Gold Crush Climbing Gym

A community-built gym

Gold Crush Climbing Gym was set up in 2017 by a group of local climbers, who designed and built it by hand with the community, and it serves Grass Valley, Nevada City and the Sierra Nevada foothills. It has 3,500 square feet of bouldering on walls from slab to steep overhang, up to about 15 feet high, including a cave wall, an entry wall, a top-out wall and two adjustable walls, which are reset in turn. Four top-rope anchors reach about 21 feet; they are mostly used for classes and youth programmes, but climbers who pass a belay test can book them.

Training and facilities

• A fully adjustable 12 x 12 ft Kilter Board (0 to 70 degrees)
• A custom crack board with finger to fist-sized cracks, a campus board and hangboards
• A fitness zone with cardio machines, a weight rack, free weights and a stretching area
• A kids' zone with shorter walls, kid-sized routes and a slide

Visiting and membership

Public hours are 4pm to 9pm from Wednesday to Friday and 10am to 3pm on Saturdays. Members can climb around the clock after an in-person orientation, and get free yoga classes and day passes at partner gyms around Northern California. Every first-time visitor gets a short orientation, shoes and harnesses can be rented, and chalk and local guidebooks are sold at the desk. Classes run from Bouldering 101 to top-rope belaying and training, alongside private lessons, Kids Crush sessions, a youth climbing club, a homeschool club and summer camps, plus regular Ladies Nights and student nights.