Built-To-Suit Bouldering Gym in Texas Offers Adult Team and Fitness Amenities

The entryway and first look at the climbing at MoCo Bouldering — Moco Bouldering opened last summer in Conroe, Texas, with a combination of fitness offerings and bouldering terrain. “The dream of owning a [fitness] gym shifted a little bit, and I got the idea that it would be great to have a climbing gym that also worked as a traditional gym,” MoCo Bouldering Co-Owner Zac Shoulders said. (All photos are courtesy of MoCo Bouldering)

MoCo Bouldering
Conroe, Texas

Specs: On July 19^th of last year, MoCo Bouldering held its grand opening event in Conroe, Texas. Owned by Zac Shoulders and Chance Alldredge, the new climbing gym—located about 40 miles north of Houston—became an idea after a series of discussions that began in 2020. Shoulders said he had always wanted to own a gym and initially dreamed of starting a traditional fitness gym, but he had a “cushy job in corporate wellness” and “was not going to take the risk to leave that to start a gym.” However, he lost his job after COVID hit when the fitness gym he was running shut down, and he “needed to find the next move,” he said. In 2020, Shoulders and Alldredge were having dinner together after a day of climbing when Shoulders “mentioned that it would be pretty cool if we could start a climbing gym,” and Alldredge “was all in,” Shoulders shared.

Shoulders formed MoCo Bouldering and Fitness LLC in early 2021, and he then started looking at how to start a gym, contacting potential investors and touring different buildings. “Right after COVID, it was really hard to find a landowner that would lease to a gym,” Shoulders explained, adding that he had gone through lease negotiations with probably 10 to 15 different locations that “fell through basically just because the people got cold feet about leasing to a gym.” The MoCo team then wondered if they would have to find other investors and buy a piece of land or building, so Shoulders called the Mayor of Conroe and told him about their situation. “We pitched him that not only do we need a place, but Conroe really needs something like our business in the area,” Shoulders continued. “It turns out that he actually owned a commercial real estate company and got us connected with a guy who was down to build out the gym.”

More bouldering walls and a fitness area at the new gym — “Looking at climbing gyms, their growth rate is much greater than traditional gyms, but their retention rate is quite a bit lower than traditional gyms. And I thought a big reason behind that was if people are into fitness, a lot of times they’re going to have two gym memberships,” to both climbing gyms and traditional fitness gyms, Shoulders stated. “So, my idea was to open a climbing gym that took the fitness aspect seriously.”

MoCo Bouldering was constructed on an existing paved area near Interstate 45. “If you’re close to 45, you’re pretty much close to anything,” Shoulder said, referring to the highway as “the main artery of the Houston area.” The gym is just north of downtown Conroe, which Shoulders identified as an “up and coming location.” The team appreciated a built-to-suit model, where they could design the gym exactly as they wanted, with tall ceilings and the ability to incorporate a large climbable feature, visible immediately upon entry. Alongside the bouldering, Shoulders wanted fitness to be a core aspect of the gym, saying, “We knew that if we were going to lean into the fitness side, we had to do it right. We didn’t want to sell it as a fitness place [without] what other traditional fitness places offer.” So, they made sure the gym had a 4,000-square-foot weightlifting area and 2,000-square-foot fitness classroom as well as space for yoga and climbing-focused amenities, such as a Kilter Board, hangboards and campus rungs.

A climbable arch inside MoCo Bouldering — Shoulders felt there was a need for a new recreational outlet in Conroe, in part because several businesses had closed after COVID arrived, he told CBJ. The city did not have a climbing gym, and Conroe climbers were commuting to towns over 35 minutes away to climb, so the concept of a fitness and bouldering gym solidified for Shoulders.

The new gym has CrossFit-inspired classes, with four group fitness classes held five days a week. Moco also offers participation in an adult bouldering team as a membership add-on. “The majority of our members are brand new to climbing, and we wanted to do something to help educate people,” Shoulders explained. During the initial stages of research for MoCo, his findings showed that there is a lower member retention rate in climbing gyms versus traditional fitness gyms, and he believes that difference is largely due to a lack of structure in climbing. “We wanted to do something that’s going to help build camaraderie among our members, help our staff get to know more of the members, but also make a little guide for people to keep a plateau from happening,” he detailed. In addition to the adult bouldering team, the gym offers coaching, personal training and youth programs, with a total of 6,000 square feet of climbing wall surface on walls reaching 15 feet.

Walls: OnSite
Flooring: OnSite
CRM Software: Capitan
Website: www.mocobouldering.com
Instagram: @MoCo.Gym

In Their Words: “Don’t be so busy opening a gym that you forget why you’re opening it. I have to stop myself quite often and stop and smell the roses…Have fun, talk to people. You could be having a really rough day, go out and start talking to someone, and they’re like, ‘Man, this place has really changed my life’…You can get way too sucked into the things you have to do, I guess. Stop and smell the roses sometimes.” – Zac Shoulders, MoCo Bouldering Co-Owner and General Manager