Indoor rock climbing is blowing up and Momentum Climbing, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is leading the charge. With already three gyms in Utah, two in Texas and soon two in Seattle, Wash., the Momentum brand has announced the opening of bouldering gym in Historic Trolley Square.

                                           

The 15,500-square foot bouldering gym offers Salt Lake City climbers a fourth location. And it will be included in Momentum Climbing’s multi-gym membership. Set to open in December 2018, 15,500-sq. ft. Momentum Trolley Square will offer 7,000 square feet of bouldering, a 4,000-square foot training area featuring a Moon Board, Momentum E-wall (a 34- foot wide “smart woody.”), a Lattice Board assessment center, weights, and a cardio area.

What’s Inside Trolley’s Momentum

Climbing

While children are welcome, this members-focused gym won’t have any organized youth programs like it does at their other locations. It will instead provide adult programs, and a “social zone”. Guests can plug-in and catch up on email or school work.

“For the past 5 years, we’ve been following the efforts to revitalize Trolley Square, which is a precious piece of Salt Lake City history. Securing our fourth location here, and playing a part in this center’s next chapter is exciting for Momentum,” said Jeff Pedersen, co-founder, and CEO of Momentum Climbing. “Salt Lake City’s passion for climbing and training has been the foundation of our brand’s success. At Trolley, we’ve paid special attention to providing the latest in climbing-specific training technologies, so that all our climbers can realize their full potential.”

Trolley Square has long been a hub for industry. In the early 1900s, it housed a new state-of-the-art trolley fleet building that held 144 double-truck streetcars. Its iconic 50,000-gallon water tower was constructed in the event of a fire. It was the premiere trolley system of its time. It serviced 146 miles of track, with cars that ran from Salt Lake City to Holladay, Sugar House, Bountiful, and Centerville. In the 1930s, buses began replacing trolley cars and by the 1950s, Trolley Square went the way of the dinosaur. Luckily, in the early 1970s, new owners, inspired by Ghirardelli Square, the chocolate factory in San Francisco, developed the site as a shopping mall. Occupancy dropped by half during the Great Recession and the spot again fell into ghost town status. Then in 2013, local businessman Khosrow Semnani purchased Trolley Square. He revitalized it with bars, restaurants, a fitness center and retailers including Whole Foods.

Momentum Climbing Aims At Students

Many will notice that this new gym will directly compete with The Front for those trendy University of Utah students. But will it put them out of business? When Momentum Millcreek opened, it didn’t take long before Rockreation shuttered. Let’s hope The Front won’t suffer the same fate. Given the number of members at both Momentum Millcreek and The Front there should be room for all.  Now, if Momentum would only open a climbing gym in Park City…..

Those interested in employment opportunities or receiving email updates on Momentum Climbing’s Trolley Square grand opening and pre-opening membership specials should visit www.momentumclimbing.com.