For the last six years, I have never been closer than two hours to a 15-meter speed climbing wall. The closest speed wall to me right now is at Momentum in Katy, Texas (two-hour drive) and Summit in Plano, Texas (four-hour drive).
It has been a struggle to train consistently with having to drive for hours during the weekends and then hoping to keep my muscle memory during the weekdays. In all of my speed climbing career, I have never been able to train consistently on a speed wall for more than six weeks in a row due to my distance from a speed wall.
I have done over 125 trips to those gyms in the past few years in order to train on a real speed wall. And, I have written about it before.
But my long wait for a local 15-meter speed wall may soon be over. I may have a gym that is only half an hour away by September. The Mesa Rim gym in Austin is planning to open in the third quarter of 2022. Mesa Rim brings back good memories as I won Youth Nationals at their gym in Reno, Nevada last year.
When completed, the Mesa Rim Austin gym will be the largest climbing gym in Texas. It will have a full 15-meter speed wall, as well as bouldering walls, top rope and lead walls, and a full functioning workout gym.
Having a gym close by will allow me to train more frequently. I know I will climb faster and get more PRs sooner when I am able to train on the speed wall every day or two instead of once or twice a month, if that.
Rather than driving 4+ hours round trip, I can use that time to train more frequently. I am aiming to be under 6 seconds by the end of the year and with the speed wall nearby, this will be significantly more achievable.
I cannot wait for the gym to open!
