Yesterday, I purchased a new chalk bag. It’s a really cool chalk bag because it’s got the logo of the climbing gym on it with a background of the logo combined in different ways with itself to create a pretty awesome looking pattern, as you can see in the photo. I wrote my name on it just in case someone else happens to like the same chalk bag that I do, which I’m sure will happen! No sense in getting my chalk bag with my premium Friction Labs chalk in it scooped up by someone else on accident, right? And there’s no sense in tempting anyone to outright take my chalk bag by not having my name on it, either. Unfortunately, that does happen. If, by some off-the-wall chance, there’s another Jones, Chris in the gym and we get our chalk bags mixed up, I recognize my handwriting, thank goodness!!! The point is that I fully intend to keep my chalk bag. After all, I paid good money for it!
The reason I bought it, other than liking the design and the colors, is to signify a new chapter in my climbing journey. Welcome to the new gym, where things aren’t like they were in the the old gym, for better and for worse. There are things I definitely miss about the old bouldering gym. The original SteepWorld. There are things I definitely like about the new climbing gym. SteepWorld Climbing and Fitness. Or SteepWorld 2.0, as I call it. I’m thankful for the climbing community that has been the foundation for both the old gym and the new gym, because I’m one of them and it preserves the character of the gym and the people entering the local climbing community to a point, which is very important to me. It makes the transition easier. The new climbing gym has been open for just over a month, and the program offerings and patterns of management and style are really beginning to take shape and become evident. There’s something for everybody at the new climbing gym, there’s no doubt about that. It’s more corporate in its style, though, and not as home-grown as the old bouldering gym, which I miss. There were some opportunities there that I miss, and some opportunities here that I appreciate. And vice-versa. It’s a different climbing gym. So I needed a different chalk bag that signifies that. One that reminds me that we’re not in Kansas anymore, Todo…
CLIMBING 4 THE REST OF US 