Muta Climbing is by far the most prolific wall builder in Mexico, having constructed more than 70 climbing walls, and in some ways the brand’s background seems more like a myth than a true grassroots business story. Founded by Diego Álvarez-Tostado in 2013, Muta—or the earliest, unnamed iteration of Muta—was originally envisioned as a producer of small climbing-related items, such as brushes and tape. Álvarez-Tostado was one of the strongest climbers in Mexico, having claimed the first ascent of the 5.14a Megasesino in Jilotepec, among other test pieces, and as such was fanatical about even the most precise aspects of performance. However, it quickly proved difficult for Álvarez-Tostado to build an entire climbing company in Mexico around such niche products at the time, so his idea of founding a business faded.
Yet, serendipitously that same year, Álvarez-Tostado was approached by a friend, Franz Weber, and asked to design and build the climbing walls for a new gym that would become Bloc E—now a well-established indoor climbing facility in Mexico City. Álvarez-Tostado agreed to the project, which soon led to more wall builds in and around Mexico City, including the full design and construction of another gym, TOKA, shortly thereafter.
When Muta, officially as a wall-building company, started to expand beyond Mexico City, an increased demand for Muta’s services created budgeting challenges. Those hurdles prompted Álvarez-Tostado to approach Rodrigo Alonso, an employee at an architecture studio, and ask for guidance on the utilization (and budget maximization) of CNC machining of plywood. “Instead of just some guidance, I offered to do the planning and development of [Motion Boulder, in Guadalajara] in my free time after work,” Alonso recalls. Motion Boulder, under Alonso’s guidance, proved to be Muta’s first CNC-machined project, meaning that the manufacturing of the gyms’ climbing walls was done by computer, rather than by hand. Additional wall-design projects followed, and Alonso’s role at Muta expanded as well—to the point where Alonso and Álvarez-Tostado now mutually operate the Muta business.
Currently Muta has a design office, a production facility, and an installation crew of 28 employees. The smallest project completed by Muta was a 90-square-foot homewall, whereas the largest build to date was a gym with nearly 12,000 square feet of climbable surface.
CBJ caught up with Rodrigo Alonso to learn more about Muta’s approach and the growing climbing industry in Mexico, which according to CBJ’s 2024 Gyms & Trends report gained a handful of new gyms last year—the bulk of which were built by Muta.
CBJ: What has been the business philosophy for Muta’s growth over the years?
ALONSO: In general, I would say that we do not have a growing philosophy per se, but instead we have a very thoughtful process related to the projects and products that we make—which I believe is summed up in our three branding identities: First, “For climbers, by climbers,” which means that we are climbers at our core. We love the sport, love the communities that are created around it, and we love it as a lifestyle. We want to spread that love for climbing, so more people can experience the joy that climbing has given us. Second, “We want to help you (meaning, our customers) create the best version of your idea.” We understand that each person and each project is unique, so we put a lot of effort into deeply understanding the core values and vision of each of our clients…Third, and finally, “We build in meters, but design in millimeters.” Our team has a passion for details, from the concept and general project layout to the final assembly of the walls; we do our best to ensure that every last detail of a project is covered…
CBJ: Muta has existed as a wall builder for about a decade. How has Mexico’s climbing gym industry changed in that time?
ALONSO: It has changed a lot. In general, I think climbing, overall as a sport, has dramatically changed in the last 10 years—and Mexico’s scene has not been foreign to that. We often joke with our clients, “We used to be the mountain hippies and now we are Olympic athletes.” I think climbing’s popularization has brought a lot of visibility to the sport. 10 years ago, our only clients were passionate climbers like us—people who loved climbing so much that they wanted to figure out a way to make a living related to the lifestyle. Nowadays, our customer base has diversified a lot; obviously the passionate climbers are still there, but other types of clients have become more frequent, such as [operators of] leisure and recreation parks, shopping malls, education and government institutions.
Speaking specifically about the climbing gyms, they have changed quite a bit too. Prior to 2014, almost all the gyms in Mexico were self-made by their owners and generally had a “garage feel”…meaning, mostly right angles in the plywood panels’ transitions, not the best finishes, sketchy mattresses as floor padding, etc. That changed around 2014, when Bloc E and Adamanta both opened their first locations. I believe that was the tipping point because both gyms were built not by the owners’ hands, but by a specialized company. [In Adamanta’s case, Walltopia was the manufacturer; in Bloc E’s case, the manufacturer was Muta.] That moment automatically raised the quality bar for climbing gyms in Mexico and word quickly spread, and the people who climbed in those gyms started to demand the same quality for other soon-to-open gyms. Today, there are still some self-made gyms out there, but they have become less common, mainly because as the sport has evolved, along with the technical specifications and safety regulations, the owners and owners-to-be realized that partnering with an experienced wall designer and manufacturer can lead to a better outcome, a better quality of the project.
Besides the professionalization of the sport and the quality of the facilities, the other thing that has changed lately—mainly in the last five years, I would say—is the size of the gyms. In the “garage days” the gyms’ square footage was medium-sized at most. Today, it is more and more common to find large climbing gyms in the most populated cities, such as Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. In the past, facilities with more than 10,000 square feet of climbing surface were no more than dreams; nowadays, they have become more common. That’s not to say that medium-sized and small-sized gyms will ever disappear, but just to mention that “mega gyms” are now a reality in Mexico.
