After checking in at the front desk at Rocksport Climbing Gym in Jeffersontown on a cold January day, Sophia and Angela Barondeau greet other climbers and put on their harnesses. Climbers talk to each other, suggesting footholds and routes, and the familiar HVAC rattle fills the 12,000-square-foot space. It’s not uncommon to see a climbing couple pushing a stroller between climbs, or toddlers learning how to safely descend the 30-foot walls.
It’s similar to how Sophia started. She was part of a program run by the gym’s founder, Rob Butsch, that met on Saturday mornings before the gym opened to the public. Sophia’s mom, Angela, says it was about sustaining the climbing community.
“Rob was trying to invest in the next generation of climbers,” Angela says.
After nearly 30 years fostering Louisville’s climbing community, Rocksport, is set to close at the end of the month. With the closure of another rope climbing gym last year, Rocksport is currently the only gym in the city offering walls tall enough for climbers to train for outdoor climbing – and for those with disabilities to climb with ropes safely…