INDIANAPOLIS — Hayden Thomas wasn’t always into climbing.
“I picked up the skill mainly because I started working here,” Thomas said. “I forced myself to do this and I fell in love with it.”
Thomas is the communications coordinator for North Mass Boulder, a fitness and bouldering gym, yoga studio, and co-working space located in Indy’s Windsor Park neighborhood.
While the facility is filled with a number of colorful rock walls, bouldering differs from rock climbing in that there are no ropes involved.
“You're never climbing [higher than] about 20 feet at our gym specifically,” Thomas said.
If you've never attempted bouldering before, Thomas says not to worry.
“We offer a lot of climbing classes, Thomas said. “Climbing is for everybody, no matter your shape or size, you can really do it for as long as you want.”
Many of the first-time climbers at North Mass Boulder have no experience in bouldering.
“A lot of them come from backgrounds of no climbing whatsoever,” Thomas said. “A lot of them have grown up in a city and have never really had the opportunity, so it's really interesting to see people show excitement over something that they've never done before.”
For those seeking to relax, North Mass Boulder offers yoga and meditation classes.
“We do a lot of sound baths as well,” Thomas said. “Sound baths are a meditative class that we like to offer for people who are looking to take a moment out of their day to just relax.”
For those who’d prefer to climb the corporate ladder, North Mass Boulder has a co-working space complete with a cafe, the Top Out Café.
