When it comes to new climbing gym development, the industry has largely been continuing its positive trajectory in 2024. Over 50 new facilities have opened in North America so far this year, bringing the total number of gyms on the continent to over 800. This growth illustrates not only the resilience of the climbing community in an ever-changing economic context but also the increasing diversity of locations and climbing experiences available. From expansive urban complexes to intimate local gyms, the industry is pushing the envelope in terms of creating spaces that welcome climbers of all backgrounds.
This year’s CBJ Gym List Awards highlights impressive new gym builds from coast to coast, showcasing the new facilities with the most climbing wall surface and tallest walls, as well as the developers and manufacturers with the most new builds this year. We are proud to recognize the range of gym developers who contributed to another year of gym growth in the industry, and we invite you to join us in celebrating their achievements as we dive into the 2024 CBJ Gym List Awards. Congratulations to all the new climbing gyms of 2024 and all the people who made it happen!
Scroll or click to see the following awardees:
Central Rock Gym – Movement Centennial – OnSite – Rock Gym Pro – Rock Spot – Sender One – Touchstone – Velocity Climbing – VITAL Lower East Side – Walltopia
Largest New Climbing Gym of 2024
(based on total climbing wall surface)
Movement Centennial
Centennial, Colorado
Movement Centennial, a 41,000-square-foot full-service facility with 28,000 square feet of climbing wall surface, is the Largest New Climbing Gym of 2024. The Walltopia-built gym—less than fifteen miles from Movement’s Englewood and Baker locations—currently offers 105 routes on walls reaching 55 feet, 108 bouldering problems and, of course, yoga and fitness options.
Since Movement’s founding in 2009—and after being acquired in 2019—the business has continued to crank out some of the largest gyms in the United States. In 2021, for example, Movement Lincoln Park received the Tallest New Climbing Gym award, and in 2022 the Design District gym received the Largest New Climbing Gym award. Movement currently has three gyms planned to open in 2025: Movement Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area; Movement Kensington in Philadelphia; and Movement Fairfax in Virginia, in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. In total, Movement runs 33 open or planned gyms across the country, making it the largest climbing gym developer in the U.S.
In 2024, Movement announced partnerships with the Access Fund and The North Face. The Access Fund collaboration was designed with conservation, sustainability and mentorship in mind. Since the partnership began, Movement and Access Fund have raised over $100k for both climbing conservation and access initiatives. The partnership with The North Face took place on Global Climbing Day and entailed free climbing and gear rentals at all Movement locations. Similarly, in April, Movement launched its new “Move with Purpose” program, which includes a Teal Membership intended to “[provide] discounted membership prices to those with financial barriers,” per a press release.
In other Movement news, Anne-Worley Moelter was named the new CEO of Movement this year, her second time as Movement’s CEO. Moelter first held the CEO role when she and her husband built the original Movement gym—Movement Boulder, in 2009—and in the announcement above she described this transition as more of “a ‘coming back’ to who Movement is.” (Read more about Moelter’s philosophy and goals in this CBJ interview.)
“We are incredibly proud of what Movement Centennial represents for the climbing community here in Colorado. Our goal has been to create a space that inspires climbers of all levels to explore the physical and mental aspects of climbing while fostering a sense of belonging and community,” Movement Centennial Gym Director, Kory Stratton, said. “With our expansive walls, diverse routes, and dedicated spaces for yoga and fitness, Movement Centennial is more than just a gym—it’s a hub for connection, growth and exploration. A huge thanks to our passionate team and members who have brought this vision to life—we couldn’t do it without you!”
