Meet Transcend Bouldering Lounge! A climbing gym that serves as a unique communal hub for new and experienced climbers alike. This Boardman-based bouldering lounge offers a large climbing facility with a great community and helpful staff to make sure you can have as much fun as possible while still staying safe.

We got to talk with Mark Warchol who is an experienced climber and manager of Transcend Bouldering Lounge who gave us insight into what bouldering is and how the gym works. Bouldering is a specific discipline of rock climbing which uses small holds (the “rocks” you grab on to), usually incorporates gymnastics-style movements and doesn’t require ropes. To make sure you stay safe without ropes they have huge pads under all of the climbing areas to fall onto. Whether you’ve climbed before or not, getting started is extremely easy and requires no experience. Once you walk in, you sign a waiver, pay the fee, watch a quick orientation video, get fitted for shoes, and then you are sent off to tackle all the challenges that the Transcend Bouldering Lounge has to offer. 

When you’re looking to climb, all you have to do is find a start tag and follow that color’s holds up to the finish tag or to the top of the wall and then come back down. The difficulties of the course are all listed near the start tag so you have a sense of what kind of climb you are getting into. The lounge has had climbers ranging from ages 4 to 70 so if you have any interest in this at all, you should definitely give it a try.

A community for climbers is a huge part of what Transcend Bouldering Lounge is bringing to the Boardman area. With the next closest climbing gym located an hour away, there was a need for a centralized hub for the climbers in the Mahoning Valley. Conveniently, there is a large sized group of climbers around here but the group is always looking to grow, which is why the environment at the lounge is so friendly and welcoming. Starting here without experience is no issue as everyone loves watching people conquer their challenges and wants to see everyone grow and get better. If you’d like more information, you can visit Transcend Bouldering Lounge’s website at transcendclimbing.com.

Article by Isaac Hraga