The walls are almost finished!
Time to introduce our Gym Manager
With the walls nearing completion, we thought we’d take a moment to give you an update. But before we do, we are so excited to introduce Curran McMahon, a long time employee and soon-to-be Gym Manager of our newest facility!
Curran sends Neil’s Lunge (V4) at Lincoln Woods State Park
Photo credit: Julia Ordog
Curran has been climbing at Rock Spot Climbing since 2008. A graduate of the University of Rhode Island, Curran has worked with the company since 2014. He has done an incredible job at every position he’s had with the company from providing orientations to new climbers, instructing youth members, route setting and supervising shifts. As an engaged member of the climbing community in Rhode Island, Curran was excited when we announced that we would be opening Rhode Island’s first bouldering exclusive training facility on the West End of Providence.
“I am thrilled that I will have the opportunity to be a part of an amazing team of people at Rock Spot Climbing, dedicated to providing an excellent climbing experience for anyone walking through our doors”
Curran continues, “Believe me when I say I will be doing my absolute best in this new position to create a tightly knit, inclusive and diverse community of climbers in the amazing new space.”
We can’t wait for him to lead the Providence team in our constant effort to provide accessible climbing to everyone.
The main frame provides the backbone that the entire project hangs from
Buttresses are built off of the main frame to support the walls
It’s been a long road going from just having a steel frame to complete walls, but surprisingly it’s only taken about three (3) weeks into the project to get the walls to where they are now. The team from our wall developer, Vertical Solutions has done an incredible job building the walls and are nearly finished with the finer details.
The most rewarding thing for us has been witnessing the community’s reactions when we show off new images on our local Instagram page. It’s one thing to see the designs we collaborated on with our Director of Wall Design, Mike Dominguez come to life, but it’s something else to see climbers crowd around someone’s mobile device when we drop a new image showcasing a new feature they weren’t expecting and for all of them to crazy talking about how much they can’t wait for this project to be completed. Everyone can’t wait to climb the boulder problems on these walls and we can’t wait for the project to be complete so we can let them.
With the wall structure complete, the team has begun installing the textured surface along with the colored trim that will highlight the darkly stained inlay that will add a visual distinctiveness that sets this new location apart from not only our other locations, but any gym in the region.
This prow creates a magnificent feature for our setters to design cool compression based boulder problems for the climbing community
A textured, birch surface is applied that maintains the look of the wood, but provides the friction climber’s need to use the walls as they climb in a very similar manner to climbing outdoors
While the textured surface is applied, the training boards were constructed that will eventually be fully adjustable and feature both a Kilter board and a Moon board which are the newest training systems developed specifically to engage climbers
Colored trim will accentuate the look of the dark wood inlay that will be the final piece to wall construction
There is still a lot of work ahead, but at this point the project is really starting to take shape and we’re proud of all the hard work the entire team has put in to make this project a reality. We cannot express how thankful we are to the community for supporting the sport and our growing Rhode Island based company for 20 years. Our motto has always been that climbing is for all ages, all abilities and we’re confident that this new Providence location will continue that legacy by introducing even more people to the sport while providing a haven for all climbers to grow and pursue their passions.
Small, textured squares that showcase the look and feel of the new walls are currently making the rounds to all of our locations so that the entire community can feel what it will be like to climb in Providence when the project is complete
The front of the building is beginning to get a face lift to match the look of the interior
Our dedicated parking area will have a new fence, entrance and should easily fit most of the community’s cars