Top Ten Largest New Climbing Gyms of 2024
(based on total climbing wall surface)
1st – Movement Centennial – Centennial, CO – 28000 sqft
2nd – Triangle Rock Club Salvage Yard – Raleigh, NC – 27000 sqft
3rd – Class 5 (Touchstone) – Torrance, CA – 26000 sqft
4th – Velocity Climbing – Miami, FL – 23000 sqft
5th – Crux Climbing Center Pflugerville – Pflugerville, TX – 22000 sqft
6th – Sender One Lakewood – Lakewood, CA – 19000 sqft
7th – The Gravity Vault Westbury – Westbury, NY – 18500 sqft
8th – Adamanta Gonzalitos – Monterrey, NL – 15500 sqft
9th – The Notch Climbing Gym – Lebanon, NH – 12300 sqft
10th – Ruckus Climbing Gym – Greensboro, NC – 12000 sqft
Largest New Bouldering Gym of 2024
(based on total climbing wall surface)
VITAL Lower East Side
New York, New York
VITAL Climbing Gym has humble beginnings—the developer’s first location is a 24-hour-access bouldering facility with 2,500 square feet of climbing that opened in Carlsbad, California, in 2010. Vital has grown substantially since then, jumping across the U.S. and opening seven more bouldering gyms over the next 14 years. Today, the business spans three states—California, New York and Washington—and is among the ten largest climbing gym developers in the country, with a mix of gyms offering anywhere from 1,480 square feet to 18,633 square feet of climbing terrain.
In November this year, Vital opened its eighth gym—Vital Lower East Side—in the Manhattan borough of New York. The 24/7-access gym also happens to be the largest new bouldering gym of the year, coming in at over 10,000 square feet of climbing wall surface. The 45,000-square-foot climbing gym was built in a shared building, which houses a grocery store, food court, movie theater, restaurant, and office and residential space. Also inside the gym are yoga and cycling studios to complement the bouldering, something that Vital has found successful in other big-city locations. Vital Lower East Side has bouldering walls reaching 16.5 feet, a Tension Board 2, a Kilter Board, and campus boards and hangboards. The gym also features a café and space for socializing.
“We really poured our hearts into this one, with the goal of creating a space worthy of the Lower East Side,” said David Sacher, Founder and Owner of VITAL. “This location is the culmination of everything we have learned about building a great gym to date, and we went all out to make every inch of the space incredible. We hope that we have been able to provide something of value to this incredible New York City neighborhood.”
Top Ten Largest New Bouldering Gyms of 2024
(based on total climbing wall surface)
1st – VITAL Lower East Side – New York, NY – 10000 sqft
2nd – Edgeworks Bel-Red Boulders – Bellevue, WA – 9200 sqft
3rd – The Circuit Eugene – Eugene, OR – 9000 sqft
3th – Rose Bloc Longueuil – Longueuil, QC – 8300 sqft
5th (tie) – The Oaks (Touchstone) – Berkeley, CA – 8000 sqft
5th (tie) – Central Rock Gym Citrus Park – Tampa, FL – 8000 sqft
7th (tie) – Niche Climbing – Edmonton, AB – 7500 sqft
7th (tie) – Salt Pump Portsmouth – Portsmouth, NH – 7500 sqft
9th (tie) – Inner Peaks NoDa – Charlotte, NC – 7000 sqft
9th (tie) – Seattle Bouldering Project University District – Seattle, WA – 7000 sqft
Tallest New Climbing Gym of 2024
(based on peak indoor climbing wall height)
Velocity Climbing
Miami, Florida
North America’s Tallest New Climbing Walls of 2024 belong to Velocity Climbing, a mixed-discipline climbing gym that opened last May in Miami, Florida. The walls, which reach 60 feet, provide climbers with over 100 sport routes on 23,000 square feet of climbing wall surface. Velocity was built from the ground up to cater to first-time climbers and experts alike, with bouldering, auto belays, and speed and roped climbing. In addition to tall walls, Velocity features a Kilter Board, fitness equipment, hangboards, and a campus board.
“Envisioned and built by local climbers, our focus has always been on bringing all aspects of world-class indoor climbing to South Florida and building on our passionate climbing community,” Dylan Hewins, Marketing Director at Velocity Climbing, said. “Offering a variety of wall heights just made sense for us, given that we are not in close proximity to natural climbing. Our longest lead routes are over 80’, which allows our community to best experience some of the physical challenges of rock climbing. Here at Velocity, we focus on community and commitment to climbing and apply passion for climbing to everything that we do.”
