The Pad Climbing
Originally the country's first nonprofit bouldering gym, The Pad Climbing is a multi-state collection of gyms that believes that proximity and access to climbing can change lives. Our motto is: Climbing. Community. Fitness. Love. and we work to embody that every day.
Kristin Horowitz is the Executive Director of the USA's first nonprofit bouldering gym and now CEO of for-profit The Pad Climbing, an intrastate multigym operation that is employee led and community-first. She also works alongside her husband as they put on some of the country's foremost adventure races, manage twin girls, and raise livestock for fun.
We actively audit our messaging and internal processes with best practices outlined by B Corp, and in addition, we are piloting a new program: The Climb4Community project is a progression of The Pad’s values and currently relies on three tiers:
- Pay-what-you-can membership
- Non-gym-led affinity group climbing opportunities
- Climb4Cause fundraisers
If run properly, not only do these programs provide value to the participants, they will raise profile, community exposure, and profit for the organization. In making decisions we need to keep in mind the different needs at each location - how many affinity groups and we reasonably handle and at what times? Do we have the mechanism in place to upsell people to higher membership levels instead of only being a discounter? This is a program licensed and partnered with Climbing4Community out of Boulders Gym in Wisconsin.
Learn more about our community partnerships.
Our gyms have adaptive climbing equipment available and if we encounter users with special needs that don't cover what we have, we make every effort to accommodate them at our expense.
