Gravity Bear
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Specs: On August 2nd this year, Gravity Bear opened in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a bouldering-focused gym. According to owner and founder Parker Simms, “Gravity Bear is the result of perfect timing between myself and the climbing community here in Tulsa.” In 2021, Simms exited the military after eleven years of service and moved to Tulsa to be closer to his children. He began working as a software engineer, but going “just to and from work wasn’t cutting it for me,” he said. He was “left with this void” of wanting to do something that came with sacrifice and he would be proud to have done, “something bigger than myself,” Simms shared.
During the same period, because Simms was not originally from Tulsa, he had not found his community yet. So, as a climber of over 20 years, he sought out the local climbing gym. However, Simms said he was looking for a gym with a different feel and, as a boulderer, a less busy bouldering area. Then, in early 2023, the idea “that maybe another bouldering gym would be a good idea here” hit him, and he considered how it could be a way to find a greater purpose and climb in a facility better suited to his preferences. In April 2023, he committed to the idea of a climbing gym with a coffee shop, having seen coffee mesh well with the sport. “I didn’t know what I was doing at all,” he recalled. “The only thing that I had was basically a dream.” Simms then spent a lot of time learning about business plans, commercial real estate, investments and financing before eventually drafting his own business plan.
Gravity Bear was drafted as a bouldering gym from the start, not only because Simms is a boulderer but also because it was more affordable for him to build and insure a bouldering gym. An added bonus was that there were no other commercial bouldering-only gyms in Tulsa at the time, and it opened up the ability to be downtown since shorter buildings would be easier to find there. Simms concentrated his search on downtown Tulsa because he was drawn to the revitalization of the area. The gym was constructed in a renovated building, which is over a hundred years old and in proximity to restaurants, breweries, residential buildings and other shops. “Another part of it is accessibility,” Simms said of the gym’s downtown location. “[We] wanted to make sure that we’re accessible to everybody.” The downtown area is in the northern region of the city where there are many intersecting highways nearby, which Simms thought would make the commute to the gym easier for members.
Before Simms found the current Gravity Bear building, he looked at several others and was initially looking for a much larger location. He then learned more details and realized what a larger space would entail, especially in terms of the cost of the build, which would impact membership costs and potential revenue. “As we kept looking, I kept running into issues where the cost of the building or the cost of renovations would be so much more than we were willing to spend and what I thought Tulsa could support.” So, he pivoted and decided to look for a smaller building. Gravity Bear’s location stood out because he felt it was the right size—7,568 square feet—and in the right spot for his vision. The gym offers 3,200 square feet of climbing surface across bouldering walls reaching 15 feet, a Tension Board 2 and a spray board. Additional amenities include hangboards, campus boards, a retail area, fitness equipment and a café, which offers a variety of snacks and espresso drinks for both climbers and non-climbers walking by the gym.
Walls: Dreamwall
Flooring: Flipp
CRM Software: Capitan
Website: www.climbgravitybear.com
Instagram: @ClimbGravityBear
In Their Words: “It’s essential to create a plan…but a plan is only as good as the information you have at the time. And over time, you gain more information, and your plan may remain true…but a plan is a place to deviate from…Be very clear on where you want to go, the goal you want; figure out how to achieve it, but also remain as flexible as possible during that process.” – Parker Simms, Founder and Owner of Gravity Bear
