Community Highlights: Meet Kevin Vlach of ELEV8 Climbing and Fitness

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Vlach.

Hi Kevin, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in Traverse City, and my first brush with climbing was a blip on the radar back in high school. But after graduating from university, I bought a pair of used climbing shoes while teaching English in Spain. I began scrambling around on some chunks of rock cemented into a culvert under a highway overpass. I instantly became hooked on the challenge and movement.

After moving back to the States, I headed West to Colorado and continued climbing both indoors and out. Climbing was a regular pursuit, whether getting some laps at a nearby crag before work or spending the weekend camping and climbing in the mountains. I volunteered time with a search and rescue team, began working as an arborist, and continued exploring the world of working and recreating at height. After the arrival of our first child, we pondered the possibility of moving back to TC, but not having access to climbing was a hard pill to swallow.

This is when I began to take a serious look at the viability of opening a dedicated climbing facility in the area. From the birth of the idea, through the business plan creation, market demographic studies, industry research, business mentoring, location scouting, financing, and construction, all the way to opening our doors some six years later, there were many fits and spurts along the bumpy road to where we are now!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Anything but! The path to getting this business off the ground encountered numerous dead ends and changed shape many times throughout the half dozen years it took to open our doors.

My original business partner stepped away to pursue a family business, which left me flying solo until I was fortunate enough to link up with another business partner years later. We visited loads of potential properties and drafted up plenty of floorplans and financial projection models, which were ultimately abandoned when deemed unviable for one reason or another.

There were multiple business collaborations we explored along the way that did not pan out. And when we were finally on the home stretch with a location locked down, a slot on the construction schedule, and a bank loan in the works, COVID hit, and our bank ceased all new commercial lending projects, and we were forced to scramble to find a bank willing to sign onto the project.

As much as those obstacles were difficult and demoralizing at the moment, they ultimately guided our path to where we are now, and we couldn’t be happier!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
ELEV8 Climbing and Fitness is a state-of-the-art indoor rock climbing and fitness center located in Traverse City, Michigan. We house multiple climbing walls ranging from a 14′ tall bouldering wall to rope walls up to 42′ in height. Our full-service facility also includes a fitness center, a yoga room, a retail shop, and a child watch center.

In the short couple of years since we opened our doors, we have built a solid offering of various climbing programs, including climbing movement classes, youth climbing clubs and camps, competitive and recreational youth climbing teams, climbing meetups, various workshops and courses, and have been able to host numerous community events and climbing competitions.

ELEV8 strives to create an inclusive and accessible space for people to challenge themselves, make connections, and stay active. We are super proud of the measures we have been able to take to reduce the barriers to entry for our sport, and we are blown away by the support of our community and the incredible impact that climbing has had on some of the lives in our area!

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share?
A big takeaway from COVID-19 was respect. We were, fortunately, able to have our construction schedule stay on course and open our doors and remain open throughout the crisis, but navigating the masking mandates and quarantine protocols was a challenge.

With honest communication, empathy, and non-judgment, we feel we were successful in continuing to offer a safe space for people to come and climb during those years.

Contact Info:

• Website: elev8climbing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elev8climbing/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elev8climbinggym