High Point climbing center opens at Huntsville’s MidCity
Huntsville was clearly waiting for its new indoor climbing center to open. Owners of High Point Climbing and Fitness in MidCity Huntsville say 150 people were outside when the doors opened for a preview Wednesday night.
That impressed co-owner Johnny O’Brien, who has opened five of the centers now starting with the iconic original in downtown Chattanooga across from the Tennessee Aquarium. Climbing magazine has called that “the country’s coolest climbing gym.” There’s also a High Point in Birmingham.
O’Brien and partner John Wiygul aren’t stopping with the indoor center, either. Next week, they break ground on a large outdoor climbing wall that will serve as a landmark for the MidCity development. See the video on that project below.
Climbing is one of the world’s fastest-growing sports, O’Brien said, and it will officially become an Olympic sport in 2020. It’s considered “an alternative sport,” he said, but it is growing in popularity with high school and college teams already competing against each other.
Here are four reasons O’Brien said people from age 5 to 75 enjoy climbing:
– “It’s very social.” A community develops in a climbing gym, he said, and it welcomes new people to the sport.
– “It’s very physical.” Climbing is a full-body workout, O’Brien said, and it tests arms, legs and core muscles on each climb.
– “It’s a puzzle.” Climbing is mentally challenging, O’Brien said. “You’re always trying to find out how to get to the top of the route. You have to kind of get the right sequence with your feet. It might take you two weeks to get to the top.”
– “It’s a family sport.” The whole family can do it together, and the 25,000 square-foot center has its kids’ climbing room at the front of the building with a custom-built Saturn V rocket for kids to climb.
O’Brien refers curious first-timers to the climbing center’s website for details about hours, rates and rules. The facility located across from Top Golf is open seven days a week and features multiple climbs with varying levels of difficulty. There is also a gym for working out and special training walls for serious climbers.