Reaching new heights: Ruckus looks to fill the gap in Greensboro’s rock-climbing community

Featured photo: “It’s just a great sport, great physical activity, great community,” says Ruckus Climbing Gym owner John Kilburn about rock climbing. He likens the sport’s rise in popularity to how CrossFit was a decade ago. (photo by Sayaka Matsuoka)

A “euphoric high.” That’s how John Kilburn describes the feeling of getting to the top of a rock-climbing course.

The 49-year-old sits on a comfortable couch wearing a rainbow-colored hat on a recent afternoon in the mezzanine of Ruckus Climbing Gym in Greensboro, a rock climbing business that opened in May last year. Behind him, a giant, hydraulics-powered, tilted climbing wall juts out of the wall at an impressive 45-degree angle. 

Kilburn first experienced climbing as a university student at Western Carolina University three decades ago. Then, when he moved to the coast, he didn’t get a chance to continue the hobby until he and his family moved to Winston-Salem in 2018. That’s when his daughter Addison, who was just four years old at the time, showed early signs of being a natural climber.

“She climbed on everything out of the womb basically,” Kilburn says. “She was always climbing the outside of staircases, climbing trees, and somebody was like, ‘Oh, you should take her to a climbing gym.’”

Once his daughter started participating in climbing competitively, Kilburn saw the need for a facility like Ruckus in the Triad area. 

For years, the Ultimate Climbing Gym — which is part of Ultimate Kids, a gymnastics facility — and the climbing wall at UNCG — which is mainly for students and faculty — were the only climbing gyms in Greensboro. Compared to other large cities in the state like Raleigh and Charlotte, Greensboro didn’t have robust climbing offerings. But Ruckus is looking to fill that gap.

“We were just going to gyms a lot outside of the Triad, and I just was always like, ‘Why isn’t there anything modern and large here?’” Kilburn says. 

Cut to six years later and Kilburn took his and his daughter’s passion and turned it into a full-fledged business. The 13,000-square-foot facility features 42-foot tall walls for rope climbing plus 15-foot high walls for bouldering. On any given day, there are about 65 different routes to try and tons of opportunities for newcomers and seasoned climbers alike. They offer daily drop-ins or monthly and annual memberships. And of course, a big focus of the gym is its commitment to youth climbing.

“The kids’ area was really important to us,” Kilburn says. “We had been in a lot of gyms that were more adult focused.”

Part of the thing that differentiates Ruckus from Ultimate is the fact that it tries to cater to a more beginner crowd, including kids who may be trying climbing for the first time. 

“That’s what we wanted to design here,” he says.

In May, the facility officially opened its doors to the public and the response has been overwhelming, Kilburn says. There are several climbers who are regulars and have memberships to the gym, which also offers a gym with fitness equipment as well as group fitness classes. They also get a lot of youth climbers and have hosted several youth competitions, including qualifying events for national competitions.

A lot of the draw, Kilburn says, is the fact that the sport has gained popularity in the last decade, evidenced by its premiere in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He likens the robust growth to how CrossFit was 15 years ago when it first started to take off.

“It’s like the popular new thing,” he says.

Like CrossFit, the sport is full body, difficult, but also very social. Kilburn says he’s seen people make friends at Ruckus even in the short amount of time that they’ve been open.

Jonathan Dull and Jeremy Doblin, who took turns assisting each other on ropes that afternoon, say that they met at Ruckus last year.

Dull, who has been climbing for about 17 years, says that he started to come to Ruckus as soon as it opened and is mainly an outdoor climber. But in the winter months, he’ll come to the gym to practice and stay limber. Doblin, who has been climbing for five years, likes that the gym has a lot of courses for rope climbing and appreciates the community that’s been built in the last seven months.

“It’s been a much-needed resource for a lot of people who are serious climbers,” he says. “It’s a good place to train, but it’s also inviting to a lot of newer climbers as well. It kind of checks the box for a lot of folks.”

The success of Ruckus so far, plus the need for more climbing gyms in this area has Kilburn already thinking about a second location, maybe in the opposite part of Greensboro. While this one is a hybrid with both ropes and bouldering, he thinks there could be a market for a bouldering-only gym like FirstHand in Winston-Salem. That’s largely due to the fact that a big part of the growth for Ruckus, and the sport in general, has been bouldering, which doesn’t use any equipment. Instead, climbers use just their hands and feet to cling onto the surfaces as they reach, and sometimes, jump from one hold to another. It’s gaining traction among younger climbers because of its physicality, Kilburn says. 

“Bouldering you can go alone, and it’s climbing for maybe 60 seconds,” he explains. “It’s kind of like powerlifting whereas rope is more like a marathon.” 

While those who aren’t part of the sport may not understand the difference, Kilburn explains that bouldering and ropes are almost like two different sports. They have different customer bases, different strengths and different competitive circuits.

“It can be polarizing,” Kilburn says.

For example, he’s a ropes fan while his daughter is strictly into bouldering. 

“Yeah, for me, I don’t really like dropping off a 15-foot-wall,” he laughs. “I’m 49 now, and I don’t want to blow a knee out.”

But at Ruckus, members get to try both. And no matter which route they choose, the sport allows people to advance at their own pace and to reach new heights.

As a former skateboarder, Kilburn says that part of the fun of the sport is that “no matter how good you get, there’s always going to be something to challenge you; it’s infinitely hard.”

And that sticking magic has been easy to see, Kilburn says. 

“It’s just a great sport, great physical activity, great community,” he says. “And I just think that once people hear about us and come out here and they try it, nobody leaves here with a frown.”

Learn more about Ruckus Climbing Gym at ruckusclimbinggym.com. You can also follow them on Instagram at @ruckusclimbinggym.