By Eugene Huang

Inside Niagara Climbing Center, the violent crack of wood being bolted against steel beams shook the air. Clouds of dust rose with every panel that was ripped up from floors that hadn’t felt fresh air in ages.

 In the span of four weeks, the space that carried Buffalo’s climbing community on its shoulders for nearly three decades was stripped bare. 

With the help of industry-leading climbing wall manufacturer Walltopia, layers of ancient plywood were pulled up and replaced with gleaming wood panels at 1333 Strad Avenue in North Tonawanda.  

Although adding modern walls and safer landing pads was a main focus of the new gym, its reopening meant much more to the local climbing community: it was Niagara Climbing Center upholding its promise to the community that their home gym would grow alongside them. 

When local climbers stepped inside the morning of Oct. 6, they marveled at a beautiful space that was nearly unrecognizable. The gym had become brighter, safer, and was now equipped for a modern era of movement and climbing.

“This is a whole new world for the next 10, 20 years,” said Douglas Vandermeulen, a manager, coach and  setter at NCC. “It’s up to current standards, like metal framing, self-straining walls that aren’t bolted to the building. It’s all great new stuff.”

Setters are the people who set up the holds and paths a climber can take on the wall.

Although the gym now boasts shiny new holds and an open floor plan, Vandermeulen emphasized the transformation as beyond cosmetic. 

“It’s like ‘business feng shui,’” he said. “The space finally flows. You can see the whole gym from the front desk, from the light, the new pads, to the open floor. You can feel people talking more, hanging out more. It’s a different energy.”

NCC opened as the Lumber City Rock Gym in 1998, under founders/operators Rhonda and Billy McGuire.

Now the new layout hasn’t simply refreshed the space; it has redefined it. The gym’s old flat-panel plywood walls, once a hallmark of early indoor climbing, were replaced with angled surfaces and geometric features that allow for more dynamic route setting. 

“You kind of need these changes in wall angles and dynamic geometry to make it so you have better movement,” explained Tona Mele, a setter at NCC. For the setting team, giving them these new walls was akin to giving painters a bigger canvas.

This new style reflects a shift in Buffalo’s climbing scene, which mirrors a national trend. Traditionally, gyms have set climbing problems that mirror the slow and methodical ascents seen in outdoor climbing. With the increasing number of viral clips showing elite climbers pulling off impossible-looking moves on the wall that read more like parkour, commercial gyms have to reconsider their route setting more than ever. 

However, NCC doesn’t want this new trend of categorization to define their gym and setting style. 

Vandermeulen said climbing culture has shifted from a “ropes versus boulders” mentality to a “new school versus old school” debate, something he hopes to steer away from. Instead, he believes gyms should prioritize what their members are looking for.

“The smaller gyms can stay alive and prove that climbing comes from whatever your membership wants: that’s what you try and put on the wall, instead of saying, ‘well, this is what makes money, so we’re gonna put that on the wall,’” he said.

Not only is NCC adapting to the needs of its local members and the national landscape of climbing, but it’s also looking abroad to find inspiration from the world’s best gyms.

“There was an inspiration for the gym to be kind of like a Japanese-style gym, ” Mele said. “They’re always at the top of the game. Like the world’s hardest bouldering gym is B-Pump, where people will do months of projecting on a single route.” 

That level of precision and craftsmanship, Mele added, is what NCC aspires for.

As large corporate chains like Central Rock Gym expand across the country, local gyms like NCC are reasserting their place as the creative, community-driven heart of the sport. 

“Being a small, locally owned gym means we can take creative risks,” Vandermeulen said. “We don’t have to conform to a brand or schedule. If we want to reset the whole gym next week, we can.” 

With its smaller footprint, setters can easily observe climbers putting their routes to the test and naturally hear their commentary on them, allowing them to constantly make improvements. 

For many climbers, that independence and intimacy is what makes NCC feel like home. Regulars describe the atmosphere as personal, familiar, and social—“80 percent talking and 20 percent climbing,” as Mele said with a laugh.

For those interested in climbing these new walls, Niagara Climbing Center is open seven days a week, with varying hours. Day passes start at $25, and $20 for students, military, and youth, with shoes available to rent for an additional $5. 

The gym also hosts a Student Night every Friday from 6 to 11 p.m., where students can climb for $15 with shoes included. 

Visit niagaraclimbingcenter.com for more information.

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Eugene Huang is a student at the University at Buffalo, where he majors in English.  He is from Brooklyn, N.Y. This article was written as part of the State University of New York’s Institute for Local News program pairing classroom writers with professional publications.