New climbing gym in Colorado Springs has grand opening

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- For you grounded health fanatics wanting to try some new heights, a fourth climbing gym in Colorado Springs just opened this morning.

Gripstone Climbing and Fitness -- located on Tutt Boulevard -- is now open to the public. The building has 19,000 square feet of climbing and the manager says it's currently the only gym built to the specifications of the international federation of sport climbing. 

The facility boasts a speed climbing wall of up to 50 feet which will attract some of our national athletes training for the 2020 Olympics.

“We're already working with partnerships with USA Climbing -- the national governing body -- to bring in the U.S. Olympic team to train in our facilities starting in the Springs," said Nathan Zwerling, Gripstone's operations director. "So you'll probably see a lot of those athletes: Nathaniel Coleman, Brooke Rabatou."

The director says he expects climbing to only grow in popularity as the Olympics and movies like "Free Solo" attract new crowds. The facility is open every day of the week with day passes or memberships available.