Elevation: New climbing gym gears up for December opening

The rumors are true.

Elevation Rock Gym — Logan’s new indoor rock climbing gym located at 1780 North 200 East — will be opening its doors before the end of the year.

“We don’t have an opening date set in stone, but we’re planning on opening the first week of December,” said Bradley Kessler, one of the co-owners of the new business.

Kessler said things have been in the works since the Rock Haus closed at the same location in April earlier this year.

“We’ve been working on the business side for several months, all summer basically,” Kessler said.

Brian Hestatune and Kessler, who both attended the Rock Haus frequently, saw an opportunity when they heard the Rock Haus would close.

“As soon as we heard it was closing we started looking for places to open up a climbing gym in Cache Valley,” Kessler said. “We were able to get into the same location, which just made sense because the walls were already there.”

Matthew Smith, an avid climber and former patron of the Rock Haus, said he was not only excited when he found out about the new gym three weeks ago, but he is excited for the dynamic it will bring for the climbing community.

“I think it’s pretty great,” Smith said. “It’s gonna be more about climbing and less about recreation.”

The new business will be similar to the Rock Haus, though there will be plenty of changes made.

“We’re trying to offer a couple more things,” Kessler said. “We’re gonna have fitness equipment as well as a room for yoga classes.”

Kessler said the business will also offer a small amount of retail items for sale.

“We’re giving the building a facelift, at least on the inside,” Kessler said. “Me and Brian are gonna try to take a different approach. We’re just gonna try some different approaches in terms of marketing.”

On Nov. 19 the new Aggie Recreation Center will be finished including its climbing wall, which is over 3,000 square feet. The wall in the ARC will mostly serve as a training ground for the Outdoor Recreation Program and as a wall for Utah State University students to use during open climbing hours.

“This was never meant to be a community wall,” said Dan Galliher, the retail shop coordinator and the man in charge of the ARC climbing wall. “It’s a student-only building. You have to be paying student fees to use this wall, so the public can’t come in and use it.”

Smith, who is an Aggie, said though he plans on going to the wall in the ARC for its convenience, he anticipates spending more time at Elevation, where he plans to get a monthly pass. He said Elevation will be an environment geared more towards serious climbers.

“There’s gonna be people there who know what they’re doing,” he said. “There’s a sense of camaraderie more so than just hanging around on campus with a bunch of kids who are goofing off on a rock wall.”

Hestatune and Kessler are keeping the climbing community in mind with the opening of their new gym.

“Because we’re a gym opening where a gym used to be and we understand a lot of people were members at the former gym, we won’t be charging any startup fees for our first 60 days,” Kessler said.

Kessler disclosed that a monthly pass at Elevation Rock Gym will cost $44 per month. He said a price has not yet been determined for a day pass.

After the Rock Haus closed, rumors spread over the final ownership of the building. One rumor was that Vivint bought the building as a warehouse.

“As far as I know that Vivint thing was just a rumor,” Kessler said. “Me and Brian have had this building for a month and a half, and we have an exclusive lease on it for 10 years.”

Smith said there were a lot of things that contributed to the Rock Haus going out of business.

“Rock climbing gyms aren’t a very lucrative business,” he said. “It’s something you do because you love it and because you want others to experience it.”

Though much of the paperwork and real estate work is taken care of, for Hestatune and Kessler, there is still much to be done.

“It’s actually happening,” Kessler said. “We’ve got a lot do in the next four weeks here, but a lot of the major hurdles have been crossed so now it’s just putting our noses down and getting everything ready to go.”

For those who want to know more, Elevation’s Facebook page is facebook.com/elevationrockgym and their Instagram account is @elevationrockgym.

— mikeburnham3@gmail.com
@mikeburnham31