That new massive building in Ripon going up off Highway 99? Here’s what’s going in.
That big building being built off Highway 99 in Ripon that you keep wondering about looks imposing for a reason.
No, it’s not a new auto shop or a dental office. It’s the future home of Alpine Climbing Adventure Fitness, a massive new indoor rock climbing center and health club being built from the ground up on Garrison Road, next to the Canal Street Grille.
The new 19,300-square-foot facility sits on more than 2 acres of previously undeveloped land just to the west of the freeway. The project has been five years in the making for Ripon resident and Alpine co-owner Jonathan Meek, who is working with a team of business partners on the development.
Things got serious about 18 months ago, when plans came together for the site and ground was broken this past August. Work is now ahead of schedule, even amid the COVID-19 outbreak and all its associated shutdowns and slowdowns. Meek said they hope to be open by about April, pandemic permitting.
When it does open, it will be like nothing else in Modesto or Stanislaus County. The building will have four main climbing walls when finished: one 55-foot high tall wall, one Olympic-sized speed wall, one bouldering wall and a kids wall area.
The facility will have two floors, with space on the upper mezzanine for fitness and yoga classes as well as exercise equipment. The large downstairs area is where climbers will find the walls, as well as locker rooms and more general gym space with additional weights and workout machines.
The design is industrial, with metal siding, and also airy with plenty of head room thanks to the 55-foot ceilings and windows looking into the climbing area. The finished structure will also have a retail shop, and people will be able to rent equipment (shoes, ropes, harnesses, etc) as well.
Meek has been climbing recreationally for about 20 years, after starting as a child. He said he and his partners picked Ripon for a number of reasons, but one of the biggest was its proximity to Yosemite National Park, which is a world-renowned climbing mecca.
Inside features several climbing walls, fitness center
While Modesto has a dedicated climbing gym with Stonehenge Indoor Climbing Gym on Ninth Street, Alpine will be a much larger facility that offers more kinds of walls and different fitness classes. The new center will have some 16,500 square-feet of climbing walls, which were custom designed by a company in Bulgaria.
Meek said climbing gyms of similar size can be found in the Bay Area and Sacramento. He plans to hire a staff of about 25 employees to start. Outside construction should finish in around six to eight weeks.
The largest inside wall, the 55-foot tall section, will be used for lead climbing and top-rope climbing. To the non-climbers, myself included, that’s where you’re harnessed in and attached to the rock face. The bouldering wall is for free climbing (i.e. without ropes, though there will be 16-inches of padding below to soften any falls).
And then the 15-meter speed wall is just about getting up to the top as quickly as possible, competing either against yourself or another climber next to you.
The next summer Olympics, whenever we’re able to hold them, will feature the debut of climbing as a sport. It’s one of the other reasons Meek and his team thought now was the time to open their climbing center in the Central Valley.
They plan to offer memberships and day passes. The center will have classes for climbing newcomers and children. Meek stressed that they want the facility to be welcoming to everyone, from hardcore climbers to fitness buffs and families looking to get healthy.
“Our vision and dream for this has always been bringing families together,” Meek said. “You can have dad and mom belaying kids. And it gets kids out of their screens and moving their bodies for a few hours.”
For more on Alpine Climbing Adventure Fitness visit climbatalpine.com.
This story was originally published November 15, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
