Zechariah Rodino loves climbing at the Rock Shop in Richland.

In fact, the 22-year-old civil engineer moved from Yakima to the Tri-Cities specifically so he could take advantage of the bouldering gym on Fowler Street. He’s there almost every day.

“This is one of the best gyms in Washington,” said Rodino, who’s climbed extensively throughout the state and beyond. “It’s really cool that we have a gym of this magnitude on the east side.”

Rock Shop, which has seen steady growth since it opened in 2021, regularly earns high praise from the climbers who scale its walls. It’s the only gym of its kind in the Tri-Cities, and it’s known for regularly changing routes to offer variety and keep things fresh.

Rock Shop is owned by Pat Howard, Rich Julian and Ben and Davita Herrington.

They’re all climbers who saw a need and an opportunity in the Tri-Cities.

“We thought, ‘there’s no gym here’” but it’s the kind of community that could support one, said Howard, the general manager. He’s a Richland High grad and former golf professional who got into climbing while living on the west side. He and his co-owners spent years working to open Rock Shop.

The gym at 1965 Fowler St. made its debut in January 2021 and has about 350 members.

It sees roughly 100 climbers – members and guests alike – each day.

Open to all

Rock Shop offers bouldering, which is a kind of climbing that’s done without harnesses or ropes.

The 10,000-square-foot gym has seven walls total, each standing 16 feet tall. The walls are made from Baltic birch plywood, with constellations of holds fashioned from fiberglass or polyurethane.

The holds are arranged into routes of varying difficulty, labeled by color. Ben Herrington and Aquino Boucher – the head route setter and assistant route setter – change out one wall a week. They’re both respected names in climbing, and their expertise is one of Rock Shop’s big draws.

“We’re lucky to have them,” said Bernard Santillan, 38, of Pasco, a regular at Rock Shop.

Santillan loves the physical and mental challenge of climbing, and he said Rock Shop’s supportive atmosphere makes it a comfortable and fun place to pursue the sport.

“I’ve always experienced really positive reactions and positive reinforcement. Everyone is really excited to see people send climbs,” he said. In climbing lingo, “sending” means completing a route.

Like Santillan, Cory Pavetto also praised the Rock Shop’s route setters, saying they build routes that not only help climbers gain strength, but also test and improve their technical skills.

Pavetto, 25, of Richland, became a Rock Shop member after moving to the Tri-Cities for work.

“It’s the best community I’ve found in a climbing gym,” he said. “My first week here, I think I went out (on a climbing trip) with 15 people (I met at the gym). It’s a really welcoming community.”

Climbing has been gaining in popularity in recent years, especially since sport climbing – which includes the disciplines of boulder, lead and speed climbing – made its official Olympic debut in 2020.

While the growth rate of climbing gyms – meaning the net number of new climbing gyms opening up – dipped in 2022, overall the industry has seen significant growth in the last decade, according to the Climbing Business Journal. And between 2013-22, half of all new climbing gyms in the U.S. and Canada were bouldering gyms like Rock Shop, the publication said.

The Richland gym draws a wide variety of climbers – young and old, beginner to advanced.

On a recent evening, experienced climbers mixed with those just starting out. They rested together on the mats between climbs, shared route “beta” or information, and cheered each other on.

‘It’s an awesome gym’

Rock Shop runs classes for kids and adults, and it offers a competitive youth climbing team and youth summer camps. It also holds a Ladies Night on the second Wednesday of the month.

Day passes, punch cards and memberships are available at the gym.

Howard said one of the goals of Rock Shop is to open up climbing – and the physical, mental and social benefits it offers – to as many people in the community as possible.

Climbing adds so much to people’s lives, he said, noting that, “it’s something you can do your whole life, at different degrees of difficulty. It’s one of the few things you can do and just escape everything else. Once you pull into a climb, it’s hard to think about anything else but that climb.”

Howard said he’s enjoyed watching climbers at Rock Shop – especially kids – gain confidence in their abilities and in themselves as they make improvements and conquer new routes. It’s also been gratifying to see the gym become a clubhouse for the local climbing community, he said.

Lexi Puffer of Kennewick started coming to Rock Shop after moving to the Tri-Cities for an internship.

“When I first got the job, I was like, ‘Let me see if I can find a rock climbing gym nearby.’ I found this place and I joined,” the 21-year-old said on a recent evening at the gym. “I feel like climbing gives me a sense of purpose, outside of professional goals. It’s something I can put myself into and find some meaning in.”

Like others at the gym that night, she talked about the feeling of community she gains from the sport.

She was sitting with Rodino, the climber who relocated to the Tri-Cities because of Rock Shop. They both said the gym has given them the chance to pursue the sport they love and make connections.

“Climbing in general provides a really good atmosphere for getting to meet people. That applies here (at Rock Shop). It’s a great gym,” Puffer said.

“It’s an awesome gym,” Rodino added. “Come down and start climbing.”

Go to: rockshopclimbing.com.