TIGHT HOLD. Youth from the Tacoma Rescue Mission challenge themselves on the rock wall at Edgeworks Climbing Indoor Rock Gym July 21. The group is one of many who have taken advantage of Tacomaâ??s only indoor rock wall facility in its two-year history. (
Kinley, a 2-year-old mixed-bred pup, greets customers as they walk through the door at Edgeworks Climbing Indoor Rock Gym, 6102 N. 9th St., suite 200 in Tacoma. With a discriminating eye, she sniffs out each person before giving a wag and moving on.
But Kinley isn’t the only one greeting customers. Edgeworks owner Tod Bloxham and manager Jayson Owens each takes pride in getting to know their customers and welcoming them into their world - the world of climbing.
Classified as a non-traditional sport, climbing has moved beyond just a select group of hardcore climbers and into the average family.
“We see a total cross-section here,” Owens, who has been climbing for 13 years, said in regards to his clientele. He said about 25 percent of the gym’s clientele were climbers before the facility opened in 2004 and about 50 percent of members enrolled just to “try something new other than the regular weight-room driven gyms.
“The remainder of our members are families that either needed to get their kids into something outside of their computer games or whose kids don’t really like traditional ball sports and don’t have that kind of coordination,” Owens continued. “But they come here and they have good kinesthetic coordination but it isn’t the ball sport coordination.
“Traditionally, we all thought being coordinated meant you could play ball sports and now people are realizing you can be coordinated in other ways that are athletic and not be coordinated at a ball sport. Climbing is really on the rise.”
But what truly draws people to climbing are the not so obvious aspects such as the mental challenge.
“A lot of people come in and think they are just going to pull their way up the wall but after a while they start to realize they actually have to think out a route and figure out how they are going to get the next move,” said Bloxham, who has been climbing for nearly two decades. “It is a lot more mental and technical than it is physical.”
But, physical as well, Bloxham noted.
“Climbing is a great alternative to going to a gym…(Climbing) is not monotonous. You are always doing something new, climbing a different route, meeting someone new and getting people to push you along because climbing, at the same time it is individual it is also very partner oriented.”
And on top of the mental and physical aspects, climbing is also a great way to build trust with people.
“Climbing is really one of the fastest ways around to build confidence and trust,” Owens remarked, adding different groups in the Tacoma area utilize the facility in conjunction with trust-building exercises.
One such group is Tacoma Rescue Mission (TRM), which visited the facility July 21 for some team building and sportsmanship exercises.
“This is a great way to show trust and see how people help one another,” said James Leet, youth coordinator for TRM. “It’s wonderful.”
TRM brought 25 youth from its nine-week “Discover Your Destiny” summer program, a program geared toward children living in TRM’s shelter or Tyler Square, a transitional housing development.
“This was so fun,” said 16-year-old Jessica Banks, who participated in TRM’s trip to Edgeworks and has climbed both indoors and out. “It was challenging, but less challenging at the same time” compared to outdoor rock climbing.
Being the only indoor climbing gym in Tacoma, Edgeworks strives to give people a unique and fun experience whether they are in for one day or in seven days per week.
But whether a climber is new or has been scaling walls for decades, Edgeworks pushes to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable.
“We want people to feel just as comfortable here whether it is their first day of climbing or they have been climbing for 20 years,” Owens said. “We want them all to feel like this is a place they are welcome and want to come back to and that they fit in here.”
Bloxham added he has been really happy with being able to create a strong community of not just climbers but friends.
“There are a lot of people here who have not known other people until they come to the gym,” he said. “They now have best friends, fiancées - it is quite a social scene.
“People are drawn to climbing because it is very social. The only way you are going to get better at climbing is to climb with other people.”
Though there is also an adrenaline factor associated with climbing, Bloxham noted many of the climbers at his gym wouldn’t classify their reasons for liking it on the rush they get.
“In fact, a lot of people who climb in here wouldn’t go bungee jumping or sky diving because they think it is too dangerous,” he said, adding indoor climbing is one of the safest sports a person can participate in. “Indoor climbing is really a physical and mental activity that pushes and motivates them.”
Edgeworks Climbing is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. The facility offers a wide variety of membership packages as well as different classes such as Belay 101 and movement and technique.
For more information, visit www.edgeworks-climbing.com or call (253) 564-4899.
