The New Crux Is Like The Buc-ees of Climbing Gyms

Perhaps it’s fitting that everything is bigger at Crux Climbing Center’s new south location. 

We’re in Texas, after all. 

Crux’s brand-new facility, located in far south Austin, features taller walls, a rope canyon, outdoor turf space, better locker rooms, bigger training areas, and massive fitness rooms. It’s like the Buc-ees of climbing gyms. 

“We were able to go to 50 feet because of the neighbors,” Crux co-founder Grace Nicholas said of the gym’s tallest wall. “But 45 is where people feel it. They feel where our old south location stopped.”

Why Crux Climbing Center Built Bigger

When a rent raise forced Crux’s original south location to close in 2024, it prompted both Nicholas and co-founder Kevin Goradia to reevaluate the long-term priorities of the gym. While the South Congress facility was the climbing center’s flagship location, its revenues were tied to a model that both Nicholas and Goradia wanted to flip. They purchased a 4-acre track of land on 220 Ralph Ablanedo Drive – roughly five miles south from their old South Congress Avenue address – and then worked with the city of Austin to properly zone and permit the new building. 

The process took a year and half, Nicholas said. 

“It was one of those things where you didn’t know how long it would take,” she said. “Trying to put that in your timeline, there’s so many unknowns, so it was challenging.” 

In the end, though, it was better to get the details right. 

The new 27,000-square foot facility – the third Crux Climbing Center in Austin, beside its Central Austin and Pflugerville locations – does its best to mix the old with the new. Expansive climbing walls fill the gym, from bouldering options to rope courses that hit 48-feet at their highest. 

New to Crux is a 55-foot long ramp that stays no “more than 6 feet away” from its inverted wall. Crux is the only climbing center in Texas to feature that type of structure. Then there’s the “future wall,” a concept that Nicholas is especially proud of. 

“Every year, we put out two designs and let the community vote on what they want,” she said. “We take the panels off the walls and adjust the hinge system to provide a new wall.” 

Far as she can tell, Crux is the only gym in the country that offers that level of flexibility to its members. 

Crux Climbing Center Listened To Its Members

Embedded within the ethos of the gym is adaptability. There are four professional working pods available for members – say, if you want to work remotely during the morning and then climb in the afternoon. There’s a yoga studio, a big fitness area and saunas in the locker rooms. Oh, the kids center is giant, too. 

“That was the goal of Crux,” said Nicholas, who employs 150 staff across its three locations, with a fourth arriving in Houston soon. “To feel like you had a space where you could do all that.” 

Nicholas said there are also alternative programs to allow for a non-traditional customer. Walk into any climbing gym across the country and you might find a handful of 20- and 30-somethings belaying or free-hanging from walls, white chalk caked on forearms and hands. At Crux, though, they’ve endeavored to include sometimes forgotten parts of the community, too. 

They offer an adaptive program that might welcome a future blind participant, or one in a wheelchair. There’s also a “Send What You Can” program, which accounts for people who may be on government-assisted programs like the Medical Access Program, WIC or STAR. “We want to make climbing accessible to everybody,” Nicholas said. 

How Crux Built An Identity In Austin

When Crux first opened in 2016, Nicholas said, it wasn’t always clear who the gym was built for. Was this a gym built by outsiders? Since it didn’t have “Austin” in its name, Nicholas said some assumed it wasn’t locally owned and operated. Another climbing center that opened at the same time did have Austin in its name, though it was part of the Bouldering Project, a national chain. 

But that has since changed. 

Crux is a vibrant part of the community. 

On May 30, the facility marked its grand opening of the new facility with Come and Send It Fest, an all-day festival featuring a climbing competition, mechanical bull, taco cannon, raffle and ping pong tournament. 

“You’re nothing without your community,” Nicholas said. 

The future looks bright in Austin. 

“The market of what climbing gyms could look like transformed into something very beautiful,” she said. “Now you see all these aesthetically-pleasing gyms to look at. It’s a place you want to train at. It’s a place to have community.” 

Crux Climbing Center features several variations of climbing walls, for all experience levels. Photo Credit: Merrick Alves.

If You Go

Crux Climbing Center is located at 220 Ralph Ablanedo Drive in Austin, Texas. One-month memberships that are paid-in-full start at $115, while 3-month options are $320 and the 1-year paid-in-full rate is $950. Members have access to all Crux locations and are allotted two guest passes per month, along with unlimited yoga and fitness classes, and use of saunas. Day passes are $26 and a 10-visit punch pass is $210. For more, visit Crux Climbing Center.