Bluestem Boulders
Ames, Iowa
Specs: Bluestem Boulders opened this month in Ames, Iowa, and is operated by Co-Owner Keith Rosenliao and Co-Owner & General Manager Brian Doscher. While Rosenliao was attending Cornell as a graduate student and Doscher was the supervisor and head routesetter at the university’s climbing wall, the two met through their mutual friend—and now Bluestem investor—Maddy Jones. According to Doscher and Rosenliao, while the three were “busy with their respective careers/education, they bonded over shared values, such as honesty, kindness, and a love of climbing and outdoor activities.”
Rosenliao later opened Cayuga Climbs, a bouldering gym in Ithaca, New York, in 2021, after receiving his MBA from Cornell. Rosenliao had asked Doscher to be the General Manager and Head Routesetter at the Ithaca gym, but Doscher and his partner decided to move back to Iowa to be closer to family. Doscher then worked as the Director of Routesetting at Climb Iowa, in Des Moines. “After several successful years running Cayuga Climbs and Doscher thriving at Climb Iowa,” they told CBJ, “Rosenliao and Doscher connected and began discussing the idea of opening a climbing gym in Ames, Iowa,” which is about a 45-minute drive north of Des Moines. However, Rosenliao did not want the Ames gym to be an expansion of Cayuga Climbs and together with Doscher opened Bluestem as a separate entity, noting “Bluestem Boulders is just as much Doscher’s business as it is mine,” Rosenliao said. He added that if it weren’t for Doscher, he would not be opening a climbing gym in a different part of the country, since he does not have “intentions of expanding to multiple geographic locations or franchising.”
Ames is home to Iowa State University, where Doscher went to school. Although the university has a climbing wall, the city previously didn’t have a commercial climbing gym in operation. (The closest climbing gym, a 90s gym that operated outside the city, closed in 2013.) “Ames is a vibrant town with a close-knit community of climbers in need of a gathering space,” Doscher said. “My partner is from Ames, and I lived there for several years—it truly feels like home.” Bluestem Boulders, located only two miles from Doscher’s alma mater, was built in a preexisting building the team appreciated for its “size, price and location,” they said, and lies within walking distance of downtown Ames. “Our vision for the gym is to create a ‘third place’ for the people of Ames. We want community members to use the gym for more than just climbing; we envision a space where diverse interests can be shared and celebrated,” Doscher added.
Bluestem will offer youth camps, after-school youth programs, classes, competitions and community events. With around 3,500 square feet of climbing surface on walls reaching 14 feet, the gym will feature a variety of bouldering problems, a 12×12 Tension Board 2, a training area and fitness equipment. “Our goal is to give our gym that tight-knit community feeling while offering the amenities of a modern gym, such as modern setting, modern safety standards, inclusivity, or youth and adult programs,” Doscher and Rosenliao said. “We value developing staff and having that consistency that really helps to build community, as well as allowing the gym to continuously improve with operations, customer service, and programming.”
Walls: OnSite
Flooring: OnSite
CRM Software: Gymdesk
Website: www.bluestemboulders.com/
Instagram: @BluestemBoulders
In Their Words: “1) Be patient and don’t give up looking for a location! We went through so many ups and downs during this process—many times, we thought we would never be opening a gym. In the end, even after we found a location, the city initially told us we were not zoned to open a climbing gym there. We had to work with the city to amend the zoning laws, which was a whole process (although the city was very supportive). 2) Try to save as much money as you can with things that aren’t related to safety or needed for gym operations. That gives us room to do other things, such as paying staff more. For example, a front desk that costs $500 versus $5000—the $4,500 savings equates to ~$2/hour more for a full-time position at the gym.” – Keith Rosenliao and Brian Doscher, Owners of Bluestem Boulders
Naomi is a personal trainer and a routesetter who has also worked at climbing gyms as a youth team coach. After starting college at Colorado State University in 2017, she wanted to make new friends and found climbing, fell in love, and now climbing dictates most of what she does. Naomi earned a bachelor’s degree in Ecosystem Science & Sustainability, and when not climbing she enjoys baking, gardening and crafting.
