Gravity Niagara, St. Catharines, Ont.

New-age Southern Ontario Bouldering Gym

Gravity Niagara opened in summer 2019 and by fall it was already hosting provincial climbing competitions. The new facility is in St. Catharines and is the latest five-star indoor bouldering gym in southern Ontario. Opened by the owners of Gravity Climbing in Hamilton, it features nearly 5,000 square feet of climbing walls with problems ranging from beginner to very hard. The first climbing gym in St. Catharines was Peaks Indoor

Rock Climbing, which was one of the first gyms opened in Canada. Back in 1994, Andre Zeman had just moved to Ontario from the Czech Republic when he opened Peaks. Zeman, who had climbed a number of big walls and difficult sport routes at the time, recently celebrated his gym’s 25th anniversary.

Visiting Peaks is like taking a step back into time to an era when climbing gyms were about boxy roofs and plywood walls. The surfaces are rough and worn, but worked in and offer great challenges. It’s one of the few gyms in Ontario that still has many of its original characteristics. With 30 routes, old-school cracks and reachy overhangs, Peaks will continue to be the centre of St. Catharines climbing.

“It’s great to have a modern bouldering gym like Gravity Niagara,” said local climber Ben Shaw. “And it’s amazing that Peaks has been here for over 20 years. They’re a big part of the climbing community and introduced so many of us to the sport. Having a bouldering-only gym should definitely appeal to the next generation of young climbers from around here.”

Many cities have old and new facilities and it speaks volumes about an area’s climbing culture when both can move forward successfully. Gravity Niagara will provide comp-style setting on new walls with fresh mats and will give locals an edge in future competitions. And Peaks will continue to be the historical climbing hub in Ontario’s most southeastern corner.—gripped