TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – Employees at the Climbing Cafe in Terre Haute make taking on the wall look easy.
“It’s a little bit of a rush. You do things that you didn’t realize you could do,” said employee C.J. Huntley.
Before the Climbing Cafe became a neighbor to Top Guns, it was an empty storage space.
Sam Morgan, an experienced rock climber, walked into the room with Top Guns owner Steve Ellis and said, “You should put a rock climbing gym in here.”
Ellis took the idea to heart and offered the space to Morgan.
As the owner of the only rock climbing gym within an 80 mile radius, Morgan wants to make sure Terre Haute residents reach new heights and gain new experiences.
“This section of the wall especially,” he said pointing to a wall full of “easy” vertical routes, “Kids will get up to the top after four or five tries. And the first thing they do is look for mom and dad and say hey look at me.”
With 4,000 square feet of climbing surface and ever changing routes, the gym can pose a challenge to even the most experienced climber.
“We have this cool competitive environment here. Some of the employees are a little bit better climbers than I am,” said Huntley. “And seeing them do something makes me want to go up there.”
Morgan hopes his rock climbing gym will become a destination for locals, and tourists,”I think it’s gonna give people the opportunity to spend their money on things to do versus stuff.”
And if climbing isn’t your thing, don’t worry they also have a cafe full of sweet, salty and caffeine filled treats.
For gym hours and membership information visit their
website.