Top Ten Tallest New Climbing Gyms of 2024
(based on peak indoor climbing wall height)
1st – Velocity Climbing – Miami, FL – 60 ft
2nd – Crux Climbing Center Pflugerville – Pflugerville, TX – 58 ft
3rd – Movement Centennial – Centennial, CO – 55 ft
4th – Sender One Lakewood – Lakewood, CA – 50 ft
5th – Triangle Rock Club Salvage Yard – Raleigh, NC – 47 ft
6th – The Notch Climbing Gym – Lebanon, NH – 46 ft
7th – The Gravity Vault Westbury – Westbury, NY – 45 ft
8th – Adamanta Gonzalitos – Monterrey, NL – 44 ft
9th – Ruckus Climbing Gym – Greensboro, NC – 42 ft
10th – Class 5 (Touchstone) – Torrance, CA – 40 ft
Developers of the Year 2024
(based on new climbing gym locations)
Central Rock Gym, Rock Spot, Sender One, Touchstone
In 2024, not just one but four climbing gym developers opened two new gyms in North America: Central Rock Gym (CRG), Rock Spot, Sender One and Touchstone. With a four-way tie, CBJ is awarding all four businesses as this year’s Developers of the Year.
CRG has consistently been opening new climbing gyms, having won this award in 2019, 2022 and 2023. In 2024, CRG opened two new bouldering gyms in Florida. CRG Wynwood, located in Miami, is an 11,000-square-foot facility with 5,000 square feet of climbing wall surface. In addition to 15-foot bouldering walls, the gym has a variety of fitness equipment. CRG also opened its Citrus Park gym in Tampa, which offers 8,000 square feet of climbing on 14-foot walls, within a 16,000-square-foot facility. The walls at both the new CRG locations were installed by Walltopia, and the flooring was installed by Cascade Specialty. CRG is expected to open three new locations in 2025—all mixed-discipline gyms—in Troy, New York, and Fort Myers and Miami, Florida. In total, CRG operates 31 open or planned gyms around the country and the most self-built climbing gyms of any U.S. developer.
This year, Rock Spot opened two new bouldering gyms—each with walls reaching 14.5 feet—in New Haven, Connecticut, and Brookline, Massachusetts. The New Haven facility features 2,455 square feet of climbing wall surface, in addition to a Decoy Board and a MoonBoard. The Brookline facility offers 4,133 square feet of climbing terrain, including a Kilter Board and a MoonBoard. Both gyms were built by Impact and had flooring installed by Revival. Rock Spot’s nine gyms, in total, make it one of the ten largest climbing gym developers in the U.S.
Sender One, based in California, opened its two new facilities in Lakewood and Westwood in 2024. Sender One Lakewood is a 28,000-square-foot facility with 19,000 square feet of climbing wall surface. The full-service gym has 50-foot walls built by Walltopia above Climbmat flooring. Sender One Westwood is in Westwood Village in Los Angeles, with 5,100 square feet of climbing terrain in a 10,000-square-foot facility. Built in a former theater, the new gym has climbing walls ranging from 12 to 15 feet and several nods to the former theater, such as a logo adorned with a film strip. The gym was built by Walltopia and has Habit flooring. In 2025, Sender One is planning to open a full-service gym in Aliso Viejo, California.
Touchstone Climbing, another California-based gym chain, opened The Oaks in Berkeley and Class 5 – Torrance in Torrance this year. The Oaks is a bouldering gym with 8,000 square feet of climbing wall surface on walls reaching 15 feet. The new gym features over 160 bouldering problems on Walltopia walls. Also built by Walltopia, Class 5 – Torrance has 26,000 square feet of climbing terrain, including a 40-foot lead wall and 17,000 square feet of roped climbing. Flashed installed the flooring for both new gyms. Touchstone has a full-service gym planned to open in Redwood City, California, in 2025, which will be the business’s 18th facility. Currently, Touchstone is the third-largest climbing gym developer in the U.S.
Developers With New Locations in 2024
Climbing Gym Wall Builder of the Year 2024
(based on new climbing gym locations)
Walltopia
Walltopia has once again received the Wall Builder of the Year award, the brand’s fourth time winning the award. In 2024, Walltopia opened 15 new climbing gyms in North America: one in Mexico, one in Canada and thirteen in the United States. The Bulgarian-based manufacturer constructed about 28% of the new climbing gyms built on the continent this year, consisting of over 204,100 square feet of climbing wall surface. Globally, Walltopia constructed 133 new gyms on 6 continents and in 46 countries, comprising about 550,000 square feet of climbing terrain.
