Italian Brand Evolves From Climbing Holds and Hangboards to Gym

Climbing walls at Goatzilla — *Goatzilla, a climbing gym that began as a hold and hangboard brand, opened last August, headed by a family with years of shared climbing experience. (All photos are courtesy of Goatzilla)*

Goatzilla
Berbenno di Valtellina, Italy

Specs: Goatzilla, a mixed-discipline climbing gym in Berbenno di Valtellina, Italy, opened on August 26^th. The gym, owned by Richard Colombo and his family, as well as partners who own other gyms in Italy, came from a “long-held idea,” Colombo said. “I’ve been a competitive climber and an enthusiast my whole life, so it was only natural for my family to make climbing the central focus of our lives,” he continued. “My wife and one of my sons are FASI-certified instructors and routesetters, and my younger son is an athlete himself.” Even while working in other positions, Colombo said he had always been interested in working in climbing and climbing gyms. Initially, the Goatzilla brand began “as a bit of fun,” he explained, when the family developed holds and hangboards. Later, the brand evolved into opening a gym in Valtellina, an alpine valley in Northern Italy.

“Here in Valtellina (Sondrio)—right in the middle of the Alps—there are no other gyms, and certainly nothing for bouldering. That’s how the idea came about,” Colombo said. “We found partners and a location, and here we are!” He said the team found a warehouse that wasn’t too big or too small for their vision in Berbenno di Valtellina, a commune located in the middle of the valley where the Colombo family lives. The commune is situated midway between two main towns nearby, which Colombo said will typically “benefit from tourist traffic during certain times of the year.”

More bouldering walls at the new gym — *The lead walls at Goatzilla are just under 10 meters (32.8 feet) tall, and the bouldering walls reach the European standard regulation of 4.5 meters (14.8 feet), per Colombo.*

Goatzilla was constructed in the preexisting warehouse, where the team added changing rooms, a bar, restrooms and climbing walls. The gym was designed for both bouldering and sport climbing, with about 80 percent of the facility dedicated to bouldering. There is a bouldering competition area, a lead climbing wall suitable for training courses, and a fitness area with weights, machines, a campus board, hangboards and a Moon Board.

Training boards and hangboards at Goatzilla — “Opening a climbing gym is becoming increasingly complex. It involves quality, safety, expertise, and a diverse range of offerings. Yet, it is a wonderful journey that I recommend to the brave souls ready to take on the challenge,” Colombo said.

Walls: Walltopia
Flooring: Climbmat
CRM Software: Gekosoftware
Website: goatzilla.it
Instagram: @Goatzilla_Climbing

In Their Words: “We prioritize top-notch quality in every aspect: comfort, lighting and colors, accessibility, atmosphere, the quality of the routesetting, and so on. Regarding routesetting specifically, we focus on creating easy to moderately easy boulder problems that offer the same quality and fun as the hard ones. We avoid creating tedious ‘filler climbs’ simply for the problems accessible to everyone.” – Richard Colombo, Co-Founder, Co-Owner, Instructor, Coach and Routesetter at Goatzilla