Get a Grip: Two State-of-the-Art Climbing Gyms Are Opening in Dallas

Sport climbing is grabbing a foothold in Dallas. It’s already trending at the Tokyo Olympics—athletes from Team USA and other countries are racing up walls in the first-ever Olympic sport climbing events. Now El Cap, one of America’s largest operators of indoor climbing facilities, is opening two climbing gyms in Dallas.

Opening first in October will be Movement The Hill, in The Hill shopping center at 8021 Walnut Hill Lane near I-75. Formerly home to TreeHouse, an eco-friendly home improvement concept, the 37,000-square-foot facility was designed as a net-zero energy building.

The exterior of Movement The Hill [Photo: Movement]

A second Movement gym in the Design District with much, much higher climbing walls is slated to open March/April 2022 in a newly built warehouse-style building at 141 Glass St..

El Cap’s Dallas gyms were first reported back in January 2020 with a planned name of Planet Granite. The branding was changed to Movement to align with the company’s Denver and Chicago locations. After a delay caused by the pandemic, the gyms have been on a fast track to offer Dallas a one-two climbing punch.

The unifinished interior of Movement The Hill [Photo: Movement]

Also offering yoga, weight training, and fitness classes

In addition to their climbing walls, both Movement gyms in Dallas will offer a range of fitness options including yoga studios, group fitness classes, weights and cardio zones, and gear shops.

“Bouldering” on 15-foot-high walls at The Hill

The GIF and other wall photos shown in this story are part of an exact rendering of the climbing walls being built at The Hill location. The 15-foot-high walls will enable climbers to practice bouldering—a form of free climbing on small rock formations or artificial rock walls, without using any ropes or harnesses.

[Rendering: Movement The Hill]

Whether you’re a total novice or experienced in going vertical, you can get a hand at Movement The Hill. Introductory and advanced climbing classes will both be available.

Family-friendly classes will be offered as well, with access to a short, unimposing climbing wall section for kids.

50-foot walls coming to Design District

Want to get really high? Hang on for Movement’s Design District opening next spring. It will feature climbing walls that top out at 50 feet and offer bouldering, lead, and top rope climbing challenges. (To see a 50-foot climbing wall, check out this Movement gym in Baker, Colorado. But don’t click if you’re afraid of heights.)

“Climbing attracts people for a variety of reasons,” Movement Director Matt Hopkins explained in a statement. “Whether it’s to challenge yourself physically, hone your mental focus, be part of a supportive and adventurous community, or simply move your body in a new way, there’s something in climbing for everyone.”

[Rendering: Movement The Hill]

Parent company El Cap founded in 2017

El Cap was founded in 2017. It’s had some big fans among celebrated climbers, including Alex Honnold, star of the 2018 Oscar-winning Best Documentary “Free Solo.” Honnold joined El Cap’s board of directors as an independent member in 2019. He’s best known for being the first and only climber to free-solo the 3,000-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. (El Capitan is where El Cap got its name.)

The company already operates 16 climbing gyms in the San Francisco area; Portland, Oregon; Denver and Boulder, Colorado; suburban Washington D.C.; and Maryland—under the gym names Earth Treks, Planet Granite, and Movement.

Besides the two new Dallas locations, El Cap will soon open two other new Movement climbing gyms in Chicago.

[Rendering: Movement The Hill]

Membership fees

Standard membership rates at Movement The Hill are $82 a month or $902 a year, with student and family discounts available. But it’s offering a special pre-opening rate of $55 a month through 2021 or $750 for an annual prepaid membership. Both come with a swag bag for the first 300 members and a waived $49 initiation fee.