CBJ: Sometimes in the USA, there’s a sadness that the days of the smaller, hole-in-the-wall gyms are gone. I think there’s a nostalgia for those older gyms that were a bit rough-around-the-edges, so to speak. Is there that same feeling in Mexico, with some people longing for the “garage days?”
ALONSO: I think there are people for every opinion. There is indeed a nostalgia for the old climbing days among the, I would say, “third generation” of Mexican climbers—which, as myself and Diego, grew up climbing in those kinds of gyms. You always hear comments from these middle-aged climbers who categorically say, “You don’t need a training board, [or] a 600-square-meter gym and a complete rack of free weights to be strong!” I fundamentally agree with that sentiment, but…if you have those things, they are amazing tools.
There are also the more progressive “old guys.” Maybe at one time they held a similar opinion of nostalgia for the old gyms, but soon after they go to a “new school” climbing gym, they quickly realize that, yes, maybe in the purest way, you really don’t need these massive, fully equipped gyms, but honestly they are great places to climb, train and hang out.
In my opinion, the reality of things is that history repeats itself in the evolution and progression of the sport. In the really old days, the mountaineering community mocked the first rock climbers, then the classic climbers laughed at the sport climbers, then the sport climbers to the boulderers, and so on. I think it is kind of the same way in the climbing walls and equipment world. Some part of the previous generation will reject the new tendencies; some will embrace and adapt. The only thing that stays constant is change.
CBJ: Related to the evolution of the size of gyms in Mexico, what are the big trends for climbing wall design in Mexico these days?
ALONSO: I think the gym owners are realizing that the simpler the wall geometry is, the better…because if we design them that way, it leaves more of a “blank canvas” for the routesetters to create the movements, boulders and routes they envision. With this in mind, volumes and good-quality climbing holds are getting more attention and more space in gyms. I think this is mainly because of social media and the internet. Customers nowadays are very familiar with the quality standards of world-class competitions, and also with the kinds of holds that are being used in gyms around the world. So, customers are getting very familiar with the top brands of holds and the use of volumes to create new comp-style boulders and routes. The access to media and information on the internet pushes the gym owners to get higher quality volumes and holds for their routesetters to create the best possible routes because their clients now demand them.
Another thing that is getting more popular lately is training-specific gyms, or at least training-specific areas in gyms. In these spaces, board climbing has earned a place in almost any well-established climbing gym. As the climbing population is maturing, they are demanding these kinds of training tools for their facilities—so, Kilterboards, MoonBoards and Tension Boards are becoming more popular. Also, spray walls have regained a lot of popularity among the climbing population. More often than not, clients ask for a “Japanese-style” spraywall in their facilities, or an adjustable-angle spray wall—such as the one we recently installed in Motion Boulder 3, in Guadalajara. And, many new gyms have fun and safe areas for children to climb and play. This is something that we love because, first, we are thrilled to watch new generations of climbers grow and enjoy the sport and, second, because these spaces are very fun to design.
CBJ: What are the biggest challenges you see in the future of wall design in Mexico and the future of Mexico’s climbing gym industry?
ALONSO: Maybe one of the greatest challenges at the moment in Mexico’s industry is to adapt to the needs of a growing and changing environment. As the climbing industry is growing, the spaces for climbing and products must change with them by becoming more nuanced in order to meet the needs of the different climbers out there. Gyms nowadays must successfully satisfy the needs of a first-time climber and also the needs of a seasoned “old wolf.” So, gyms’ spaces and walls’ designs, layout and distribution must be thoughtfully done accordingly. This makes the design of a climbing gym almost like an equation that you have to solve, once the variables are given. The fun part is that there may be many different solutions for those variables, so our job is to play and iterate with them and achieve the best possible outcome.
Another challenge we have faced is the variability of spaces and clients we design for. We have designed climbing walls in very diverse settings, such as walls that stand on top of a building in the heart of Mexico’s City, existing and custom-built facilities, shopping malls, schools, corporate buildings, sports clubs, small private apartment walls, and also big country houses. Each of those spaces has its own particularities. So, being flexible and creative with the solutions, logistics, design of the walls, planning and engineering of them has indeed been challenging, but nevertheless a fun challenge to tackle.
Lastly, and perhaps the biggest challenge, is to keep up with climbing and maintain a healthy sense of direction in this growth. The huge transformation and growth of our sport has been awesome, but in all the growth there are challenges—and a bit of confusion as the maturation advances. We know and recognize that, as part of the industry, we have a responsibility in the way we do things. And we understand that the way we do our part has some degree of impact on the sport, the environment and the community formed around climbing—from the materials we work with to the processes we use to transform raw materials into finished products, to how we design a place to be safe, community oriented, fun and challenging. In all these details, we do our best to do it the best possible way, and to keep a healthy sense of the direction. Bottom line, we are climbers who love the sport, we love nature, we love the community, and we want the best for all of these.
