HOLLAND, Mich — Rock climbing (whether in or outside) is a great way to stay physically and mentally engaged, but the cost of the sport keeps a lot of people grounded— unless you find yourself at the Scrapyard Climbing Collective.
"It's fun to challenge yourself," climber Asher Bush told me when talking about his love of the sport, but that challenge shouldn’t be finding a way to pay.
That is a problem that Scrapyard Climbing Collective owner Josh Bochniak is trying to solve. He knows better than anyone that climbing requires a lot of equipment to stay safe, possibly totaling over $1,000 a year.
“We know that climbing is an expensive thing, right?" Josh said. "The infrastructure that we have requires some expense, but we, you know, the benefits that we see from climbing being, you know, good physically and mentally and the community aspect of it. We don't want to restrict that to individuals that can pay for it.”
So, to get more people off the ground – and live up to the ‘Collective’ part of his business's name - Josh has started the Better Together Membership.
“We want our community here in the gym, our membership, to represent the community around us," said Josh.
A community made up of kids like Asher.
He is not taking part in the Better Together Membership, but he is a great example of how the new payment option could help others find their footing in the sport.
"I love climbing with the instructors and with my friends, just playing, having fun," Asher laughed.
This is a pretty new program, but so far, close to 10 people have taken Josh up on the offer.
“Kids that you know in a couple instances were members here, but maybe their family hit on some hard times and we're going to have to cancel their membership, but because we offered this option," Josh told me. "It allowed them to maintain but be able to keep coming regularly, and it did exactly what I was hoping.”
In a sport that requires supporting one another, this seems like a good way to help people get a leg up and stay there.
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