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The steepest incline a person may encounter living on the Georgia coast is likely to be a sand dune, but for those looking for an actual challenge, a small Savannah climbing gym has introduced a new option.
Tucked away on the second floor of the pink shopping plaza off Victory and Montgomery, the Climbing Coop has kept a low profile for its nearly two years in operation.
Owner Douglas Galloway started the venture with plans to run it like a cooperative, or clubhouse, with seven or eight climbing enthusiasts voluntarily running the business.
“That really fell through and I had invested a lot into it, so I tried to soldier on with a little different business plan,” said Galloway.
Galloway soldiered on with the aid of Amy Livingood, now the operations manager, and the growth they’ve seen over the last year has been incremental but positive. Mostly through word of mouth, their membership has doubled since the beginning of 2014 from 25 to 50, and they’ve added new programs such as a youth team that meets once a week.
“We’ve definitely seen an increase in the first quarter of this year,” said Livingood. “I’d be willing to guess it’s one of the few places where SCAD and Army rangers hang out together.”
While Galloway still has a full-time day job, Livingood has been able to transition to running the gym and coordinating its volunteers.
The inside of their space is active and engaging, with multicolored plastic rocks peppered on black walls hung at imposing angles. They categorize themselves as a ‘bouldering’ gym because they do not use ropes or harnesses common to traditional rock climbing.
Their highest walls go to 14 feet, and there are crash pads at the base of every wall, with spotters on the lookout for any precariously dangling individuals.
They have about 40 so-called “problems,” a term that means routes, and they change about five routes a week to give climbers new challenges.
“We have climbers that have come from all over the country and always compliment us on our ‘problems,’” said Galloway. “We’ve also introduced climbing to a lot of people, even people like me who picked it up later in life,”
Day passes start at $10 and monthly memberships at $50, with shoe and chalk rental available for a small fee.
Galloway said there is an appetite for this sport in Savannah because climbing gyms are few and far between — he said the closest are in Charleston and Jacksonville. And it’s a four- to six-hour drive to get to the nearest natural rock formations for real bouldering.
He said it’s been interesting to see the sport evolve.
“Climbing used to be this dirt bag or fringe sport, and it’s really become mainstream fast and hard in the last 10 years,” he said.
The most rewarding part, said Galloway and Livingood, is ushering in a new type of recreation and seeing their business grow.
“It’s kind of evolved on its own,” said Galloway. “It’s super rewarding to introduce it to other people and realizing that we are the ambassadors of the sport here.”
ON THE WEB
For more info, go to savannahclimbingcoop.com.