Climb Nittany (Vertical Adventures)

Harris Township, Boalsburg, PA

In 2018, PennTerra Engineering was approached to join the team bringing the first fully-fledged indoor rock-climbing recreational facility to the State College area. The 12,000 square foot building is located on a 2.5-acre tract in the Boalsburg Technology Park in Harris Township, nestled against Rothrock State Forest and just a ten-minute drive from Penn State University.

PennTerra's team logged over 700 hours to bring this project to the community, working on the overall land development plan, lighting and landscaping plans, and also preparing stormwater management and erosion control features. Given the site's elevations, special attention was paid to the pedestrian access paths from the building's entry to the sidewalk and bus stop on Discovery Drive.

This is the latest project that PennTerra has been a part of in this business park, where we have worked on nearly all of sites, with the current occupants, and/or road design; it is the second project in the business park with a recreation focus. PennTerra is proud to be a part of these project teams that are bringing a work-life balance to our community!

To learn more about this project in one of the co-owners own words, here is an excerpt from a July 2020 article "Adventure Centre: As More People Look to the Outdoors for Entertainment, New Initiatives Enhance Area's Standing as Recreation Hub" that appeared Town & Gown, written by Vincent Corso:

Since moving his outdoor gear company, Organic Climbing Inc., to the area 10 years ago, Josh Helke was looking to provide the region an indoor climbing gym. As he struggled to find a location that worked, his company in Philipsburg grew and grew.

Recently, he partnered with Ohio-based 5.Life and they are in the process of building Climb Nittany, a 12,000-square-foot gym that will feature 10,000 square feet of climbing walls for bouldering, top rope, and lead climbing, plus space for yoga and fitness. While the pandemic pushed construction back, the goal is to open sometime in July or August.

Climb Nittany is located next to Calvary and the Harvest Fields Community Trails in what looks to become an outdoor adventure corridor with the Tussey Mountain ski slopes and Rothrock State Forest as the backdrop.

“I have always lived in developing outdoor towns that were off the radar and then kind of come on the radar,” says Helke. “And to see State College kind of release from the whole football mentality and kind of start to appreciate and market the outdoor aspect, it is just so cool.”

Rock climbing is an up-and-coming sport that was to be featured in the 2020 Olympics for the first time, and Helke is excited to get people into the sport that he says is like “a mix between rhythmic yoga and running.”

“Our motto [of] ‘building community through movement’ is really our goal,” he says. “We want to bring people from all over the Centre Region, not just State College, together where people can enjoy a sport and recreate for the fun of it and enjoy each other’s company.

“There is a lot of outdoor climbing potential in the area, so it is going to be cool for people to be able to connect the strength and skill that they gain at Climb Nittany and translate that into some outdoor trips. We are hoping that as we get integrated into the community, to offer taking groups outside.”

“This area now is really starting to be on the radar as far as biking and all these outdoor sports,” Helke adds. “So it is fantastic to think that now climbing will be added to this mix of these kinds of world-class sports in an area that is kind of undeveloped in terms of that.”

In the News