Culture / Sporting Life

Houston Lands Its First Bouldering Gym — a New Take on Rock Climbing: It’s Not About Heights or Harnesses

BY // 02.18.18

Editor’s note: This is fifth in a series on Houston’s burgeoning exercise scene — and the fitness boutique trend.

If you’re looking for a workout that engages your mind as well as your body, we’ve got a solution. Finding “solutions” is the goal of bouldering, a stripped-down form of rock climbing.

Try it out at Momentum Indoor Climbing, a new bouldering gym at 1401 Silver Street. It’s the first bouldering gym within the loop.

The raw climbing workout leaves behind ropes and harnesses, but tackles similar “problems” or climbing obstacles. You solve problems by climbing the short, often tricky routes in a sequence of moves that take technique, balance, strength, and more than a little creativity.

Equipped with just special climbing shoes, chalk to increase friction and improve grip, and a crash pad, it’s really just you and the wall. Fear of heights? No problem with these problems. The routes are much closer to the ground because you aren’t buckled in.

“I feel like a lot of people think that they’re scared of heights or don’t have strong arms, and think climbing isn’t for them,” Sydney Smith, Momentum assistant manager and yoga manager, tells PaperCity.

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“A ton of climbers start out that way and end up having a blast.”

The climbing gym offers three levels of training classes to either jumpstart, hone, or expand your skills. Experience teaches you the basics of bouldering in a one-day crash course. Explore is a collaboration with REI that teaches bouldering and includes individualized instruction.

It comes with a two-week trial membership. Expand has two components: how to boulder V3 and how to boulder V5.

These refer to the difficulty level, and are indicated on the walls with colored tags. Momentum does not utilize stark definitions of each, grouping V0 through V2 in the same color category. It allows for more flexibility of options and greater self-confidence.

From the Heights of Utah

Momentum got its start, not surprisingly, in Utah’s mountains. The gyms, which have spread to Seattle and several areas in Texas, including Katy, were designed to mimic the range’s crags and canyons. The Katy location offers bouldering as well as traditional rock climbing.

Climbers can hone their technique and improve their strategies across the 42,000 square feet of space. Course setters change out the problems every month and a half, giving climbers time to reach their goals but also experience new challenges on a regular basis.

“We aim to have a brand new gym every six weeks,” Smith says.

There is great range between the problems themselves, set to accommodate people of all different genders, body types, and skill levels.

“It’s one sport where men and women tend to perform pretty equally, even in the professional realm,” Smith notes.

momentum wide view
Every six weeks, Momentum looks like a brand new gym with brand new problems to tackle. (Photo by Jonathan Vickers.)

Momentum’s walls differ in slope and position, with some vertical, overhung, or slab-style.

“That definitely changes the characteristics of the problems,” Smith says. They take it one step further: there are even different styles of problems within walls of the same slant.

“What’s cool about the problems that you work on is that the way I do it may be very different than the person next to me,” Smith says. “There’s no precise way to start or finish any problems.”

The way bouldering is set up, you can have a beginner problem right next to one of the more difficult problems in the gym, Smith says. “People who might be on their first day climbing may be right next to people who have been climbing for 10-plus years.”

This system creates a system of support and inclusion. Climbers of all skill levels give each other advice. “It fosters a strong community,” Smith says.

When multiple people take on the some problem, they each take turns to see how far up they can get. Climbers give it one or two attempts before the next person starts. “You sometimes get crowds that are cheering each other on, even if they don’t know each other,” Smith says.

In keeping with the supportive community vibe, Momentum discourages what they call “grade-chasing.” It can be damaging to self-confidence and create mental limitations that keep people from trying problems they perceive as too difficult.

The gym even has several assessment walls to help climbers identify areas they need to work on. One method that helps: yoga. Smith teaches three yoga classes, Yen, Vinyasa and Yoga for Climbers.

Sky Yoga

“Yoga and climbing complement each other pretty well,” Smith says. “You have that mobility aspect, flexibility, and also that focus on the problem on hand.” It increases strength around the joints and improves mobility.

Momentum memberships include access to all of the cardio equipment and weight machines in the facility. Some climbers come in for both purposes.

“We make people feel like this is their home gym,” Smith says.

They even offer a day care that costs $4 an hour, open on weekdays from 9 am to 12 pm, then again from 5 to 8 pm. Weekend daycare hours run 1 through 5 pm.

A ton of people that gravitate toward Momentum are just curious. A lot of people have never heard of it or seen it before, Smith says. There has also been a huge wave of existing climbers. Both groups are welcome.

“We really wanted to make it a place where people can come and hang out, work out, and also have a really good time,” Smith says.

You can try your hand at bouldering from 6 am to 10 pm Mondays through Thursdays, 6 am to 11 pm Fridays, 10 am to 11 pm Saturdays, and 10 am to 6 pm on Sundays.

Who doesn’t want to reach new Heights?

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