2 more indoor Long Island rock-climbing gyms opening as popularity grows
Sophie Renaud, of Farmingdale, ascends a wall at the Island Rock indoor rock-climbing gym in Plainview on Saturday. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
Erik Cline is a longtime indoor rock-climber who feels something is missing on Long Island: a sufficient number of places to climb.
So, the Setauket resident decided to do something about it. He and his wife, Kristin, will open Rocksteady, a 12,000-square-foot indoor rock-climbing gym, in East Setauket by January, he said.
"It’s a fun way to stay active. What’s really cool about these gyms is it sort of creates a community feel," said Cline, 40.
As indoor rock climbing has gained popularity, due in part to social media exposure, the number of dedicated establishments in the United States has nearly doubled to 662 over the past 10 years, according to a report from IBISWorld, a Manhattan-based market research firm.
Another indoor rock-climbing gym, The Gravity Vault, will open on Long Island by the end of this summer at Samanea New York, formerly called the Mall at the Source, in Westbury, said Megan Mantione, director of marketing for The Gravity Vault’s New York locations.
On Long Island, there are now two indoor rock-climbing gyms, one of which is The Gravity Vault in Melville, which opened in 2017. It is operated by a franchisee who also owns a location in Poughkeepsie and the upcoming Westbury one.
The oldest indoor rock-climbing gym on Long Island, Island Rock, opened in Plainview in 1996.
Indoor rock-climbing on Long Island also is offered at places that are not exclusively dedicated to the activity, such as the Lifetime fitness center in Syosset.
There are two main types of indoor rock-climbing: sport climbing, which breaks down into lead and top rope, and bouldering, which does not use ropes and allows the climber to drop off the route, or path, said Jake Byk, content manager for the Climbing Wall Association, a trade association based in Centennial, Colorado.
Cline’s Rocksteady gym, which will be located at 4016 Nesconset Hwy. in East Setauket, will have 15 to 16 feet of bouldering wall above thickly padded floors, he said.
There will also be a children’s section with auto belay climbing of up to 20 feet, he said.
In auto belay climbing, the climber is attached to a retractable climbing rope system that lowers the person to the ground without a belayer, who is the person on the ground who controls the safety rope for the climber.
Rocksteady is taking some of the space that was occupied by an Ethan Allen furniture store, which reduced its 25,000-square-foot store about a year and a half ago, said Jeffrey Pliskin, president of Pliskin Realty and Development Inc., the Garden City-based firm that owns the retail property.
Founded in 2005, The Gravity Vault is headquartered in New Jersey and has 12 locations, eight of which are franchises, in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.
The Westbury location initially was supposed to open in 2023 but that was delayed because of supply chain issues, Mantione said.
The gym will be about 18,000 square feet, with 20,000 square feet of climbing terrain from the floor to the top of the wall and 4,500 square feet dedicated to bouldering terrain, she said.
Island Rock was the first Long Island gym dedicated solely to indoor rock climbing, and its membership number has increased tremendously in the past few years, said Ross Slotnick, general manager of the Plainview facility, which offers memberships and day passes.
The gym has more than 14,000 square feet of climbing surface, including top roping, bouldering and lead climbing, he said.
Indoor climbing has grown in popularity in part because it gives more accessibility to people than outdoor climbing, Byk said.
"As a sport, climbing [both sport climbing and bouldering] is quite young. You’re seeing climbing gyms in places far from outdoor climbing across the U.S., making the sport more accessible and introducing folks to it in a way that allows them to be less risky if they decide to go outside," he said.
One reason for the growing popularity of climbing is social media providing more visibility, which has led to an increase in gyms, particularly on the West Coast, Slotnick said.
"It’s a very social media-friendly activity," he said.
Also, climbing has gone more mainstream due to its debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, according to the IBISWorld report.
Indoor climbing gyms also are offering a broader range of amenities, including individual training programs, weight rooms, yoga and aerial skills classes, the report said.
Erik Cline is a longtime indoor rock-climber who feels something is missing on Long Island: a sufficient number of places to climb.
