Active Climbing
Athens and Augusta, Georgia
Specs: The first location of Active Climbing, a Georgia business owned and operated by Adrian Prelipceanu, opened in Athens, Georgia, in 2009. A mixed-discipline climbing gym, the 6,000-square-foot facility offers a variety of youth-focused amenities—such as a kids’ room, birthday parties, youth teams and camps—as well as bouldering leagues, private lessons and group classes. In 2016, seven years after the first location opened, Prelipceanu decided to expand, opening the much larger Augusta location—an 18,000-square-foot, mixed-discipline climbing gym. The new space offers over 80 boulders, 16 competition-style walls and 70 routes, in addition to ninja and party rooms. According to Prelipceanu, the expansion project let him “dream big,” at least compared to Active Climbing’s first gym build. “The setup there is, I won’t say totally different than the first [gym],” he said, “but took it to the next level, for sure.”
For the business’s second build, Prelipceanu found inspiration from gym design aspects he’s seen more often in the European industry. In the Augusta gym, “The wall sits up on the stage,” he said. “It just gives you a different feeling, and that’s what I wanted.” The layout of the space catered to Prelipceanu’s vision for the design, as well. “The shape of the building was good, it wasn’t a rectangular shape like you might see in a warehouse,” he said. “This was kind of a triangular shape, a really odd shape, and the back section was perfect for having a big open space.”
Prelipceanu said it felt wise to build the gyms not too far from each other, allowing them to complement one another. “They are kind of like the big brother and younger sister,” Prelipceanu described. “They live together fairly well, and they help each other.” For example, when the Augusta location was affected by Hurricane Helene and did not have power or internet, having a second location helped with finances and morale. With both gyms now well-established in the area, Prelipceanu said it is nice to have “one helping the other when the other one needs it.”
Now, Prelipceanu is trying to bring the Athens gym “up to speed” and have more offerings at that location. “Something that we are really trying to get up and running is a retail space, just because we had some small items here and there, but nothing major,” he said. For the most part, though, the layout at the smaller gym is maxed out, Prelipceanu explained. So, instead of adding more amenities, he is focusing more on expanding and enhancing what the gym already has to offer.
At the same time, Prelipceanu did note he is “getting to the point where I am thinking about trying to expand [again]…I have a few locations in mind.” But he added that he doesn’t want to rush the expansion decision. “Now that I’m getting a bit older and, I wouldn’t say slowing down, but taking the foot off the gas, I’m thinking a bit more than before on what another location might look like.” For a new climbing facility, some of the features he finds it important to include are a nice sitting area, a section for fitness, and maybe yoga offerings.
As the business has grown, Prelipceanu has continued to express appreciation for the overall feel and sense of community cultivated at the two Active Climbing gyms. “[The Athens location] is a really small gym, compared to the other ones around. And I think that’s what makes it a bit homier feeling, where people are a bit closer together,” he said. “They get to know each other. They get to interact with each other a bit more.” While Prelipceanu notes there is not necessarily one recipe for making a gym “homey,” since “each region and each gym is going to be different,” he has found that a gym’s time open, events held, and the gym’s setup can help foster community. For example, the way the walls face each other and the challenges on the walls can draw people together. Additionally, bouldering leagues and friendly competitions have been an effective way of bringing people together at the gyms, in Prelipceanu’s experience.
Walls: Owner/Contractor
Flooring: BigAssPads
CRM Software: Rock Gym Pro
Website: www.activeclimbing.com
Instagram: @ActiveClimbing
In Their Words: “Try to keep a balance between yourself and everybody that works. It’s always going to be a challenge but try the best you can with what you have, with the resources that you have, and always try to keep communication with your staff. Be on top of that. Sometimes I lack that myself and I’m trying to get better, trying to relay the messages on how [an employee] should be doing this or that. And I don’t wait until the last moment. Just be sure to set those boundaries and then keep at it.” – Adrian Prelipceanu, Active Climbing Owner and Operator
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.
