Pittsburgh Newest Bouldering Gym Is in a Public Park—and It’s Free

POM Administrator — Sun, 08 Dec 2024 09:00:51 +0000

Last month, opened Boyce Bouldering Park—a 6,000-square-foot expanse of artificial boulders. Carved into the edge of Pittsburgh’s urban sprawl—just fifteen minutes from downtown—this free outdoor bouldering gym was designed with an ambitious vision: to bring outdoor adventure to all.

The park boasts more than 100 problems, ranging in difficulty from VB to V10+, which will be reset twice a year by professional setters. It is part of a $4.7 million project inspired by a 2020 Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) study, which highlighted a significant lack of accessible outdoor recreation in and around Pittsburgh. To address this need, planners chose to create a bouldering park and nearby pump track, paired with upgraded restrooms and other park facilities, aiming to foster a sense of community and adventure close to home.

There are more than 100 boulder problems, ranging in difficulty from VB to V10+ (Photo: Courtesy of Allegheny County)

From start to finish, the park revitalization project was designed with climbers in mind—but Dean Privett, a local gym owner, consultant, and longtime setter, did more to shape the park’s climbing functionality than anyone else.

Privett has been in the climbing industry for more than 13 years, designing climbing facilities worldwide, including one of his own in Pittsburgh. When he heard that Allegheny County had plans to build a free climbing-oriented outdoor park, he picked up the phone and got into the right room.

It was a good thing he did.

“I wanted to create a range of routes that catered to the existing climbing community and also welcomed the ‘stumble-up’ climber,” Privett said. (Photo: Courtesy of Allegheny County)

Lacking climbing expertise, the county was planning to install a 30-foot climbing tower with autobelays. But, in an 11th hour meeting, Privett convinced them that bouldering was a safer, more accessible, more affordable, and more climber-friendly alternative.

We aren’t motivated by profit; we’re motivated by getting folks outside.

“I knew I wanted to make sure whatever got built was as functional as possible,” he told Climbing. “Architect-led artificial climbing wall constructions tend to be more in the miss column than the hit column with true avid indoor and outdoor rock climbers.” His company, Boulder Solutions, ultimately consulted on the project— with ambitious, progress-oriented setting at the forefront of the design. By prioritizing wall shapes that support varied movement and difficulty, the wall design itself ensured that a dedicated team of setters could regularly rotate problems.

(Photo: Courtesy of Allegheny County)

Privett and Allegheny County plan to update the routes at Boyce twice a year, aiming to keep the space fresh and challenging for climbers of all skill levels.

For Privett, this approach was crucial.

“I wanted to create a range of routes that catered to the existing climbing community and also welcomed the ‘stumble-up’ climber,” he said. “With the outdoor design, we could control that experience through the wall shapes and by balancing slabs with overhangs.”

The park currently boasts over 100 new climbs, ranging from the smaller, kid-oriented “June Boulder”—named after Privett’s daughter—to a V10+ set by IFSC World Cup route setter . Setters from , , , , and the former director of setting for the Cliffs, also contributed to the park’s initial setting.

“My goal was to provide Pittsburgh with a diverse palette of climbs from incredibly experienced setters,” Privett said. “So we set in a traditional commercial climbing gym methodology, maybe with a slight emphasis on fun over difficulty; we wanted to have things up there that would challenge people so they would come back.”

The June Boulder, designed (in part) for kids, is central part of the park’s larger goal: making outdoor recreation in Pittsburgh accessible to underserved communities. (Photo: Courtesy of Allegheny County)

“My philosophy here was really to introduce people to it as physical problem-solving and not as a physical challenge,” he added, “to hopefully create that hook-line-and-sinker feel of having an enjoyment for solving a puzzle.”

His plan is working. On a recent visit to BBP, he heard a young girl, wearing sneakers, ask her parents to put climbing shoes on her Christmas list.

“There’s a bit of a mentorship barrier that’s been true of traditional rock climbing,” Privett said. “But here, there’s a nice crossover [between communities]. When climbing is in the public sphere, and in public spaces—it’s easier for people to give it a try.”

Since Boyce is within the jurisdiction of Allegheny County Parks, the challenges that traditional gyms face with liability insurance were minimal—it’s generally accepted that public areas operate with a “use at your own risk” legal structure.

One goal: that the Boyce Bouldering Park model can inspire other municipalities to consider climbing in their park budgets. (Photo: Courtesy of Allegheny County)

“Within commercial climbing gyms, there’s a lot of liability that we’re obviously exposed to, but parks operate in a different realm,” Privett said. “There are federal laws that protect them. They have tolerances for those types of activities—and that allowed the upkeep and route setting to be a part of the overall budget.”

All of that allows the park to serve its primary goal: making outdoor recreation in Pittsburgh accessible to underserved communities.

“The climbing work is emblematic of that,” said Brett Hollern, Vice President for the PEC Western Pennsylvania Central Region. “So how does somebody without transportation, without equipment, having never done this before, how do they even approach recreating outdoors or climbing? We bring that experience to them.”

Privett echoed the sentiment: “In places like Pittsburgh, it’s just much less common to think about climbing as an activity that you would or could want to do. But our industry could benefit from more awareness around what climbing is. It’s all of our job to educate and introduce people to it.”

Hollern hopes that the Boyce Bouldering Park model can inspire other municipalities to consider climbing in their park budgets. “We operate on the premise that people who recreate on public lands will, in turn, become stewards of those lands. Outdoor spaces like this can activate communities, whether through economic development or quality of life, and Allegheny County really took that idea and ran with it.”

A nice sunny day out at the Boyce Boulders. (Photo: Courtesy of Allegheny County)

Joe Perkovich, the Allegheny County Landscape Architect who supported the project, said the proposal’s non-existent barrier to entry was a key reason for the county parks service involvement. “All of our parks are publicly funded assets and are there for people to use and enjoy,” he continued. “We aren’t motivated by profit; we’re motivated by getting folks outside.”

For most, the bouldering park is just another addition to Pittsburgh’s growing outdoor scene—but it’s a game-changer for advocates and climbers like Privett. It’s a space where the barriers to entry are lowered, and anyone, regardless of background or experience, can step up, fall down, and fall in love with the sport.

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Pittsburgh Newest Bouldering Gym Is in a Public Park—and It’s Free

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