The climbing community in Austin has found itself gripping a contentious issue as the Austin Bouldering Project (ABP) confirms plans to assume control of the South Austin space currently occupied by Crux Climbing Center, as reported by KXAN.
Crux, which has voiced frustration over the move on social media alleging that ABP negotiated a lease behind their back, claimed on Instagram that the action taken by their competitor was entirely unexpected, affirming "It’s honestly beyond heartbreaking to learn that another climbing business would do this to us. We are the ONLY local climbing gym in Austin," and lamenting the potential loss of employees resulting from the transition, KVUE reports. The post, which has garnered attention within the community, quickly amassed over 5,000 likes reflecting the stir its announcement caused among the local climbers but according to KVUE, ABP has articulated that their intent was always to expand and introduce roped climbing options to their members, not disrupt the local climbing landscape.
A counter statement from ABP mentioned that Crux had previously announced plans to relocate and had declined to renew their lease with the landlord of the Pickle Road location and this had naturally presented an opportunity for ABP, "We’ve always wanted to provide roped climbing to our members, so we signed a lease for the space. ABP did not interfere with the relationship between Crux and their landlord," as ABP asserted in a social media post.
Kyle Wiggins, the Austin market director for ABP, detailed in an interview with KXAN, "We were a bit surprised when the landlord came to us and said, ‘They’re actually going to move out soon, what do you think about this? Is this something you’d be interested in?’”, while Crux CEO Kevin Goradia reflected a tone of dismay stating to KXAN that it was noteworthy ABP chose to foray into rope climbing, just as Crux was preparing to exit the space, “This is [ABP’s] first rope climbing destination. So I found it to be very interesting that they chose to do a rope climbing gym. To do their first rope climbing gym, and there just happened to be one right down the road.”
The landlord of the disputed location, 3423 Pickle LLC, spoke to the matter distinctly noting Crux's reluctance to commit to a long-term lease, which propelled them to offer the gym's space to ABP as a stable tenant. Meanwhile, Crux maintains they were not given the option to reach a new agreement, a disparity that underlines the current friction between the two businesses. ABP, with its ten locations nationwide, appears poised to ascend further in Austin's market, a climb that seems set on solidifying its presence, much to the chagrin of some community members invested in Crux's local foothold.
