OUTDOOR CLASSES
OUTDOOR CLASSES
WHO WE ARE
Our guiding pillars, ROCK:
Routesetting
Sportrock has some of the best routesetters in the country and one of only a handful of level 5 USA Climbing Certified Routestters. They work hard to set the most creative, challenging, diverse, and fun boulder problems and routes. With all of our expansions over the years, we offer state of the art climbing terrain with the tallest walls in the Metro DC area.
Original
We are one of the first indoor rock climbing gyms in the country. Sportrock was founded in 1994 by a group of climbers who outgrew a home wall in Zich’s Garage, an unused auto garage shop. Even after 5 expansions over 26 years, we have stayed true to being a climbing gym rooted in top-notch climbing and building a strong community of climbers.
Community
Whether it’s within the walls of Sportrock or on a larger scale reaching out to various audiences. We use rock climbing as a platform to expand our community. We host a weekly Parkinsons Group, adaptive climbing, at-risk youths, fundraisers for various causes are just some examples.
Knowledge
We are committed to being a teaching/learning gym. With the addition of the Sportrock Performance Institute, Sportrock is committed to developing youth and adult athletes of every skill level, from beginner to high-performance athletes. Whether they only climb indoors or want to venture outside, we are committed to educating and preparing climbers to reach their goals.
Routesetting
Sportrock has some of the best routesetters in the country and one of only a handful of level 5 USA Climbing Certified Routestters. They work hard to set the most creative, challenging, diverse, and fun boulder problems and routes. With all of our expansions over the years, we offer state of the art climbing terrain with the tallest walls in the Metro DC area.
WHO WE ARE
Our guiding pillars, ROCK:
Original
We are one of the first indoor rock climbing gyms in the country. Sportrock was founded in 1994 by a group of climbers who outgrew a home wall in Zich’s Garage, an unused auto garage shop. Even after 5 expansions over 26 years, we have stayed true to being a climbing gym rooted in top-notch climbing and building a strong community of climbers.
Community
Whether it’s within the walls of Sportrock or on a larger scale reaching out to various audiences. We use rock climbing as a platform to expand our community. We host a weekly Parkinsons Group, adaptive climbing, at-risk youths, fundraisers for various causes are just some examples.
Knowledge
We are committed to being a teaching/learning gym. With the addition of the Sportrock Performance Institute, Sportrock is committed to developing youth and adult athletes of every skill level, from beginner to high-performance athletes. Whether they only climb indoors or want to venture outside, we are committed to educating and preparing climbers to reach their goals.
COMMUNITY
We believe climbing should be accessible to everyone.
Out of that commitment, we have pioneered the growth of adaptive climbing in the DC metro area through partnerships with some truly extraordinary organizations.
WE ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT GIVING BACK!
Sportrock was founded by a small group of local climbers in 1994. While the Sportrock family has largely expanded in the last two decades, we remain focused on building community and giving back.
We donate our climbing services and programs to local schools and organizations each year. We are also proud to partner with many local and national organizations to share our love of climbing with groups who wouldn’t otherwise have access to our incredible sport. Some of these organizations include:
American Alpine Club (AAC)
Access FundCapital Climbers/Rainbow Climbing
Catalyst Sports
CHAARG
Change Lives Now
City Kids
Community Lodgings
DC Firefighters Burn Foundation
Howard Gardner School
Latin American Youth Center
Mid Atlantic Climbers
Mothers of Northern Arlington
Over the Edge DC
Second Story
Team RWB
USO-Metro
Wild Wilderness Women (WWW)
WANT TO JOIN US IN GIVING BACK?
Adaptive climbing programs require a lot of volunteers and we would welcome your help! If you’re interested in supporting our mission to make climbing more inclusive, please email our Director of Programs & Events, Molly Donelan, at molly@sportrock.com.
Please email info@sportrock.com with any other inquiries, donation requests, or partnership ideas!
Through our work with the PFNCA, we spearheaded the first accredited U.S. study on the effects of climbing on Parkinson’s disease. We are also the only climbing gym in the country that offers a free, weekly program for climbers with Parkinson’s. What started in 2012 continues to grow larger each year and we are proud to bring this work to medical professionals and media outlets so additional progress can be made!
Want to know how it all started? Read the full story of how the partnership came to be and watch the video to see our amazing Parkinson’s climbers in action!
Catalyst Sports is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing the highest level of adaptive sports opportunities for youth and adults with physical disabilities. In 2015, Sportrock earned the distinction of being the only host gym in the Mid-Atlantic region for Catalyst Sports.
As a result, they were able to launch a Greater DC Chapter and we have proudly hosted monthly climbing clinics at both our locations ever since.
View the video and accompanying article that CBS Evening News produced on our partnership to bring adaptive climbing to the Mid-Atlantic to learn more.
