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New bouldering gym opens doors to climbers in downtown Orlando
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In the absence of towering rocks to scale outdoors in Florida, a new bouldering gym downtown aims to give climbing enthusiasts a place to test their strength, endurance and problemsolving abilities.
Blue Swan Boulders is now open in Orlando, located near UCF Downtown, just west of I-4. Inside, visitors can explore 7,000 square feet of bouldering wall space, plus enjoy beverages and try out the exercise equipment.
The gym opened its doors for founding members Sept. 12-13, while the general public was welcomed Sept. 14. Berta Garcia, gym director at Blue Swan Boulders, said climbers have already embraced the new facility.
“We’ve been getting nothing but positive reviews. Folks seem really stoked,” she said. “We’ve had so many folks come out and check out the place, then share it on their Instagram.”
Dean Privett, vice president of Blue Swan’s parent company, Moments Climbing, said he saw membership rise to around 250 climbers during opening weekend. He added that nearly half of the facility’s routes trend toward beginner ratings, and the terrain should appeal to new climbers while giving experienced athletes challenging options.
During pandemic times, the gym is taking measures to keep visitors safe by requiring reservations after 4:30 p.m. and limiting capacity to about 75 climbers at a time — 25 percent of the facility’s capacity. Guests are also required to wear masks.
Blue Swan isn’t the only climbing gym in Central Florida. It joins Aiguille Rock Climbing in Longwood, which offers mostly top-rope climbing with harnesses, and DeLand’s
DynoClimb, which provides some top-rope routes in addition to bouldering. Unlike toprope climbing, bouldering doesn’t require harnesses and features shorter problems, or routes, which allow climbers to jump off and fall onto mats when they reach the top.
Garcia noted that right now, Blue Swan Boulders is the only gym in “Orlando proper.”
“We hope this the start of more quality climbing gyms in Florida,” she said. “There are climbers in Florida and future climbers in Flor
ida, and there’s a real opportunity and potential to grow the climbing community here.”
The new facility has appeal for people like Spencer Beck, a Windermere resident who couldn’t find the right kind of climbing gym when he moved to Orlando from Maryland. He’s visited Blue Swan three times in less than a week.
“I used to boulder eights or nines, but I’ve been down here for two years and haven’t been able to climb much,” he
said, referring to more difficult bouldering problems. “Ever since this place opened, I was super, super excited. I tracked the progress since before they even had walls up.”
Orlando climber Erika Johns said having a new gym gives people options and should help other Central Florida facilities become less crowded.
“I’ll probably be between here and Aiguille just because they have the top ropes,” she said. “I’m really happy they opened another climbing gym in Orlando. We really needed more because we had so many people going to the other climbing gyms.”
Garcia said that while climbing may have begun as a niche, extreme sport, it has taken hold in many parts of the United States as a more mainstream way to stay fit.
“In my opinion, it has kind of evolved to be more than just a fringe sport, but part of an active and healthy lifestyle,” she said. “Florida is kind of the final frontier for it to go from this ninja warrior or trampoline park type thing to, ‘This is the gym I go to.’”