Aloha Rock Gym
Kahului, HI
Specs: Aloha Rock Gym, a mixed-discipline climbing gym owned by “a team of climbers from all over the country…bound by the way climbing has shaped [their] lives,” the gym’s website details, is expected to open this December in Kahului, Hawaii. Owned and founded by former Rock and Ice Editor Jeff Jackson, Scott Odell, Kevalin Hutachinda and the Dail family—parents Tony and Angie, their son Tyler, and Tyler’s wife Angie Rouhier—Maui’s only commercial climbing gym is operated without outside investors or corporate influences, the team stated.
Jackson, now in his sixties, began climbing when he was thirteen and has been “intimately involved in the industry of climbing” since 1977, he said. In 2015, he moved to Maui and saw an opportunity for a climbing gym and community center on the island. Jackson started the process of opening a gym essentially immediately after moving, noting there were a few iterations of investors and people interested in starting the facility, but it was not until he, Odell and Tyler began corresponding that the gym became a reality.
Odell, who began climbing in the Northeast region of the U.S. in 2015, driving to The Gunks weekly to climb, had “been putting money away, calling it a social impact investment opportunity” for a climbing gym for seven years before helping start Aloha Rock Gym. Odell commented on how transformative the sport had been for his life, and he believed it could solve a lot of issues youth go through, in terms of providing children with healthy, expressive outlets for their energy. He had always been thinking about how he could positively impact the lives of youth going through challenges in Hawaii and felt that a climbing gym would be “the perfect intersection of passion and giving back,” with the possibility to “open the doors to hundreds of kids a day.” So, in 2020, Scott started looking for warehouse spaces on the island.
Separately, Jackson and the Dails had been looking for another investor who was aligned with their vision for the gym. Jackson then introduced Odell to Tyler in 2022 and quickly vouched for him. “There were other folks interested in investing, but Scott and Kevalin were perfectly aligned with our vision of opening a gym with the operating principles of Aloha, Climbing and Community,” Tony said. Then began a journey that was “fraught with issues,” related to finding the right building, parking options and landlord, as well as starting a gym where climbing is still young, Jackson said. But “through a lot of perseverance,” the team eventually found a space and made it happen.
Aloha Rock Gym is a ground-up build, constructed by West Maui Construction, a local property development company. The gym’s operators said not many building developers or existing landlords were interested in leasing a space to a climbing gym, but one of the co-owners of West Maui Construction is a climber and backed the idea. The construction company owns the land, and the gym occupies 10,000 square feet of the facility. Aloha Rock Gym features 8,700 square feet of climbing wall surface, nearly evenly split between bouldering on walls reaching 16 feet and roped climbing on walls nearing 40 feet. Originally, the operators had planned for more bouldering but considered that adaptive climbers might prefer more sport climbing surface. The gym also offers strength training and cardio equipment, a 30-degree spray wall, campus rungs and hangboards.
“I think we did a good job of arranging the gym so that there’s enough expert terrain and enough beginner terrain. We worked with several people who are experienced coaches and gym owners who helped us get the right recipe,” Jackson explained. Additionally, there are community spaces, with room “for events such as movie nights, guest speakers, and parties,” a recent blog post details. Aloha Rock Gym will host classes, workshops and clinics, in addition to a variety of youth programs.
An important value of the gym’s founders is giving back to their community through youth programming, environmental work, and supporting access to businesses of island locals. For example, on Aloha Rock Gym’s Instagram, the team is frequently advertising partnerships with local environmental clean-up organizations and initiatives, trying to rally climbers to attend and make a difference while, of course, attending themselves. Recent outings have included the Kahului Harbor clean-up, Kam III Beach clean-up, and a community work day at Waihe’e Coastal Dunes and Wetlands Refuge. The gym has also formed a partnership with Imua Family Services and MEO Youth Services to launch the Kōkua Membership, which was created to ensure that “under-served and at-risk youth across the island have open, welcoming access to the gym,” per the Aloha Rock Gym website. Through the program, climbers can donate $10 a week toward providing a path for youth who would not have regular access to climbing to do so. “Whether the barriers are financial, transportation-related, emotional or physical, we’re committed to breaking them down,” the website continues. “Everyone deserves to climb.”
Walls: Walltopia
Flooring: Walltopia
CRM Software: Approach
Website: www.aloharockgym.com
Instagram: @AlohaRockGym
In Their Words: “The thing that we want to do is have a positive effect on the community first and foremost. So, that was the decision going in. And as we started to look at the numbers, we realized that there is a business model here that will work without having to cater to the tourists…We did a feasibility study; we looked at it, and we saw that we can make it happen for the long term. It’s not a venture that we’re all looking to just fatten up on. This is something that we want to make a vocation. It’s not an investment; it’s a lifestyle that we want to live and stay.” – Jeff Jackson, Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Aloha Rock Gym