Since CBJ started the Climbing Wall Builder of the Year Award in 2021, Walltopia has won the award every year it’s been given. Walltopia has consistently supplied walls for many of the other award winners, as well, building some of the tallest walls and largest gyms each year.
In 2024, Walltopia built the Largest New Climbing Gym, Movement Centennial, a full-service climbing gym offering 28,000 square feet of climbing wall surface. Walltopia also built the 60-foot walls at Velocity Climbing, the Tallest New Climbing Gym. Additionally, three of the four Developers of the Year—Central Rock Gym, Sender One and Touchstone—chose Walltopia as the wall supplier for their new gyms in 2024. In 2025, Walltopia is already slated to construct eight climbing gyms in North America.
“We want to thank CBJ for the recognition and to our customers for the opportunity to collaborate year after year,” said Adam Koberna, President of Walltopia USA. “It’s great to see how much we have accomplished in 2024. From designers and engineers to the installers in the field, bringing a climbing gym to life takes a lot of work from a team of talented people. We look forward to what’s to come in 2025.”
Top Climbing Gym Wall Builders of 2024
(based on new climbing gym locations)
1st – Walltopia – 15 gyms
2nd – OnSite – 9 gyms
3rd – owner/contractor – 7 gyms
4th – Muta – 4 gyms
5th (tie) – Impact – 3 gyms
5th (tie) – Rockwerx – 3 gyms
7th (tie) – Eldorado – 2 gyms
7th (tie) – EP Climbing – 2 gyms
7th (tie) – Vertical Solutions – 2 gyms
Climbing Gym Floor Installer of the Year 2024
(based on new climbing gym locations)
OnSite
OnSite Climbing—a Canadian wall, flooring, board and volume manufacturer—is the Climbing Gym Floor Installer of the Year. The Montreal-based brand installed the padding for a total of nine climbing gyms in 2024: four in Canada and five in the U.S. OnSite also manufactured the climbing walls for those nine gym builds.
OnSite came onto the scene in 2016 and has since opened 43 climbing gyms, in addition to completing various expansion projects. Notably, with their upgrade of La Zipette’s bouldering facility earlier this year, OnSite became the first North American climbing wall manufacturer to jump across the Atlantic and complete a commercial climbing gym project in Europe.
In 2024, OnSite also acquired DÉLIRE Climbing Walls, adding DÉLIRE products to the brand’s catalog and expanding its client base. “We are looking to revive [DÉLIRE’s] old ‘fiber volumes,’” said Francis Larose, Founder of OnSite, in the announcement above. Additionally, Larose noted that OnSite plans to use expanded resources from the acquisition to increase the team’s production capacity. According to Larose, the business prides itself on “offering multiple solutions for any budget, and peace of mind,” and has been adapting to the times. “I’m excited where the climbing is leading,” Larose shared in an interview on CBJ last month, “and I’m more excited about the ideas of what we’re going to bring later on.”
Top Climbing Gym Floor Installers of 2024
(based on new climbing gym locations)
1st – OnSite – 9 gyms
2nd (tie) – Cascade Specialty – 5 gyms
2nd (tie) – Flashed – 5 gyms
2nd (tie) – owner/contractor – 5 gyms
5th (tie) – ClimbMat – 3 gyms
5th (tie) – Habit – 3 gyms
5th (tie) – Kilter – 3 gyms
5th (tie) – Revival – 3 gyms
5th (tie) – Strati Climbing – 3 gyms
5th (tie) – UCS – 3 gyms
Climbing Gym Management Software of the Year 2024
(based on new climbing gym locations)
Rock Gym Pro
Rock Gym Pro (RGP), the longstanding software supplier, has won the Climbing Gym Management Software of the Year award for a fourth year in a row—the fourth time the award has been offered. RGP has provided the CRM/POS system for 25 new climbing gym locations in North America—twenty in the U.S., three in Canada and two in Mexico. All four of this year’s Gym Developers of the Year chose RGP as the CRM/POS software for their new 2024 gyms, and so did Movement Centennial, the Largest New Climbing Gym of the Year.
