LONGMONT, Colo. — Despite a December windstorm that shredded its roof, Longmont’s Climbing Collective is roaring back, hosting world‑class athletes for its biggest events this weekend.
The Dec. 19 storm, with gusts up to 112 mph, caused power outages, fires, and widespread damage in Boulder County, including damage to the Longmont gym's roof.
The damage forced the business to close for eight days and resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in repair costs and revenue losses.
“Not only did we need to have the roof repaired, but we also needed to have the sign repaired, as well as the side panels, all the gutters and everything that is connected to the roof, of course, also had to be repaired and replaced,” said Shauna Hylenski, the co-founder and director of programs of Climbing Collective.
But this weekend, the business is bouncing back, hosting some of its biggest events of the year, including the Ice Climbing World Cup and Winterfest.
Hylenski said that while the business was going through all the uncertainty in December, they knew in the back of their minds they had to be open to hosting this event.
“We had competitors who were planning to be here. Our team had already put in countless hours of work and the financial investment to put on an event of this magnitude," she emphasized. “We've been chugging away with full knowledge that we were going to be hosting this event."
Hylenski said about 100 athletes from 20 different countries are coming to the facility to participate, noting that Climbing Collective is the only stop in the United States for this competition.
“This is like on par with the Olympics. It's a similar level of athleticism,” she said.
Hylenski was certain they would be back on their feet soon after seeing the community's support.
“It was hard, but it was also really wonderful, because we saw how much this place means to so many people in our community,” she said.
Hylenski said over 350 people donated to the business's GoFundMe, which was created after the windstorm, helping cover 25% of the repair costs.
"The GoFundMe was really started because we were supposed to be hosting a USA climbing youth competition that very weekend that it happened, and all the people that were signed up said, 'We want to help. What can we do?" said Hylenski.
Additionally, she said 125 people volunteered on Christmas Eve to help clean up the area.
“All of the outpouring of support just gave us hope and inspiration during the times when we were working 12, 14-hour days, that it was going to turn out OK,” she said. “I had no doubt that we would get to the place that we are and the team that we work with, and come together. It's, it's truly inspirational."
When Climbing Collective hosted the Ice Climbing World Cup and Winterfest last year, the event was free; however, now, as they try to “break even to make this a sustainable event”, tickets are $10 or $14, and anyone under the age of 12 is free.
The schedule of events can be found on their website.
