Memories From America’s First Climbing Gym…is a series of candid reflections and spirited tales about the early days at Vertical Club, the first commercial climbing gym in the United States. Authored by Rich Johnston, co-founder of Vertical Club (now Vertical World), and originally published between 2007 and 2009, the stories chronicle memorable moments from the gym’s past, from backstories that sparked the journey to run-ins with industry legends and rock stars along the way.
In this fourth installment, Johnston shares the story behind how Vertical Club first got its name, why it later had to be abandoned, and how the gym’s more familiar Vertical World name of today was finally chosen. Even if it wasn’t his top choice, Johnston admits, “I went with it,” he says.
Previous chapters in the Memories From America’s First Climbing Gym series can be read here.
[Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article was first published on October 10, 2007.]
I was sitting in my dining room looking at an Interview magazine. Remember Andy Warhol’s rag? It was the summer of 1987. Dan Cauthorn and I were mulling over ideas about how to start the idea of the indoor rock gym.
As I was flipping through the pages, I ran across an ad that had Cher standing with one foot on a barbell, dressed in black leather, looking right into my eyes saying that she wanted me. The ad was for a health club in Manhattan called Vertical Club. I turned to show Dan [Cauthorn] and, voila, we had a name for the new climbing gym.
It was a great name. We would often hear customers say “let’s go to the VC.” Over the years we got some press, we sold a bunch of t-shirts around the country and appeared in climbing rags with the name Vertical Club.
I knew what was up with the name even before I started using it. Bally’s health club owned the name, and it had a federal mark protecting it. At the time this did not concern me, since the idea of a climbing gym actually thriving and surviving was a distant dream. I figured as long as we flew below the radar it would not matter.
Well, we got above the radar, and we were put on notice that we could no longer use the name Vertical Club. Wow, was I ever bummed.
So, I got myself an attorney, paid a bunch of money, and submitted possible names that we could register and protect. We had a list of several names, including Vertical Sport. Vertical World was down on the list. I didn’t like it. The thought of people saying “let’s go to the VW” made me nauseous.
Low and behold, the federal examiner rejected all the names we wanted, claiming they were too generic in description and were public domain. Then he stated, “But you may have the name Vertical World.” Aaargh!
Many around the business felt it was an okay name and that we should work with it. I went with it, thinking that even a flea-bitten mutt can grow on your heart if you keep him long enough.
I guess the name has worked out, but I still fawn over the name Vertical Club. One good thing: I never hear anyone say “let’s go down to the VW.”
Keep pulling.