Since 2008, many high-volume facilities have relied on RGP. Designed after the founders determined a standard health club software was not enough for climbing gym member management, RGP has since grown to process over 25+ million unique users, 30+ million documents stored, 100+ million check-ins, and $2+ billion in transactions over the years, per the RGP website. RGP has also continued to release new offerings since joining Togetherwork in 2018, developing the RGP API, RGP Stripe Custom and Stripe ACH integration (described in detail here), for instance, to help streamline gym operations.
“It is an honor to again be recognized by CBJ! We are passionate about delivering innovative solutions that empower our customers and drive meaningful change in the industry,” said Laura Cole, Business Leader of RGP. “This award motivates us to continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and to keep delivering exceptional software that meets the evolving needs of our users and industry. Thank you for recognizing us in this way!”
Top Climbing Gym Management Software of 2024
(based on new climbing gym locations)
1st – Rock Gym Pro – 25 gyms
2nd – Approach – 12 gyms
3rd – Capitan – 5 gyms
4th – Mindbody – 4 gyms
5th – Redpoint HQ – 3 gyms
THE GYM LIST 2024
New U.S. Roped and Mixed Climbing Gyms of 2024
| RANK | NAME | LOCATION | WALLS | HEIGHT |
| 1 | Movement Centennial | Centennial, CO | 28000 sqft | 55 ft |
| 2 | Triangle Rock Club Salvage Yard | Raleigh, NC | 27000 sqft | 47 ft |
| 3 | Class 5 (Touchstone) | Torrance, CA | 26000 sqft | 40 ft |
| 4 | Velocity Climbing | Miami, FL | 23000 sqft | 60 ft |
| 5 | Crux Climbing Center Pflugerville | Pflugerville, TX | 22000 sqft | 58 ft |
| 6 | Sender One Lakewood | Lakewood, CA | 19000 sqft | 50 ft |
| 7 | The Gravity Vault Westbury | Westbury, NY | 18500 sqft | 45 ft |
| 8 | The Notch Climbing Gym | Lebanon, NH | 12300 sqft | 46 ft |
| 9 | Ruckus Climbing Gym | Greensboro, NC | 12000 sqft | 42 ft |
| 10 | Basin Climbing & Fitness | Hewitt, TX | 10000 sqft | 33 ft |
| 11 | Project 24 | Sarasota, FL | 6500 sqft | 34 ft |
| 12 | Climb Moab | Moab, UT | 1102 sqft | 20 ft |
New U.S. Bouldering Gyms of 2024
| RANK | NAME | LOCATION | WALLS | HEIGHT |
| 1 | VITAL Lower East Side | New York, NY | 10000 sqft | 16.5 ft |
| 2 | Edgeworks Bel-Red Boulders | Bellevue, WA | 9200 sqft | 19 ft |
| 3 | The Circuit Eugene | Eugene, OR | 9000 sqft | 15 ft |
| 4th (tie) | Central Rock Gym Citrus Park | Tampa, FL | 8000 sqft | 14 ft |
| 4th (tie) | The Oaks (Touchstone) | Berkeley, CA | 8000 sqft | 15 ft |
| 6 | Salt Pump Portsmouth | Portsmouth, NH | 7500 sqft | 20 ft |
| 7th (tie) | Inner Peaks NoDa | Charlotte, NC | 7000 sqft | 15 ft |
| 7th (tie) | Seattle Bouldering Project University District | Seattle, WA | 7000 sqft | 17 ft |
| 9 | The Proving Ground Bouldering | Bloomington, IL | 6500 sqft | 19 ft |
| 10 | Rendezvous Climbing Gym | Leawood, KS | 6000 sqft | 16 ft |
| 11 | Beyond The Wall Climbing | Hillsboro, OR | 5200 sqft | 15 ft |
| 12 | Sender One Westwood | Los Angeles, CA | 5100 sqft | 15 ft |
| 13 | Central Rock Gym Wynwood | Miami, FL | 5000 sqft | 15 ft |
| 14 | Ascent Climbing Gym | New Haven, CT | 4550 sqft | 14 ft |
