(PR.co.nz) Uprising will open its doors this Saturday 2 August 2019 with a weekend of free climbing and yoga to celebrate the completion of one of the largest bouldering facilities in the Southern Hemisphere. An opening celebration will take place at 9:00am on Saturday 3rd August and the facility will be open to users of all ages and abilities afterwards.
Safer and simpler than traditional rock climbing, bouldering is the climbing of small rock formations (or artificial rock walls) without ropes or harnesses. Indoor bouldering walls use thick pads to offer protection, and this ‘next-generation’ sport has exploded in profile worldwide.
Uprising opened the first commercial bouldering gym in New Zealand in 2015, in Woolston, and this small wall has quickly reached capacity. The new facility is at the site of the old Harrington’s Brewery at 199 Ferry Road near the stadium. At over 1,250m2 it is more than six times larger than the old wall, which will close on Friday.
“When we started up the first gym in Woolston we had a feeling it might be popular due to the large climbing and bouldering community already in Christchurch” said Sefton Priestley, co-owner of Uprising. “The support of this fantastic base of members has given us the confidence to go all in and build our dream climbing wall.”
Uprising has drawn comparisons with top European facilities with its futuristic geometric angles and features such as curved walls, sculptural free-standing boulders and mats that slope up with the wall angle to allow for climbs up to 10m long while only ever reaching a few meters above the mats.
“We have a strong tradition of Kiwi climbers showing the world what can be done, and while this is a great venue for our future Olympians to train at it also offers challenges for anyone from young children and adults with no climbing experience. Many people find bouldering a great way to get into climbing as the harnesses and ropes can be distracting and awkward”.
Sportclimbing makes its gold medal debut at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics and bouldering is one of the three disciplines, along with speed and lead climbing.
Uprising Yoga will be a dedicated yoga studio, with regular classes guided by over a decade of experience and formal training in Ashtanga Yoga practice and philosophy. Led classes, ‘Your Pace Yoga’, beginner courses and specialist workshops will be led by experienced and friendly teachers.
“I think people will be surprised by the quality and authenticity of the yoga at Uprising” says Priestley. “The studio is warm and inviting with lots of natural wood, and the amount of care and effort the teachers have put into it really shines through”.
Uprising also sports a full fitness gym with high-end Technogym cardio equipment and a full range of strength gear as well as some unique climbing-specific training equipment like a mechanically adjustable angle wall and LED-lit Moonboard where users can select challenges off an app with tens of thousands of options.
The cafe, bar and pizzeria are central to the facility with mezzanine seating allowing for a unique view over the boulder field. Uprising worked closely with suppliers to create a unique hospitality offering.
“We are really close to the crew at Prima Roastery and we were lucky enough to work with them to create our fair trade, organic house Uprising coffee blend. Sustainability is at the core of our values so using organic milk was a no-brainer for us”.
Those who feel they deserve a refreshment after their session can sample the Uprising Blonde Ale, the house beer created especially by the local Two Thumbs Brewery.
“We’ll have a Harrington’s guest beer on tap of course” said Priestley. “It’d be rude not to.”
Entry will be free all weekend and new member enrollment specials will be available during the grand opening celebration. Participants are encouraged to register online to save time as there may be high demand at peak times.
For membership information, call the gym at 03 389 5061 or visit www.bouldering.co.nz Sefton Priestley is available by appointment, phone 021 0550 568 or email info@bouldering.co.nz
Uprising is one of three Christchurch owned-and-operated companies alongside Uprising Climbing Holds and Uprising Climbing Walls, the latter which also recently completed construction of the new Basecamp Adventures climbing wall in Queenstown.
Media Release 31 July 2019.