Earth Trecks to Slo!

The cool college town is in desperate need of an awesome climbing gym. Bring it!

SLO-OP is a really good gym in SLO. Awesome bouldering with all types of walls, Check it out.

They are super friendly and chill. It's bouldering though. I don't do that.

Better than a climbing gym is actual rock. You should head up to Bishop Peak for a wide variety of climbing. The approach to Cracked Wall is less than 15 minutes, and many of the routes can be top roped if you're not into leading. P-Wall and Shadow Wall are another 10-15 minutes and offer even more variety.

If it's a matter of finding a partner, I'd suggest going to SLO-Op. There's lots of like minded people there. Many of them prefer to get outside and climb on rope (that's certainly true of me).

You can also check out the climbing pillar at Cal Poly. It will cost a bit of money to gain access to it (mush less if you're a student), but it's pretty sweet.

Been to Cracked wall and P wall. Some good stuff there. Still have to check out Garden Wall and Shadow wall. Not enough people climb routes at P wall so it's kinda overgrown with liken. I mentioned P crack route in the thread about retrobolting and chopping routes. That is the route I was talking about. Now tell me who those extra bolts would have offended. SLO OP is a good gym with good vibe but again...It's bouldering. Not enough traddies and the scene is too young. College kids mostly. There is nothing wrong with that except they don't have any trad experience hence less developed areas for the moderate trads and sports that I like (5.7 to 5.10). I prefer to lead routes. TRs are ok but I really like to lead. It seems you learn more by leading routes.
I think a solid rope up gym would be successful in the area. Grant it the kids are kinda broke but making a college discount deal may work.
Btw you can't climb the college tower unless you know someone in school to sponsor you. What the hell?! On another note if a college student can give me their name so I can use it to climb there it would be sweet.

Joan Lee wrote:Been to Cracked wall and P wall. Some good stuff there. Still have to check out Garden Wall and Shadow wall. Not enough people climb routes at P wall so it's kinda overgrown with liken. I mentioned P crack route in the thread about retrobolting and chopping routes. That is the route I was talking about. Now tell me who those extra bolts would have offended. SLO OP is a good gym with good vibe but again...It's bouldering. Not enough traddies and the scene is too young. College kids mostly. There is nothing wrong with that except they don't have any trad experience hence less developed areas for the moderate trads and sports that I like (5.7 to 5.10). I prefer to lead routes. TRs are ok but I really like to lead. It seems you learn more by leading routes. I think a solid rope up gym would be successful in the area. Grant it the kids are kinda broke but making a college discount deal may work. Btw you can't climb the college tower unless you know someone in school to sponsor you. What the hell?! On another note if a college student can give me their name so I can use it to climb there it would be sweet.

In the Mountain Project database alone, there are 75 trad/sport routes on Bishop Peak within the 5.7 - 5.10 range. I think you need to take another look.

Also, not that it matters, many of the SLO Op regulars I've met have been experienced/solid sport, trad, and even aid climbers. Of course the gym is dominated by newer climbers or climbers who only boulder and climb indoors. But what gym isn't?

Like I said, we are just passing by this area heading to the Valley and Toualame in the next couple of months. I just wish a super cool town like Slo would have a super cool rock gym...With ropes. Santa Barbara ' s gym although super friendly too also is not all up to par by today's standards. Taller (at least 35 ft), bigger, and btw where are the showers??? Maybe there are traddies out there somewhere....There just aren't as many as in let's say Bay Area or Colorado. I think a solid climbing gym would build up the community of climbers quite a bit in the area.

Between SLO-OP and the newer Poly Escapes (Cal Poly) Wall, Slo is a good amount of climbing.

There is that shitty roped gym if you really wanted to get rope in, but no one talks about it because they people who run it are not climbers and run it as so.

Kristin and Yishai have created one of the best climbing communities in Slo. In that gym you'll find more than boulders.

As you can tell I love that place, but dont like bouldering...if that says anything.

When I worked there Id train during the week and hit the Valley on the weekends

WMC wrote:Between SLO-OP and the newer Poly Escapes (Cal Poly) Wall, Slo is a good amount of climbing. There is that shitty roped gym if you really wanted to get rope in, but no one talks about it because they people who run it are not climbers and run it as so. Kristin and Yishai have created one of the best climbing communities in Slo. In that gym you'll find more than boulders. As you can tell I love that place, but dont like bouldering...if that says anything. When I worked there Id train during the week and hit the Valley on the weekends

Did they ever think about expanding Slo - OP into a full blown climbing gym? It is a coop so I bet a lot of students would volunteer to help them build it up. Like I said, nice people, but the gym needs revamping to bring it up to today's standards. Places like Planet Granite or Earth Trecks are popping up everywhere, so why not Slo?
As for "the other gym", that lady won't let anybody in. Even if you wanted to go climb there you could not. She keeps the gym and the parking lot empty on a daily basis.

SLO OP is next to an air port... They can't build any higher, but I guess they could dig down?!!

I agree that a actual gym would be rad, I absolutely hate gym bouldering, it's just stupid, but I go there every afternoon during my school... So it gets me stronger.

WMC wrote: As you can tell I love that place, but dont like bouldering...if that says anything.

Isn't that a picture of you bouldering? ;p

Mickey is mostly correct. The biggest obstacle preventing rope-up climbing gyms in SLO is building height restrictions. Even "that other gym" isn't that tall, especially in comparison to current climbing gym standards. I seem to recall 35 ft. being the max height outside of the downtown area. Within the downtown area, the challenges become zoning and insurmountable cost.

These ideas have been considered in the community. Unfortunately (and fortunately) San Luis Obispo does not currently have the building/urban infrastructure to support a significantly tall walled rope-up gym. Santa Barbara is in a similar situation with respect to building height limits. Larger cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco have an in-place building infrastructure with larger vacant buildings ready for use. Couple that with a larger community with which to draw membership, and big city gyms have an easier time putting up taller, and therefore, more expensive terrain.

What about buying an old church building? I think it would be tall enough, besides think about the cool vibe it would have! I can imagine it would be expensive in that area....