For over a decade, High Point Climbing and Fitness has been operating some of the South’s go-to, “local-big” gyms, with a focus on providing grassroots and community-driven spaces. Across each gym they run in Tennessee and Alabama, they have worked to establish consistency and professionalism while allowing room for the unique influence of each city. Now, they have expanded into a new state, opening a long-awaited, high-level facility in Orlando, Florida.
Florida may be relatively isolated from local outdoor climbing, but it nonetheless has a long history of independent gyms with hard setting and strong climbers. Daniel Noyes, the General Manager of the newly opened High Point Orlando location, was a part of that community over a decade ago at one of the old-school gyms in Longwood. “It was a very tiny facility. It had a little lead-only area in the back, and it seemed like the center of the climbing universe for central Florida. The community kind of fractured when the gym moved.”
Noyes recalls a time when climbers in Orlando of all types would gather under one roof at the only climbing gym in town; bringing different climbers together is part of the vision he’s working to manifest at the new High Point gym. “I think the best thing about this facility is that it has world-class offerings for whatever you’re interested in.”
Dizzying New Heights
The High Point Orlando location has brought tall walls and ropes to an area that previously mostly had bouldering gyms, so many users of the gym will likely be first-time rope climbers or climbers who haven’t been doing much sport or trad climbing of late. When Noyes described the reactions of people seeing the rope room for the first time, he said people were nearly falling over at the expansiveness of the space. “The rope room is massive; it’s over 20,000 square feet. There are 81 belay heads. The wall height is a continuous 52 feet, and if you’re climbing in the steep-steep you’re going to end up getting 65 to 70 feet of climbing,” said Noyes.
Partner and President of High Point Climbing and Fitness, John Wiygul, felt similarly. “We had a feeling the local community was going to flip out when they saw the rope climbing area—it’s massive and downright epic! With towering 52-foot walls and one of the few competition speed climbing walls in the region, it’s like stepping into a vertical playground.”
For creating this high-end facility, High Point knew they were going to work with Walltopia. In addition to building aesthetic and state-of-the-art walls, the four-time Climbing Gym Wall Builder of the Year’s attentiveness to customer service is exactly why High Point owners John Wiygul, Johnny O’Brien and Shawn Watson have enjoyed working with Walltopia. Wiygul said High Point has been choosing Walltopia from the beginning and will continue doing so because “great relationships are the sole reason Johnny and I continue to do business with anyone.”
Wiygul’s praise of Walltopia’s service and impressive rope walls isn’t to say Orlando’s new climbing destination is only a “rope gym”—far from it. With a kids area, a boulder room, four different boards, a yoga room and a fully enclosed weight room, there’s a little something for everyone at High Point Orlando. The boards inside the facility are on Walltopia’s new, adjustable hydraulic frames—which allow the boards to be adjusted from 0 to 70 degrees—and the Walltopia-designed kids room includes an ocean theme that’s complete with a pirate ship, a slide and a climbable octopus tentacle. And bouldering certainly hasn’t been forgotten, assured Noyes: “If you’re a boulderer, I think you’re going to have a great time on the boulders. Walltopia has made a varied terrain, and the wall angles promote a lot of creative and high-level routesetting.”
High Point and Walltopia worked closely together to make sure they would bring the highest quality of gym they could to the Orlando area. Wiygul knew that Walltopia would be the one to bring their project to life. “This is our sixth climbing gym build with Walltopia, who we consider to be the best in the business. We’ve developed a strong relationship with their team—from Adam Koberna, the President of the U.S. division, all the way to the owner, Ivaylo Penchev.” He noted that both Koberna and Penchev made multiple visits to High Point’s Chattanooga office and the site in Orlando throughout the project, and added, “It’s that level of commitment and collaboration that keeps us building gyms together…”
Expanding the Community Through Climbing
While the team at High Point Orlando intends to focus on building memberships and bringing in new climbers during their first few months of being open, Noyes is already envisioning a variety of programs for both youth and adult climbers, including potentially collaborating with other gyms in Florida to help everyone stay connected and part of one community, even though today the community in Orlando has grown beyond one roof. He also has plans to make use of High Point’s Chattanooga location to make the gym-to-crag transition smoother for climbers in Orlando. In keeping close ties between the two gyms, the hope is to give Orlando locals more pathways to getting trained indoors and being guided professionally on a weekend trip outdoors, so they can climb outside for the first time with confidence.
Also built into the mission of the new gym, of course, is the “fitness” in High Point Climbing and Fitness. The offerings in the yoga studio are being led by well-known teachers who have their own following. As Noyes put it, “We have a beautiful yoga room. I anticipate running yoga classes a few times per week, and we already have teachers lined up who are respected and loved.” The weight room is also fully equipped, with cable machines, cardio machines, free weights, deadlift platforms and bench press stations. Noyes explained that the idea is to provide just about everything a climber would need to stay healthy and train, all in one place. “Hopefully they never feel they need to supplement their membership here with something else,” continued Noyes. “They can do it all here.”
The team at High Point is determined to expand access to these programs and amenities, as well, through community outreach. “We’re especially excited to partner with local schools, nonprofits and organizations to provide programming for youth and the surrounding communities. We see this space as more than just a gym—it’s a platform for inspiring confidence, fostering friendships and building a stronger, healthier Orlando,” said Wiygul, who explained how these goals informed their decision to choose Orlando as their next location. “Orlando is a city full of energy, diversity and opportunity—exactly the kind of place where High Point thrives. We’re here because we believe in building more than just a climbing gym—we’re here to build community.”
The final sentiment Noyes shared, as someone who has been part of the Florida climbing community for over a decade, is that the community in Orlando has expanded a lot since the early days and he believes there’s still more growth left to come, with room for all the climbing gyms in Orlando to be successful and grow the sport together. “We also want to be a great neighbor to the people who are already here and already established,” concluded Noyes.
With an expertly crafted, complementary space and community-focused mindset, it’s safe to say the team at High Point Orlando is well on their way to helping set a new “high point” in Orlando.
This story was paid for by the sponsor and does not necessarily represent the views of the Climbing Business Journal editorial team.
