Today was a highly anticipated day for Judy and I as it marked the grand opening of the new Planet Granite climbing gym in Sunnyvale. Rumors were that the new gym would be huge, with a bouldering area nearly twice the size of the Santa Clara gym. For the last month or so, the problems at the Santa Clara gym have been stagnant because all the route setters were focusing their attention on the new gym. Thus, we were also eagerly looking forward to lots of new problems to work on.

We were definitely not disappointed. The new gym absolutely rocks! In addition to everything being brand new, the gym is also very bright and spacious. Not only is the bouldering area much larger than before, but the walls are noticeably taller as well – I was definitely cognizant of how high I was on several problems. Although we spent all our time bouldering, we did notice that the sport climbing area looked to be much larger as well.

There’s also a good-sized fitness area with weight machines, a room for spin, a room for yoga, and really nice bathrooms/locker rooms. The amenities and niceness of the gym undoubtedly give it a kind of yuppie-ish feel, but hey, I guess that’s what we’ve become. After all, it’s not your average dirt-bag climber who flies to Hueco for a weekend, stays in a hotel, and then flies back home.

Here’s a bunch of pics of the new gym taken by one of the staff members (and you thought I took a lot of pictures. )

Posted by Roger at 11:33 PM.