Flagstaff Climbing Center is welcoming the new year with a mural in progress, and intentions to celebrate its upcoming 30th year anniversary.
Jason Henrie, long-time operations manager and current owner of Flagstaff Climbing Center has worked at the gym for almost the length of the three decades that it has been open.
Flagstaff Climbing Center was established as Vertical Relief Climbing Center in 1995 before its name change in 2012.
鈥淭he gym began as an empty lot in downtown Flagstaff,鈥� said Henrie. 鈥淪tan Mish, Tomas Robison, and their team had the idea to put this thing together.鈥�
Henrie said, 鈥淲hen they first opened this, it was one of the earlier [climbing] gyms in the country,鈥� describing the opening of the gym as a 鈥渇orward-thinking move.鈥�
鈥淲ith the weather being so good, back then climbers weren't really thinking about why you would have a climbing gym. People didn't have that fast-forward look, like 鈥極h wow, look at the community it creates.鈥� said Henrie.
Henrie said that since downtown Flagstaff wasn't as big back then, it was much easier to build something like the gym.
鈥淸Mish and Robison] were just some ragtag climbers from back in the day, just developing routes outside. They built this place from the ground up. They built the walls themselves.鈥�
Henrie said that the only way they survived the COVID-19 pandemic was through the support of the community the gym had created.
鈥淐OVID was the hardest thing for the gym,鈥� said Henrie. 鈥淚 bought the gym right before COVID. And luckily, I'd worked here for a long time; I knew the gym in and out for the most part. It was easier for me to survive than if I would have walked into town and said, 鈥業 just really want to buy [the gym]. I have the money, but I don't know the community and I don't know how to run this thing.鈥� I don't know if the gym would have made it, honestly.鈥�
Henrie said, 鈥淚 think having been a part of this community for a long time and knowing everybody really well we were able to survive.鈥�
Flagstaff Climbing Center wants to continue to nurture the community that they have grown over the decades.
鈥淲e feel like it's like an active bar for climbers. You know, you walk in here and you immediately see all of your friends and get to socialize,鈥� said Henrie.
鈥淭his place is bigger than just a climbing gym. It's a business, it's a meeting place, it's for a whole community, and they want this here,鈥� said Henrie. 鈥淧eople just come in and make their own connections with the community, and it just feeds itself.鈥�
Henrie said, 鈥淥ne of the things I like about our gym is that it has this old school feel.鈥�
Henrie added, 鈥淢odern gyms are turning into big fitness clubs, and they're becoming a lot more stale feeling. It's just not as connected with the community. Whereas here, because of the way the space is designed, you know, it's smaller, and it's built into the community.鈥�
鈥淸Climbing] has changed a lot of lives, and I think that it changed my life when I was younger, gave me a purpose, and was something I was really excited about,鈥� said Henrie.
August Motsenbocker has been with Flagstaff Climbing Center for almost four years, beginning as a volunteer, finding a love for the gym and later becoming the gym鈥檚 education director, managing its programs, coaches and rosters.
Motsenbocker coaches at the gym as well, saying "It's a really great space to get people excited, and get them involved.鈥�
鈥淭his is the only job I've had where people have quit, and they're sad to leave,鈥� said Motsenbocker.
鈥淚鈥檝e made so many good friends,鈥� said Motsenbocker about the climbing gym. 鈥淚'll be in the office working and think, 鈥極h I need a break鈥� and come out here and I know everybody on the floor.鈥�
Motsenbocker said she enjoys 鈥渉aving the space to procure a lot of joy鈥� at the gym.
鈥淥ne of my favorite parts of working at the gym is honestly, just making people giggle. And also having fun getting kids psyched,鈥� said Motsenbocker
鈥淛ason says anybody is allowed in here, and I really value that,鈥� said Motsenbocker. 鈥淲e want to foster an environment where people are interacting with each other and just pushing themselves on the wall.鈥�
Henrie said that the gym is filled with such a diverse group of climbers from beginners to advanced, noting that sometimes they have 12-year-olds climbing with 60-year-old people chatting about the route and sharing advice.
Flagstaff Climbing has different wall angles in the gym so some people can stand over their feet and get more weight on their legs if that is where they hold their strength.They also have overhanging walls where people rely heavily on arm strength and technique.
鈥淲e can challenge people of all levels. Sometimes it comes down to having the right equipment too,鈥� said Henrie.
鈥淣ot only do we try to set certain kinds of hold types on different kinds of walls so that pretty much any age could use it, but we also have specialized instructors with adaptive equipment that can help people learn to climb,鈥� said Henrie.
Built in September of 1995, Flagstaff Climbing Center will be celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year.
Henrie said they are still thinking of celebration ideas, but they intend on having a big party.
鈥淚deally we can get as many people together that have been a part of this community for the length of it to come and be here and just hang out and have a good time,鈥� said Henrie.
鈥淲e're thinking it will probably be in the very late spring when we do that,鈥� said Henrie.
Another exciting thing happening for the gym this year is a new mural that鈥檚 being painted on the outside of the Flagstaff Climbing Center, commissioned by August Motsenbocker.
Motsenbocker has been drawing since she was two years old and began painting very soon after.
She took on the challenge of painting a mural on the outside of the building after Henrie had sought out a group of people who had declined.
Motsenbocker said that the mural鈥檚 design is inspired by the interesting qualities of the rocks around the area, and how to put them on the wall鈥檚 鈥渢ricky surface鈥� in a way that is pleasing to look at.
鈥淚 started off by standing across the street and drawing the wall on a piece of paper. I was measuring the dimensions with my eyes so I could feel and connect with how the wall is,鈥� said Motsenbocker.
Motsenbocker said she began with a lot of quick sketches, trying not to make anything 鈥渇inished鈥� because 鈥渋f you're drafting and trying to finish it all at the same time, you're multitasking, and you're going to flounder at both of them.鈥�
Motsenbocker worked through her thought process while showing peers and said, 鈥淓ventually it evolved into something that felt right and represented not only Flag Climb, but the outdoor climbing in the area.鈥�
鈥淚 think [the mural] is an extension of loving this place so much,鈥� said Motsenbocker.
鈥淭he most important thing is that people can have whatever kind of interaction they want with it,鈥� said Motsenbocker.
鈥滻'm making the thing but everyone else is gonna experience it, and whatever experience they have is awesome. It will be different for everybody and it should. My hope is that people just enjoy something that looks nice and that the colors make them feel happy,鈥� said Motsenbocker.
In addition to the downtown location, Flagstaff Climbing also owns Main Street Boulders, a 24-hour bouldering gym in the Sunnyside neighborhood in central Flagstaff.
Main Street Boulders has been expanded twice within the past two years with modern adjustable climbing walls where you can push a button to change the wall angles and light up the holds.
They have added a workout area so climbers and non-climbers in the community can go there to work out. It is a member-driven gym and its open hours are Tuesday through Thursday 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with 24-hour after-hour access for Premium Members.
Flagstaff Climbing Center offers combination memberships in partnership with Northern Arizona Yoga Center as well.
Henrie said, 鈥淲e want to give people the best options we can to use all of the facilities the way that they want to use them. It is very popular with climbing gyms to also offer yoga classes in them. We just didn't have the space in our facility.鈥�
Flagstaff Climbing Center is located at 205 S San Francisco St. in Flagstaff, Arizona. Its hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Learn more about Flagstaff Climbing Center at
Watch Flagstaff Climbing Center's interview video at AZDailySun.com/flaglive/flicks_and_picks/