Many people in the indoor world ask, “What is the future of indoor climbing?” Well the answer might just be in Riverside, California at Thresh Hold Climbing Gym.

Dale Partridge, the man behind Thresh Hold is trying to break the dusty mold of American climbing gyms by incorporating health club attributes with dance club personality, the gym is on track to take over So Cal climbing and possibly the industry.

Routesetter.com tracked down Dale to find out how to make stronger climbers, why 20 foot top-outs aren’t scary and why he’s graced by God.

RS.com: 20 foot top-out boulders! Is that for real?
DP: Ya we have the country’s only collection of high ball mantling boulders. Our centerpiece boulder is 19.8FT, our Mid boulder is 15.8 FT and the rest of the gym ranges from 12-15FT. Our centerpiece high ball has got to be the best indoor bouldering training wall around. Our members are already sending much harder and we’ve only been open for 8 weeks.

RS.com: Tell me about the thought process behind 20 foot top-outs? Most people would consider that too high for the average gym climber. Are you worried about injury or under-use of the boulder?

DP: We figured most outdoor bouldering was higher than the often seen 12ft bouldering of most gyms. So cal hosts a huge palette of high ball bouldering from Bishop and the Tram to Black Mountain and J-Tree. We surprisingly have quite a bit of climbers on that wall. Since we only set V3 and up it seems to be a motivator for novice climbers. We have a raised floor under the boulder so the biggest fall you could take is only 10ft.

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