Can climbing be done safely during COVID? WA to find out with reopening of indoor gyms
Indoor climbing gyms reopened across the state Monday with a new label: low-risk.
It’s a designation the recently formed Washington Indoor Climbing Coalition has been pushing for since November when Gov. Jay Inslee imposed new public health restrictions to combat a third wave of COVID-19.
Last week, Inslee announced his “Healthy Washington - Roadmap to Recover” plan, which bumped indoor climbing into the low-risk sport category, updated restrictions and provided guidelines for a regional approach to reopening all businesses.
Although climbing gyms are now able to operate, capacity is more limited than it was before with one climber allowed per 500 cubic square feet, a decrease from the previous rule of one climber per 300 cubic feet.
At Edgeworks Climbing and Fitness Center in Tacoma, that reduces the number of people allowed inside from 33 to 19.
New guidelines also limit climbing sessions to 90 minutes and fitness sessions to 45 minutes to reduce possible exposure time.
Michele Lang, the coalition’s spokeswoman and owner of Insight Climbing and Movement in Bremerton and Bainbridge Island, said climbing gym owners are grateful to be labeled as low-risk and the ability to reopen may save indoor climbing from collapsing in Washington state.
“We just wanted (officials) to acknowledge the inherent safety of indoor climbing as it related to the pandemic,” she said. “As we look at this as a long-term recovery in 2021, we want to make sure the Governor’s Office acknowledges the unique aspects that make us different from other activities.”
Those differences are outlined in an 8-page proposal sent in November to Inslee’s office arguing that indoor climbing gyms should be able to reopen at 25-50 percent capacity by Jan. 1, the start of their busiest season.
It pointed out that climbing gyms have higher ceilings and better ventilated facilities, climbing is a socially distanced activity and bouldering a solo sport, and masks are easy to wear at all times because climbing is not a cardiovascular activity.
The coalition cited data from state health departments in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Michigan and Washington D.C. showing no COVID-19 outbreaks have been tied to indoor climbing gyms. The proposal also pointed out climbing chalk is 99 percent effective at killing the virus on surfaces.
Indoor climbing gyms “are essentially as close to being outdoors as one can be while still indoors,” Dr. John Lynch, Harborview Medical Center director and University of Washington medical professor, wrote in a letter supporting the coalition’s proposal.
Widespread support for the proposal has also come from climbers, with more than 3,000 signing a petition.
There are 23 climbing gyms in the state supporting 1,000 employees and 180,000 customers, according to the Indoor Climbing Coalition.
Two of those gyms, Edgeworks and Climb Tacoma, are in Pierce County.
Tod Bloxham, owner of Edgeworks, recently bought two Stone Gardens locations after the previous owner sold due to financial issues from public health restrictions. He fears the off-and-on closures will permanently affect the industry, which was growing fast before the pandemic.
“To open a climbing gym takes millions of dollars, and there are gyms at risk of collapsing,” Bloxham said. “The regulation has been fitness and climbing gyms are dangerous, but the data is not showing that.”
Five new climbing gyms were supposed to open in 2020, but only one did, he said. The pandemic also canceled Bloxham’s plans to expand Stone Gardens to Tukwila.
Most climbers say they feel safe at indoor climbing gyms and miss both the mental and physical benefits.
“With all the precautions they’ve put into place, I feel pretty safe,” said Mike Harlow, 59, an Edgeworks member who lives in Bremerton.
At climbing gyms, visitors must check in and out to comply with occupancy rules. Masks are strictly enforced. Employees regularly clean often-touched surfaces.
Yet, membership sales dropped 34 percent at Edgeworks and Bloxham went from having 150 employees at his three gyms to just 30.
That trend holds nationwide, with the average indoor climbing gym losing 37 percent of its memberships and retaining only 42 percent of revenue and 41 percent of check-ins, according to a survey by the Climbing Wall Association.
The survey also says one-third of climbing gym owners think they will go out of business, one-third are unsure and one-third are not worried about going out of business.
The low-risk label will help climbing gyms keep running, but the coalition hopes Inslee’s office will recognize them as a separate industry.
Cecil Groetken, 41, an emergency room nurse at St. Joseph Medical Center, said one of the reasons he feels safer in climbing gyms than at work or elsewhere in public is because of how airy the facilities are.
“Most gyms just have the floor and machines but we’re climbing on walls and utilizing everything but the ceiling, yet we’re still held to the same standards of occupancy,” Groetken said.
The Governor’s Office never considered indoor climbing to be a moderate or high-risk sport, it just didn’t provide a designation until recently.
Jon Snyder, Inslee’s policy adviser on outdoor recreation and economic development, said that was because the COVID-19 surge happened so quickly that restrictions were imposed on a broad range of indoor activities, including climbing gyms.
“Indoor climbing folks have always made a convincing case that under certain circumstances, their activity could be done safely,” Snyder said. “Climbing is a really important sport in Washington state, and it’s important to us to get them open as quickly and safely as possible.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 12:05 PM.
