for a climbing community.

Finally. even though I said it's not really about affordability, for a person who would like to climb on the wall two to three times a week for maybe just an hour, the cost of that adds up to (using the cheapest estimate) ~200 dollars a month. That's almost twice as much for what you pay for a gym membership in Park Slope.

longtimesloper

What about my suggestion of Aviator Sports? too far away? too pricey?

tiwonana

while i think aviator sports is a fun place to climb, it's a little out of the way for most people to go on a regular basis, particularly without a car. a climbing/bouldering coop ideally should be in a location that's easily accessible, such as near a subway stop.

again, i much prefer a system of paying an affordable monthly or an annual fee to become a member and have a smaller more accessible space to workout, boulder, and hang-out at.

also, for those of you who may have seen or belonged to coops before, you'll know what i mean when i say that you take more of an interest as well as responsibility when something partially belongs to you. people contribute to improving the place, take better care of maintaining the space, equipment, etc when it's a coop. people invest time and energy to make the place their ideal hang out, and generally you feel a little more connected with other climbers.

i know it's waaaaay too preliminary to be talking about price, but since it inevitably resurfaces, i'm just going to throw this out there. there is no financial incentive for the coop to generate profit beyond what's necessary to rent the wall space, maintain and replace equipment, and for sponsoring social events. there are no major administrative overhead costs, no costs for hiring full-time staff, no investors to give returns to, and no aggressive growth schemes to open branches, etc. ideally, we'd want this to be housed within a structure that would benefit from climbers frequenting the coop, such as a place that can provide refreshments or food (lyceum anyone?). when i think about such a place that climbers can boulder and work-out, i imagine a climbing coop that would cost something like $45 US dollars a month with maybe an initial investment/membership fee. that's what i picture. obviously the more people we have to start this, the less that membership fee could be. unrealistic? perhaps. but if you think about the underlying objectives of a non-profit coop to a profit-generating business like all the commercial climbing gyms, then suddenly it doesn't sound so unfeasible.

unrepentant fenian

Well count me in. I've been lamenting Brooklyn's climbing options for some time. Though when weather and time permits I dash out to Jersey for a fix of real rock.

butch honeywell

Subject: Interested as well

Hi all,

I was just searching for indoor climbing options in Brooklyn and came across your thread. Thus, this post. I think a co-op climbing/bouldering wall in Brooklyn is a great idea. I'm definitely interested. My girlfriend will likely be into it as well. Please keep me informed.

Regards.

tiwonana

somebody suggested posting something on meetup.com. am trying to get the word out there as much as possible in brooklyn. can you suggest other venues/modes to rally potential members?

evan

i know of 3 people, myself included, who would love to be a part of this. we're all living and working in brooklyn and travel to MPHC to climb during the week - good gym but it gets crowded and isn't the most convenient.

evan

you could also try facebook and craigslist

tiwonana

So, I found a climbing coop in Akron OH that has a website I would like to share.

http://www.akronbouldering.com/index.html

Here the membership is only $20 a month, but again, it is Akron and not Brooklyn. Please check it out to get a sense of what a climbing coop would feel like.

I'd also love for people start brainstorming locations in brooklyn that may be able to rent space. Establishments that may have wall space to spare, such as the lyceum would be ideal.

butch honeywell

Subject: Keeping up with the Bouldering Gym

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for starting this idea and keeping it going. I checked out the Akron website and it seems there's much to learn from that model. Having recently surrendered to the facebook phenomenon, I agree that it could be a decent way to communicate. There's also other climbing groups on meetup. Both seem like they could work fine.

As far as the Lyceum goes, I don't know much about the space. I do know that CrossFit South Brooklyn holds daily training sessions there.

Here's their website: http://www.crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com/
Lyceum website: www.BrooklynLyceum.com

Maybe they have smaller rooms available than the one CrossFit uses. They're down the street from my house, so it wouldn't be much for me to go ask. Let me know if that's something you folks would like me to do.

I'll keep an eye out for other options as I bike around town. I'll also ask some friends if they know of any little used garage type space in the area. I'm sure it exists, it just needs finding.

Wishing you all well.

butch honeywell

Hello again,

I talked with a friend of mine who lives in the area. He's a solid guy and a solid climber. He's looking for a place in Brooklyn to climb after accepting that the commute to Manhattan Plaza takes too much time. He mentioned that a friend of his had worked on trying to get the Lyceum folks to put in a climbing wall. I don't know the details firsthand, but the gist I got was that, after some solid effort on his friend's part, it didn't pan out.

Thought I'd offer what I've been finding out.

Take Care.

tiwonana

thanks BH for looking into this so far! i think maybe i will go ahead and contact mark from lyceum to see what had happened with similar proposals in the past. if we can pitch a business plan to them where they have minimal financial investment and they have a big say in the project, then maybe they might reconsider. i also know they are strongly into creating community venues, particularly for performance and art, but something tells me what we're trying to create will resonate with them as well.

we'll see. it definitely will not hurt to try. as an aside, they do also have a large space outside, north of the building where nothing much seems to be happening beyond storage of an old school bus. another option would be to develop that space, but that would require some more capital on our end.

lets keep looking and asking around. garage spaces would be perfect as well, i hadn't thought of it until you mentioned it. great work!

stevespaeth

just to let you guys know. there is a climbing gym opening up this summer in Brooklyn. Its called Brooklyn Boulders. I know what all of you are talking about with the expensive and lack of quality climbing choices here in NYC and I feel the same way. Hopefully this place will relieve our lack-of-climbing anxiety!

tiwonana

thanks steve! i think the gym you guys are making sounds pretty awesome.

not sure if you've been following the string of our conversations on this forum, but those of us who voiced our ideas were looking to find/create a place that would be a nest (couldn't think of anything better..) for the community of climbers in brooklyn and beyond. more simplistically put, we wanted a place that would have memberships rather than day passes, and where climbers could just hang out and feel at home while bouldering.

there isn't much information on their site yet, but here is their official link:
www.brooklynboulders.com

for those of you on facebook, they have a group that you can join called: brooklyn boulders

they have a focus group meeting on the 29th of March (next week) from 7:00 ~ 9:00pm, so for those of you who would like to check it out and share your thoughts, please go!!

location: 575 Degraw Street (on the NE corner of 3rd ave and Degraw st)

unfortunately i'm in thailand at the moment so i won't be able to go. please share your thoughts if you do! am very much hoping this will be the kind of place we're all looking for...

arches

looks like Brooklyn Boulders is coming along....

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2009/04/streetlevel_gow_2.php#more

Anyone have any idea how membership is going to be priced?

roastbeefsandwich

Hey

I'm moving here from Philly and i'd be interested in not paying 120 dollars a month to boulder. That's ridiculous.

But...I'd be interested in some of the ideas you all have about a co-op. keep me updated.

opossumqueen

Brooklyn Boulders is your best bet/best buy from what I know. I think Chelsea Piers is still the only other place in the area and it's way more expensive. Space for something like this is too expensive here to really have a cheaper place than BB, imo.

If you'll have a car, you can spend lots of time at the Gunks.