Gravity closing its doors this spring

Mirek Hladik shows his feelings about the impending closure of Gravity Climbing Centre with June Ray. Photo by Chris Shepherd.

Gravity Climbing Centre, one of Canada’s first indoor climbing gyms, is coiling up the ropes for good in April and unless a new organization can take up the slack, the West Kootenays will lose a major asset that’s carried climbers through the cold, dark winters until the ice .

Owners Mirek Hladik and June Ray got the news late November that the building housing Gravity had been sold and the new owner wanted them out to make room for – wait for it – offices.

“It was a shock,” Hladik says. He and Ray had heard rumours the building, then owned by Mike Adams, was up for sale, but those rumours were never confirmed until the eviction notice came. They have to be out by Monday, April 30, but Hladik and Ray are closing the doors on Saturday, April 14 to give themselves time to deconstruct the 5,000 square foot gym that includes 19 anchors, two bouldering caves and a 50-foot wall on the outside of the building.

Moving is ‘financially impossible’

Brad Winter, an employee at Gravity, sets up a rope for youth at the gym. Photo by Chris Shepherd.

They’ve moved the gym twice over their 20 years of operations and a third time just isn’t in the cards. “Financially impossible” are Hladik’s exact words. They can’t shoulder the financial burden of moving the equipment to a new location – which they don’t even have – and setting up again.

They have hope the climbing community can come to the rescue, in a sense. While they’re leaving operating a gym behind and focussing on the other part of their business, Gravity Adventures Unlimited, Hladik and Ray have organized a meeting for the climbing community to see if there’s a way to keep the thousands of holds, panels and equipment in the community.

Mark your calendars: Wednesday, Dec. 14, 7:30 p.m. at Gravity Climbing Centre, 513 Victoria St., Nelson, BC.

They want to see if there’s interest in forming a club, coop or society that would buy the equipment and run the gym.

There’s little time to figure this out, unfortunately. Come mid-April the equipment has to go somewhere and if no organization rises to the task, Hladik says they’ll have to sell it outside the Kootenays.

That’s not what they want to see happen, however. Hladik will even transfer the name, Gravity Climbing Centre, and the good insurance rates that come with it to whatever organization takes up the project.

A loss to young families

Ray says the climbing gym has been an important part of the climbing community and she worries about the loss of the amenity to Nelson.

Nelson has already lost its movie theatre, racquet ball courts and now the climbing gym.

“It’s a challenge for young families,” says Ray. “The draw of bush parties is strong. We need healthy alternatives.”

The fact the Nelson area has sustained Gravity for so long is a testament to the vitality of the climbing community here.

“[The gym] goes hand in hand with the mountain culture that’s here.”

Do you think the climbing community can rally to keep the climbing gym in the region?