Beyond Bouldering Thebarton
Thebarton, South Australia
Specs: Beyond Bouldering Thebarton, a bouldering-focused facility with 540 square meters (5,812 square feet) of climbing wall surface, opened in December 2024 in Thebarton, South Australia. According to Kyri Karakitsios, Business and Marketing Manager at Beyond Bouldering, “Beyond Bouldering was created in 2017 by a group of South Australian climbers who wanted to build world-class bouldering facilities in their own backyard.” The business now operates three facilities in central Adelaide, a city in southwest South Australia. Karakitsios noted that Beyond Bouldering had also operated a fourth gym in Clovelly Park, an Adelaide suburb, from July 2021 to January 2024, but had to close the gym due to the Road T2D project (the construction of a new motorway in the area).
About the timing of their new gym’s opening, Karakitsios said the Beyond Bouldering team had been “looking to open a new flagship facility close to the central business district for some time,” so when a space became available in Thebarton they “jumped on” the opportunity. Having facilities on both the east and west sides of Adelaide was a “key business goal” for the gym chain, Karakitsios explained, “making it easier for people to stop by a gym on their way home from work with convenient parking available.”
The Thebarton gym was a ground-up build carried out by the landlord, which gave the leadership team at Beyond Bouldering “a unique opportunity to be involved in the design process from the beginning,” Karakitsios said. “Because the space was a purpose-built warehouse, we had the flexibility to customize the layout and structure of the climbing walls to best suit our needs.” The leadership team influenced the design of the wall angles, heights, flow of the gym, and more, giving them a chance to “adapt, experiment, and ultimately build a facility that really reflects our vision for the space,” Karakitsios added.
Karakitsios believes that what makes the Thebarton location so unique is its wall angles, and particularly the design of its Psicobloc wall. “This is essentially a huge overhanging wall where the ground follows the wall up to the second floor of our facility, allowing for some really long and steep boulders to test everyone’s endurance,” Karakitsios said. The new gym also has a training area with a Kilter Board, 2024 Moon Board and Tension Board 2, as well as hangboards, campus rungs and a fitness gym.
Walls: Walltopia
Flooring: Walltopia
CRM Software: UniCentre
Website: beyondbouldering.com.au/about/thebarton/
Instagram: @BeyondBouldering
In Their Words: “Don’t rush! Do your homework on the best location and listen to your members.” – Kyri Karakitsios, Business and Marketing Manager at Beyond Bouldering
