Rock Room Community Climbing Gym is opening its doors to a world of climbing experiences featuring routes from around the globe.
Creators and business partners Mike Hyer and Cody Cook saw a need for a climbing gym in the city, purchased the former Fresh Air Experience building on Victoria Avenue, and began construction of the facility.
“It was built by local climbers for local climbers,” said Hyer. “Cody and I are the two local climbers who felt so strongly about having a gym that we just had to take it on ourselves and try to do it as fast as possible.”
The pair launched the concept in January 2025 and secured their location at 319 Victoria Avenue East at the beginning of June.
“Now, after some bumps in the road, we are in the final stretches of preparing for a soft launch of a large portion of our space on Feb. 27,” he said. “Another section will open about a month later.”
Upon entering the bouldering gym, you are met with the Iceberg, a massive centralized climbing wall that will challenge the novice to the expert climber. The Kilter and the Moon boards are a pair of climbing walls that are digitally illuminated with routes from different parts of the world. These walls are not for the faint-hearted and will tilt vertically to the ultimate 45-degree overhang.
In case of falls, a thick foam base surrounds all of the walls to ensure a safe landing.
“We really prioritize safety and also inclusive design,” he said. “We consulted with experts, and we pulled from our community of climbers. We also spoke with folks about accessibility, and we looked at things that we could do that would make this space the best it could be.”
Hyer explained that bouldering is a style of climbing where climbers generally do not use any rope because they’re close to the ground.
“There is a variety of angles, holes, shapes and difficulties, whether it’s a really small hole that you really have to grab very tightly, or whether it’s a large hole called a jug. By varying those things, you can create an entire spectrum of difficulties in one space,” he said, adding that they recognize rope-free bouldering is not for everyone.
“We have engineered into the plans the ability to hang ropes for special events, but on the average day, there won’t be any rope hanging in the gym.”
Matt Gain, the head route-setter from The Hive Climbing and Fitness in Winnipeg volunteered his time last weekend to help set the routes on the walls in the Thunder Bay gym.
“Route setting is the creative process of coming up with a movement pattern by bolting the (handles into the) holes on the wall to force that movement pattern,” said Cook. It can be as simple as a ladder on the walls, or it can be very complicated with jumps, spins and all kinds of dynamic climbing.
Morgan Speers, said working at the gym is awesome.
“To be able to help build the walls has been really rewarding. It feels like I’m doing something for the community,” Speers said. “It’s been challenging, in a really fun way, to put the pieces together, to use the blueprints and to learn all the systems, and then to see it all coming to fruition is so awesome.”
Brooke Rajala, who also works at the gym, said it’s nice to share ideas.
“I’ve just been doing general contracting here, because it’s been a huge ordeal getting the space ready,” Rajala said. “There are other people more knowledgeable than me here, and as a woman, I don’t have much exposure to (construction) work. I learned so much, and I feel way more confident about my skills in that sector now.”
Co-worker Brian Paonessa has built himself a home climbing wall in the past, and says he has a general understanding of how this works. Although the walls came pre-built by professionals, there was plenty of assembly to be done.
“I am an electrical engineer by schooling, so I had a general understanding of power tools… but otherwise, I learned a lot on the spot. Mike’s really good with power tools and any sort of construction, so he taught me just about everything I know now.”
