The Triangle Rock Club is expanding — again.
In May, the TRC announced plans to add 16,000 square feet of climbing wall to its existing facility in Morrisville. The addition, scheduled to open in January, will boost the gym’s total climbing space to more than 24,000 square feet and introduce 50-foot walls, twice the height of the gym’s current walls. It will be the largest climbing gym in a five-state area.
As managing partners Andrew Kratz, Luis Jauregui and Joel Graybeal were unveiling those plans, they were working to finalize a deal on a second gym, in North Raleigh. Announced yesterday, the new gym will have 13,500 square feet of climbing area, a
30-foot free-standing climbing pillar and more than 74 climbing lanes. The new facility is at 6022 Duraleigh Road, just off Glenwood Avenue/U.S. 70.
“We understand our customers are only willing to drive a certain distance to work out at the gym, climb, take an instructional class, or drop their children off at a climbing camp,” said Graybeal. “We are comprehensively serving the Morrisville/Cary area, but feel there is a distinct need in North Raleigh for another TRC facility.”
From a demographic standpoint, the gym is well situated between high-density apartments to the north, west and south, and miles of single-family homes to the east.
From a recreational standpoint, the gym is less than a mile as the crow flies from Umstead State Park, creating any number of climb combos: climb-run, climb-bike, climb-hike. There are also several bars and restaurants nearby.
The North Raleigh facility will be especially popular with boulderers. Two features in particular will prove challenging: the Grenade and The Beast, which features a severe (to GetGoingNC’s V1 skill set) overhang.
Eldorado Climbing Walls of Boulder, Colo., is installing the climbing walls in both gyms.
The North Raleigh facility is a former gym and is scheduled to open Sept. 1.
Not long ago, indoor climbing gyms were typically low-budget affairs in abandoned warehouse space that attracted mostly hardcore climbers. The TRC’s rapid expansion has been driven in part by those same devout climbers, but also by families and recreational athletes. Along the way, climbing gyms have evolved into bonafide businesses. TRC was named Morrisville’s Small Business of the Year for 2013, and even the president and CEO of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, weighed in on TRC’s North Raleigh expansion.
“The growth in climbing for sport and recreation has exploded in recent years and we are excited to have Triangle Rock Club open a premier facility in Raleigh,” said Harvey Schmitt in a release issued by TRC. “TRC also has a strong focus on civic engagement and will be an excellent addition to our business community.”
TRC isn’t done yet.
“Now that we have secured our second site location in the Raleigh-Durham market,” said Graybeal, “we are moving quickly on a third site to better-serve the Durham/Chapel Hill area. We are also planning to open up additional locations in Charlotte and the Triad.”

The post Triangle Rock Club to open North Raleigh gym appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Alan and I were overdue for an epic ride. During the early summer we’d done a handful of 4- to 5-hour rides at Umstead, Lake Crabtree and adjoining single track networks that will go unnamed for fear of prosecution for trespassing. But since July — or specifically since I’d done ORAMM and no longer had the incentive to put in long hours in the saddle — our longest ride had barely topped 2 hours. So we were overdue, we realized last week, but we were also short on after work daylight.

No problem, Alan said. Let’s break out the headlamps.

This time of year, with the passing of Daylight Savings Time, I get the urge to go all Medieval, break out the torches and roam the countryside. Only it ain’t a monster I’m looking to vanquish. Rather, it’s the monster of inactivity I’m looking to do in. Be it mountain biking by the massive flare of my 1200 lumen helmet-mount light or the more cozy, though still effective, glow of my 90 lumen Black Diamond headlamp for hiking it might as well be high noon in the High Sierra

I’ve written a good deal over the years about getting out and exploring at night. And since I’d rather get out at night and do something than rewrite what I’ve written about before, I’ll just direct you to those previous articles. Here’s hoping you’re inspired to see your day end long after 6 p.m.

Mountain biking

Since we’re already on the topic of mountain biking, let’s start there. An elaboration on why riding a bike through the forest at night is safe and scenes from a 24-hour race that runs through the night.

• Coping with Standard Time: Mountain Biking at Night
• Beer for Butter, Unprotected Support and Other Insights from the Burn 24

Hiking

One of my favorite times to take a long hike? In the dark of night. A 3- to 4-hour walk in the woods after the sun goes down can be aerobically aurally stimulating. Some tips on making a safe night of it.

• Enjoy the Night with a Hike
• Night Hiking: Beating the Standard Time Blues

Neighborhood walk

Spooked by the idea of hiking in the dark with … who-knows-what that might be out there with you? Join the masses who bundle up and walk their neighborhoods in the dark.

• Night Moves: A Safe Walk in a Dangerous Place

Climbing

Of course, you can’t stay out every night. Which is why I find myself spending considerably more time at the climbing gym during the winter than at other times of the year.

• Climbing: Before You Go Up, You Gotta Learn to Come Down

Need more incentive?

Another reason not to taper off when the weather turns cold? It’s bad for your hrealth.  According to the Human Performance Laboratory at Appalachian State’s North Carolina Research Campus people who don’t exercise in the winder are more likely to catch cold.

