A warehouse on Dock Street
One room, five walls, a training board, and a coffee machine that mostly works.
Who built it
Ilse Vandermeer & Kwame Osei-Bonsu
They met on the mats at a gym in Seattle in 2013, arguing about the beta on a V6 that neither of them ever did. Ilse was a structural engineer. Kwame was managing a bike shop and setting on weekends.
For four years after they moved south they drove to Bellevue two or three nights a week, because Tacoma had nothing. Ninety minutes round trip for two hours of climbing, all winter, every winter.
In 2019 they signed a lease on a former marine supply warehouse on Dock Street — 4,000 square feet, no heating, one wall and a secondhand crash pad they bought off a closing gym in Olympia. Forty people joined in the first month. Both of them still set.
“We built the gym we were driving ninety minutes to find.”
What’s in the building
Everything under one roof
14,000 sq ft of climbing
Five walls, nothing over fifteen feet, all of it matted floor to wall.
Moon Board and hangboards
A benchmarked Moon Board in the training bay, plus four hangboards at three heights.
Free weights and stretching
Dumbbells, kettlebells, rings and enough floor space to warm up properly before you pull on.
Showers and day lockers
Two showers, towels for a dollar, and lockers you don't need to bring a padlock for.
Coffee bar and a couch
Decent espresso and a sofa nobody leaves. A fair amount of climbing gets talked about and not done here.
Free parking
Free lot behind the building, entrance off S 11th. Bike racks inside the front door.
How it grew
Seven years, five walls
One wall, forty members, and a warehouse with no heating. People climbed in puffy jackets until March.
The cave goes in, doubling the steep terrain. It cost more than the first year of rent and was worth it inside a month.
Youth team starts with nine kids and Rafael, who was coaching them for free before we could pay him.
Full renovation — 14,000 square feet, proper heating, and a second setter hired so nobody has to set alone at 6am.
Weekly resets on every wall. Something in the building is new every single Tuesday.
The space
What it looks like inside
Opening hours
When we’re open
Setting happens Tuesday mornings — the cave may be closed until noon.