Climb Nittany to Reopen Under New Local Ownership After Whirlwind Community Effort

Less the five months after closing, a Boalsburg climbing gym will reopen under a new local ownership group, thanks to the swift efforts of determined community members.

Climb Nittany, 328 Discovery Drive, will reopen to the public on Oct. 11, and a grand opening party will be held on Oct. 18. Keystone Members — limited time six- and 12-month memberships with additional perks that are available now — will have access to the facility starting Sept. 27.

“We really can’t wait to get folks back in the gym, to see all the fruits of everyone’s wonderful labor come to fruition with getting the community back in here,” Harmony Schmidbauer, Climb Nittany’s new executive director, said.

Previous owner 5.Life closed Climb Nittany’s doors at the end of May, saying that occupancy costs for the gym had become unsustainable and that the company had exhausted all options to continue operating. CEO Mardi Roberts told the Centre County Gazette that COVID-era construction delays and cost increases for developing Climb Nittany pushed the project well over budget, and that the gym’s rent rate has been tied to those costs.

With their climbing gym about to disappear and the property’s owner poised to sell the building, the passionate community that grew around Climb Nittany over the last five years sprang into action. In less than a month, the Save Climb Nittany initiative had an outpouring of support and a group of 14 community members committed to purchasing the business who now form its local ownership group.

“Something that has truly been a standout to me, and is always just incredible, is that dedication that the community has to this space, they will come up to bat if we need it,” said Jake Tinklepaugh, who previously served as Climb Nittany’s general facilities manager and is now its new programming and community manager. “When we were first closing, I had spent years and years talking up the community, and so to be faced with the possibility that we could close, to not believe that the community could come together to make something happen felt almost disingenuous because of how much evidence I’ve had to back the alternative.

“It was a scary time, but there was something in me the whole time where I just knew that something was going to happen, just because of how great they have been.”

Organizers have spent the past several months developing the business structure and plans for the facility once it reopens.

“We thank 5.Life for bringing the vision to have this and to build this here and to run it for all these years,” said Eric Chase, a leader of the Save Climb Nittany and member of its new ownership group. “But at this point, it is completely a brand new operating entity, a locally owned business. And so, just to bring a new business to fruition, it does take time. And it has been at warp speed. It may not feel like it to some of us, or even to the community, but it really has been at warp speed.”

The change allows Climb Nittany to retain what the community loved about it, while making improvements and expanding programming.

The fitness area will keep all the same equipment but will be restructured “to be a little bit more conducive to all the activities that we hold in that space,” Tinklepaugh explained.

“As far as the actual climbing goes, the setting, the community should be happy to hear that it will be remaining just as engaging because our head route setter, Mark Grumman, is still here and putting up great climbs,” Tinklepaugh said.

On the programming front, Climb Nittany plans to bring back its Classic Rockers program to provide older adults an opportunity to learn and challenge themselves physically while also engaging socially.

Climb Nittany will again offer an intro to climbing class that teaches belay skills, “which is how to access our higher walls,” Tinklepaugh said.

The facility is also partnering with Jana Marie Foundation on a new program called Elevate, designed to help upper middle-school and high-school students build resilience, confidence and connection. Chase said the program will use climbing to talk about mental health but how to overcome adversity.

A fundraising challenge supported by $10,000 from an anonymous donor is ongoing with the goal of launching the Elevate program in 2027.

In response to community feedback, Climb Nittany will begin offering members-only hours, Schmidbauer said, including on Mondays when the gym had previously been closed.

“Members will be able to then come in and climb with their own equipment during quite a few additional hours per week,” Schmidbauer. “So that was definitely a major thing that we added based on community feedback already.”

Not all of Climb Nittany’s programming will be available immediately, and it will continue to be built out with community input, Chase said, noting that as a new business it has taken a “crawl, walk, run” approach.

The Climb Nittany community, he said, has been positive and supportive throughout the process.

“The response from this community to trust us, to believe in us through the summer when I know we all wanted it open back in July, but to allow us to work through everything we had to work through to keep this gym here in the community and for the community, we just really want to thank the community for that,” Chase said. “We are excited to be able to show the changes and really look forward to getting that community involvement as we move forward.”

Added Schmidbauer, “We’re all learning a lot as part of this process, thanks to the wonderful staff who has returned, and it’s really exciting. We just are so happy to have folks back in on the wall soon.”