Canberra's longest-running rock-climbing facility closes after 25 years

It might not have had the happiest of endings, but Canberra’s longest-running indoor rock-climbing facility has certainly left quite the legacy.

Canberra Indoor Rock Climbing (CIRC), established more than 25 years ago in 1999, has given rise to dozens of champions who have competed in Oceanic titles and World Championships.

Not to mention the various sporting organisations and charities it sponsored, such as the Ted Noffs Foundation and the Gungahlin Jets.

But earlier this month, owner Gordon Kelly announced it was all over.

In a tragic series of events, it turned out the owner of the Mitchell site had sent the notice of renewal to an old email address and by the time this was discovered, it was too late to re-sign.

Mr Kelly has had to vacate and either dump the old equipment or move it into his garage until he can work out what to do with it.

“The result is I’ve had to close the business and shut down something that’s been really good for a very long time,” he said.

“I’ve still got a lot of stuff in the garage … and I’ll probably have to get another job for a couple of years till I’m old enough to retire.”

But he remains focused on the bright side.

“The last few months – they’ve been rubbish absolutely, but it is what it is, and it was something really good for a really long time, and I think I made a difference,” he said.

“We spent 25 years taking climbing from freaks and geeks to the mainstream.”

Technically, CIRC began in 1990 with a climbing gym in the same building as today’s Old Bus Depot Markets – a first for Canberra. Mr Kelly bought the business in 1999 and opened facilities first in Hume and then, from April 2023, in Essington Street in Mitchell.

A lot of his business came through schools, both from within Canberra and much further abroad, visiting on excursions.

“All of the schools that I’ve dealt with, I’ve always said the same thing – about how rock climbing promotes positive virtues, and how you have to be trusting, and you have to be trustworthy, and people respond very well to that,” Mr Kelly said.

“I’ve had many people come in and thank me for setting their kids on the right path. So that’s quite an impact. The best years of my life.”

Back in 2001, Mr Kelly also devised the same rock-climbing program you’ll see used in the Olympics now, with competitors assessed across the three disciplines of speed, bouldering (climbing short but challenging routes without the use of ropes), and lead climbing.

“We held the first competition in the country to do that, and now every competition is like that.”

Mr Kelly and the community did attempt to save the gym by starting a Google Form petition, which attracted “thousands of signatures”, followed by a GoFundMe page to pay for the deconstruction process, which raised over $7000 of a $30,000 target.

But he said the politicians did “f*** all to help”.

“It all just fell on deaf ears.”

In the end, Mr Kelly is just happy to have “changed the game”.

Mr Kelly has listed a lot of the old equipment up for sale on Facebook Marketplace. See the CIRC Facebook page for more information.