| 15 | Climb Tacoma | Tacoma, WA | 4500 sqft | 14 ft |
| 16 | Skyhook Bouldering | Portland, OR | 4250 sqft | 14 ft |
| 17 | Rock Spot Brookline | Brookline, MA | 4133 sqft | 14.5 ft |
| 18 (tie) | Bluestem Boulders | Ames, IA | 3500 sqft | 14 ft |
| 18 (tie) | Boulder Union | New Bedford, MA | 3500 sqft | 15 ft |
| 20 | Summit Everett | Everett, WA | 3200 sqft | 14 ft |
| 21 | Flux Training Center | Vista, CA | 2757 sqft | 16 ft |
| 22 | Rock Spot New Haven | New Haven, CT | 2455 sqft | 14.5 ft |
| 23 | Brunswick Rocks | Brunswick, GA | 2300 sqft | 14 ft |
| 24 | GP81 | Brooklyn, NY | 2200 sqft | 15 ft |
| 25 | Summit City Climbing Co. | Fort Wayne, IN | 2150 sqft | 15 ft |
| 26 | Seacoast Climb | Rye, NH | 1610 sqft | 15 ft |
| 27 | Rock City Training Center | Huntington Beach, CA | 1488 sqft | 14 ft |
| 28 | GraniteWorks Gym | Keene, NH | 1200 sqft | 14 ft |
| 29 | The Campus | Boulder, CO | 1182 sqft | 14 ft |
| 30 | The Block (Nevada) | Reno, NV | 1000 sqft | 15 ft |
| 31 | Beast Fingers Climbing | Denver, CO | 850 sqft | 15 ft |
New Canadian Climbing Gyms of 2024
(all bouldering gyms)
| RANK | NAME | LOCATION | WALLS | HEIGHT |
| 1 | Rose Bloc Longueuil | Longueuil, QC | 8300 sqft | 17 ft |
| 2 | Niche Climbing | Edmonton, AB | 7500 sqft | 16 ft |
| 3 | Rockhaus Climbing | Vaughan, ON | 2000 sqft | 15 ft |
| 4 | OffSite Climbing | Montréal, QC | 1648 sqft | 16 ft |
| 5 | The Climbers Crush | Owen Sound, ON | 1500 sqft | 15 ft |
| 6 | Quartzite Climbing Gym | Revelstoke, BC | 1100 sqft | 15 ft |
| 7 | Bomber Boulders | Port Alberni, BC | 952 sqft | 13 ft |
New Mexican Climbing Gyms of 2024
| RANK | NAME | LOCATION | TYPE | WALLS | HEIGHT |
| 1 | Adamanta Gonzalitos | Monterrey, NL | ropes and bouldering wall | 15500 sqft | 44 ft |
| 2 | Motion Boulder Bugamilias | Zapopan, JAL | ropes and bouldering wall | 10086 sqft | 46 ft |
| 3 | Summit Escalada | Zapopan, JAL | bouldering wall | 4305 sqft | 15 ft |
| 4 | Kali Oaxaca Wall | Oaxaca de Juárez, OAX | bouldering wall | 2002 sqft | 15 ft |
| 5 | San Miguel Climbing Gym | San Miguel de Allende, GTO | ropes and bouldering wall | 1518 sqft | 15 ft |
Behind the Data
This feature article is intended to serve as an extension of Climbing Business Journal’s annual Gyms and Trends report. The research and data collection for 2024 is proprietary to CBJ and was done largely by Naomi Stevens and Scott Rennak, with writing and editorial duties shared by Naomi Stevens, Joe Robinson and John Burgman. The full Gyms & Trends report for 2024 will be published early next year.
CBJ is dedicated to researching and reporting accurately on the climbing gym industry in North America. Climbing gyms have been proliferating across the world since the early 1990s. The first gyms had flat walls and rudimentary holds, and often possessed inadequate air filtration, lighting, and landing zones. Modern climbing gyms, in contrast, often have vast open spaces with beautiful natural light, intricate wall designs and features, industrial HVAC, and are filled with bright and interesting shapes of plastic, fiberglass and wooden grips. The industry has grown up, and modern climbing gyms now cater to a diverse and expanding clientele.