So, the Setauket resident decided to do something about it. He and his wife, Kristin, will open Rocksteady, a 12,000-square-foot indoor rock-climbing gym, in East Setauket by January, he said.
"It’s a fun way to stay active. What’s really cool about these gyms is it sort of creates a community feel," said Cline, 40.
As indoor rock climbing has gained popularity, due in part to social media exposure, the number of dedicated establishments in the United States has nearly doubled to 662 over the past 10 years, according to a report from IBISWorld, a Manhattan-based market research firm.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Two more indoor rock-climbing gyms are set to open on Long Island: The Gravity Vault in Westbury by the end of summer and Rocksteady in East Setauket by January.
- Long Island now has two indoor rock-climbing gyms: The Gravity Vault in Melville, which opened in 2017, and Island Rock, the Island’s oldest, which opened in Plainview in 1996.
- The sport is growing partly because of increased social media exposure; the number of rock-climbing gyms in the U.S. has nearly doubled to 662 over the past 10 years, according to a market research firm.
Another indoor rock-climbing gym, The Gravity Vault, will open on Long Island by the end of this summer at Samanea New York, formerly called the Mall at the Source, in Westbury, said Megan Mantione, director of marketing for The Gravity Vault’s New York locations.
On Long Island, there are now two indoor rock-climbing gyms, one of which is The Gravity Vault in Melville, which opened in 2017. It is operated by a franchisee who also owns a location in Poughkeepsie and the upcoming Westbury one.
The oldest indoor rock-climbing gym on Long Island, Island Rock, opened in Plainview in 1996.
Indoor rock-climbing on Long Island also is offered at places that are not exclusively dedicated to the activity, such as the Lifetime fitness center in Syosset.
There are two main types of indoor rock-climbing: sport climbing, which breaks down into lead and top rope, and bouldering, which does not use ropes and allows the climber to drop off the route, or path, said Jake Byk, content manager for the Climbing Wall Association, a trade association based in Centennial, Colorado.
Space to climb
Cline’s Rocksteady gym, which will be located at 4016 Nesconset Hwy. in East Setauket, will have 15 to 16 feet of bouldering wall above thickly padded floors, he said.
There will also be a children’s section with auto belay climbing of up to 20 feet, he said.
In auto belay climbing, the climber is attached to a retractable climbing rope system that lowers the person to the ground without a belayer, who is the person on the ground who controls the safety rope for the climber.
Rocksteady is taking some of the space that was occupied by an Ethan Allen furniture store, which reduced its 25,000-square-foot store about a year and a half ago, said Jeffrey Pliskin, president of Pliskin Realty and Development Inc., the Garden City-based firm that owns the retail property.
Founded in 2005, The Gravity Vault is headquartered in New Jersey and has 12 locations, eight of which are franchises, in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.
The Westbury location initially was supposed to open in 2023 but that was delayed because of supply chain issues, Mantione said.
The gym will be about 18,000 square feet, with 20,000 square feet of climbing terrain from the floor to the top of the wall and 4,500 square feet dedicated to bouldering terrain, she said.
Island Rock was the first Long Island gym dedicated solely to indoor rock climbing, and its membership number has increased tremendously in the past few years, said Ross Slotnick, general manager of the Plainview facility, which offers memberships and day passes.
The gym has more than 14,000 square feet of climbing surface, including top roping, bouldering and lead climbing, he said.
More access
Indoor climbing has grown in popularity in part because it gives more accessibility to people than outdoor climbing, Byk said.
"As a sport, climbing [both sport climbing and bouldering] is quite young. You’re seeing climbing gyms in places far from outdoor climbing across the U.S., making the sport more accessible and introducing folks to it in a way that allows them to be less risky if they decide to go outside," he said.
One reason for the growing popularity of climbing is social media providing more visibility, which has led to an increase in gyms, particularly on the West Coast, Slotnick said.
"It’s a very social media-friendly activity," he said.
Also, climbing has gone more mainstream due to its debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, according to the IBISWorld report.
Indoor climbing gyms also are offering a broader range of amenities, including individual training programs, weight rooms, yoga and aerial skills classes, the report said.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
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