• Run from that Cold

Last year, when I originally foisted this repackaging of past posts upon you, I noticed one big omission: Nary a mention of paddling at night. I’ve mentioned guided paddles that occur at night, but nothing reflecting the experience personally. I’ve paddled at night: I still have vivid memories of being part of a flotilla that paddled to a remote part of Falls Lake one cold November night to watch a meteor shower. But that was years ago, and I can’t find a report on the event. And if that was the last time I’ve had a paddle in my hands in the dark (it was in the mid-1990s), that’s too long a time to go between night paddles.

Last year I vowed to remedy the situation. The vow still stands. Hopefully it will happen this month.

The post Take back the night appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

On a cold, wet, rainy Sunday afternoon in winter, you could sit in your room and sulk. Or, you could head to your neighborhood climbing gym and do some problem solving. Which is what I and a bunch of climbing buddies from the Triangle Rock Club Meetup did yesterday. …

* * *
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The post 90 Second Escape: The climbing gym (seeking solace on a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon) appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Today: Climbing the walls

Climbing the walls? Isn’t that what we’re trying to avoid? Indeed, but sometimes the answer lies in the question, grasshopper. Enough naval gazing: the walls we’re talking about are climbing walls, as in the climbing walls you’ll find in a climbing gym. First, let’s dispell a myth: You have to be an uber athlete with 0.4 percent body fat to be a climber. As Joel Graybeal with the Triangle Rock Club in Morrisville puts it, “If you can climb a ladder, you can climb.” Can your kids climb a ladder? Good, you’re in. And it’s not a pricey proposition, even if you don’t have equipment (gyms rent the basics: shoes, harness, chalk to keep your sweaty fingers from sweating): You can get by for $20 or less at most gyms — and that’s for a full day of climbing.

Find out more about the indoor climbing experience here;  go here for our list of 15 climbing gyms in North Carolina.

The post Holiday escapes: Climbing the walls appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We were on a post-sundown training hike for the Ultimate Hike last month when a beam  of bright light began gaining on us from behind. I turned and saw two headlights bearing down on us, still maybe 75 yards down the road.

“I’ll do the talking,” I said, since I was the hike leader and since I may have forgotten to mention to my fellow hikers that, technically, we were trespassing. We were hiking on a gravel road in a local forest where — again, “technically” — the gates close at sunset. I quickly relied this information to my hikers — then we waited a surprisingly long time for the two beams of light to reach us. When they did, they split, passed us on either side, and continued on their technically illegal way. It wasn’t a park ranger on patrol in a pickup; it was a pair of mountain bikers.

“Wow!” said one impressed hikers. “Those lights are really bright.”

“I can’t imagine riding a mountain bike at night,” added another. “That’s gotta be dangerous.”

“Actually,” I said, about to deliver a speech I’ve issued many times over the years, “It’s just the opposite.” I went on to explain that mountain biking at night is, in many respects, more safe than riding during the day because your world is restricted to this 20-foot-or-so world ahead illuminated by your headlamp. Unable to let your eyes wander off into the woods, or farther down the trail, you’re forced to focus on what’s immediately in front of you. That’s pretty much true of most outdoor activities done at night: they generally are more safe.

I’ve written a good deal over the years about getting out and exploring at night. And since I’d rather get out at night and do something than rewrite what I’ve written about before, I’ll just direct you to those previous articles. Enjoy.

Mountain biking

Since we’re already on the topic of mountain biking, let’s start there. An elaboration on why riding a bike through the forest at night is safe and scenes from a 24-hour race that runs through the night.

• Coping with Standard Time: Mountain Biking at Night
• Beer for Butter, Unprotected Support and Other Insights from the Burn 24

Hiking

One of my favorite times to take a long hike? In the dark of night. A 3- to 4-hour walk in the woods after the sun goes down can be aerobically aurally stimulating. Some tips on making a safe night of it.

• Enjoy the Night with a Hike
• Night Hiking: Beating the Standard Time Blues

Neighborhood walk

Spooked by the idea of hiking in the dark with … who-knows-what that might be out there with you? Join the masses who bundle up and walk their neighborhoods in the dark.

• Night Moves: A Safe Walk in a Dangerous Place

Climbing

Of course, you can’t stay out every night. Which is why I find myself spending considerably more time at the climbing gym during the winter than at other times of the year.

• Climbing: Before You Go Up, You Gotta Learn to Come Down

Need more incentive?

Another reason not to taper off when the weather turns cold? It’s bad for your hrealth.  According to the Human Performance Laboratory at Appalachian State’s North Carolina Research Campus people who don’t exercise in the winder are more likely to catch cold.

• Run from that Cold

In searching my archive of the past three years I notice one glaring omission: Nary a mention of paddling at night. I’ve mentioned guided paddles that occur at night, but nothing reflecting the experience personally. I’ve paddled at night: I still have vivid memories of being part of a flotilla that paddled to a remote part of Falls Lake one cold November night to watch a meteor shower. But that was years ago, and I can’t find a report on the event. And if that was the last time I’ve had a paddle in my hands in the dark (it was in the mid-1990s), that’s too long a time to go between night paddles.

I’ll remedy that situation pronto.

The post Don’t let the fun set at sunset appeared first on GetGoing NC!.