At 53,000 square feet, the brand new Earth Treks climbing gym is claiming bragging rights as the biggest in North America. Opening tomorrow, it’s obvious why the former Sports Authority’s corporate headquarters is taking the title. Not only were the ceilings raised in certain spaces to 55 feet, the new gym is packed with routes — 500 to be exact.
“We had 25 route setters come in from all of our different facilities,” said Tori Barnett, marketing director for Earth Treks. The company, which recently merged with Planet Granite, flew out each route creator (also known as a setter) to personally craft every climb.
“It’s unprecedented,” said Calvin Bond, PR representative for Earth Treks.” It’ll give the customers the most varied routes of any kind.”
Unfortunately, this won’t be the norm since the Denver location will have four setters on hand. But even so the gym aims to keep the diversity alive by changing the routes every 10 weeks for the ropes area and every eight weeks for bouldering. In its current iteration, setters are recommending the Eldunarà for beginners — it’s a 5.6 top-rope route with 105 holds on it, that’s about twice the amount of a normal route. If you’re an expert, the hardest lead climb is called Sunflower, a 5.14a created by Michael Hauck aka the “Zookeeper.”
If you’re looking to boulder, there’s just as much diversity with routes going from V0 (easiest) to V12 (hardest). There are also several routes that top out, meaning instead of climbing back down, you can climb up and over and descend via a ladder.
If all this terminology sounds confusing, Earth Treks is also offering a gambit of instructional clinics for beginners and youth climbers as well as average climbers hoping to up their game or take their skills outside. If you’re a member, those come included in your membership costs — which start at $79 a month.
In addition to climbing, Earth Treks expanded to include much more traditional fitness options after hearing feedback from its members. The space includes a yoga studio as well as weightlifting areas, treadmills, stationary bikes, ellipticals and space for group exercise classes. The yoga and HIIT classes come included but the in-house childcare will cost you extra.
Earth Treks officially opens its doors tomorrow, August 31. For the Mile High climbing community — it’s a big deal. But if you’re a beginner or curious about the sport, there’s definitely plenty of space for you to learn.
Earth Treks is located at 1050 West Hampden Avenue, Englewood. It opens for business tomorrow with a grand opening celebration on September 22.
All photography by Brittany Werges.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said the HIIT classes were not included in the membership. They are included in the membership and the story has been updated accordingly.
Come on, give Englewood some love! Earth Treks is in Englewood, not Denver…
How much to enter?Where is it?
The address is at the bottom of the article and memberships are $79 a month. Here’s the website too for more info: https://www.earthtreksclimbing.com/englewood/