{"id":847675,"date":"2026-09-14T16:52:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T16:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/847675\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T16:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T16:52:17","slug":"climb-nittany-sets-reopening-timeline-after-brief-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/847675\/","title":{"rendered":"Climb Nittany sets reopening timeline after brief closure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following months of hard work, fundraising and community support, Centre County\u2019s only rock climbing gym is nearly ready to reopen.<\/p>\n

Climb Nittany is planning a formal grand opening celebration on Oct. 18, allowing the public to return to the gym just months after it closed in May due to unsustainable occupancy costs. An initial timeline will allow select members to receive early access in late September ahead of a soft opening in mid-October.<\/p>\n

Avid climber and fundraising leader Eric Chase credited Climb Nittany\u2019s return to the many community members who formed a new group that will own and operate the gym on its own terms. That group, Happy Valley Partners in Climb<\/a>, hopes to use its wide range of perspectives and backgrounds to promote Climb Nittany\u2019s long-term success and sustainability.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn amazing group of local community members came together, formed a business team and were able to purchase not only the building but also the assets and the business from 5.Life,\u201d Chase told the Centre Daily Times, referencing former owner 5.Life Climbing. \u201cIt\u2019s been a journey. We all want things to go quickly and move fast, but we\u2019re excited to reopen this fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Climb Nittany\u2019s resurgence began when the gym\u2019s tight-knit community raised $1.9 million in just three weeks<\/a> to match an offer to purchase the building. Revenue generated from the new ownership group and up-and-coming membership programs will help ensure the gym can remain in operation at 328 Discovery Drive in Boalsburg.<\/p>\n

\"Hazel Hazel Pollock boulders at Climb Nittany on Thursday, May 14, 2026. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com <\/p>\n

Some Happy Valley Partners in Climb members are taking on new roles to ensure Climb Nittany can find its footing. That includes Harmony Schmidbauer, a former tech industry professional and avid climber who now serves as the gym\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the community<\/a>, Schmidbauer said she felt inspired by efforts to save Climb Nittany and chose to join its team to preserve the gym\u2019s important role as a third space, or a community resource outside of work and home. She\u2019s excited to work with Climb Nittany\u2019s team members and climbing community to chart a forward-thinking path that embraces the gym\u2019s new sense of freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving forward, there are lots of conversations to have about how we can really maximize our community outreach and partnerships,\u201d Schmidbauer said. \u201cProgramming represents a huge opportunity, as well as thinking about the facility itself and being able to control our own destiny and make improvements as we see fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmidbauer said her team is often thinking of Climb Nittany\u2019s return with a \u201ccrawl, walk, run\u201d framing. The gym can start crawling by reopening, walking by sustaining its operations and running by planning large-scale improvements for the future.<\/p>\n

Some improvements are already in the works as Climb Nittany\u2019s team hustles to reorganize some exercise equipment, touch up climbing fixtures and paint some climbing surfaces. The gym is also set to introduce a Redpoint, a climbing gym software platform that can keep track of membership data, archive climbing routines and more.<\/p>\n

Climb Nittany is expected to offer a wide range of its typical programs upon reopening, including casual climbing sessions, youth and adult classes and a competitive climbing team. Other offerings, including sessions reserved for older climbers, could also soon return, perhaps through a partnership with OLLI at Penn State<\/a>, a program offering courses and social events for community members who are at least 50 years old.<\/p>\n

Jake Tinklepaugh, Climb Nittany\u2019s programs and community manager, says the gym has something to offer for anyone interested in climbing, no matter their level of experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople from different walks of life and experiences, like the tech industry or outdoor recreation industry, can all come here and share in something that they are trying to get better at,\u201d said Tinklepaugh. \u201cThey\u2019re connecting to other people and improving themselves by climbing and experiencing physical adversity. This is a space where anything can manifest because it\u2019s so supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting Climb Nittany back up and running was imperative due to the important role the gym can play in promoting positive thinking, goal-setting and other key attributes for young climbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty comprehensive curriculum in the sense that we don\u2019t just teach kids how to climb,\u201d Tinklepaugh said. \u201cClimbing is so much more than just getting up the wall. It\u2019s interacting in a space with like-minded individuals, navigating that space with your body and understanding the learning process of failure. Falling off a wall is very physical and visual, and you can point to it and say, \u2018You failed.\u2019 The magic is taking that perception and changing it into motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dexter Dexter Chase and Jake Tinklepaugh huddle with the climbers at Climb Nittany on Thursday, May 14, 2026. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com <\/p>\n

Those interested in being among the first to back Climb Nittany\u2019s return can already sign up for Keystone memberships<\/a>. Annual memberships for an individual start at $970 for an entire year or $520 for six months, with additional discounts available for students, veterans and those who register additional family members.<\/p>\n

Keystone members will be the first to access Climb Nittany\u2019s gym during an early access period starting Sept. 27. These memberships also include exclusive merchandise and the waiving of enrollment fees.<\/p>\n

Starting Oct. 11, monthly memberships, day passes, guest passes and more will be available for purchase, according to Climb Nittany\u2019s reopening schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is, the more memberships we have, the more we can do to build and grow this gym,\u201d Schmidbauer said. \u201cMemberships are really the foundational asset, the consistent source of being able to sustain this. If we have more members, we can consider expanding programming more easily, making facility improvements and reinvesting in the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional fundraising for Climb Nittany continues through Elevate, a new program launched in collaboration with the nonprofit Jana Marie Foundation. The effort, seeking to raise $30,000, is expected to use climbing to help middle- and high-school aged students \u201cbuild resilience, confidence and connection\u201d at no cost to participate.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on months of work, planning and fundraising, Chase said Climb Nittany could never have reopened without the relentless support \u2014 and patience \u2014 from the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to just thank the community for sticking with us, believing in us, trusting us as we navigate this,\u201d Chase said. \u201cWe all wanted to see it open in July, but it\u2019s a journey to start a new business. 5.Life had a vision to bring this here, but this is now truly a community-owned asset, and it\u2019s truly something for the Centre Region to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can visit climbnittany.com<\/a> to find the latest information on the gym\u2019s reopening efforts, including membership details and newsletter sign-ups.<\/p>\n

\"Climb Climb Nittany indoor climbing and fitness gym on Thursday, May 14, 2026. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
\n Related Stories from Centre Daily Times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following months of hard work, fundraising and community support, Centre County\u2019s only rock climbing gym is nearly ready…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847676,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[337,97],"class_list":["post-847675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}