By Chris Danielson

Out in the hot, outskirts of LA, in Upland, California – a massive warehouse holds a climbing gym which has built a strong reputation over the past decade as a fun place to climb and stiff place to train.

It looks like but actually is not an airplane hangar – it is in fact a former Sunkist packaging plant built in the 1930s. With a steep bouldering cave and strong boys like Garrett Gregor and Kyle Owen pushing the limits as they grew up on the plastic.

Hangar has always been a climber’s gym – a great place for a community of climbers battling to get strong. But for Zach Shields, owner of Hangar 18 (and owner of well-known So Cal hold brand Climb-It), one Hangar wasn’t enough – he wanted to go bigger.

Enter Louie… A few years back, Zach began toying with the idea of a second gym and in 2006 started searching in earnest for a good site. He found a great location in Riverside in spring of 2007 and began working with long-time compatriot – SoCal bolter, hold shaper, coursesetter, gym builder and all-around good guy – Louie Anderson, to actualize a second gym.

Coincidentally, Louie had actually been involved with the commercial construction of the facility itself, and soon found himself tasked with filling in the interior of the big square building – with more wood and steel – this time doing something a bit more exciting with the raw materials.

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