The North Face announced plans to build its first free, public climbing wall within the underserved Montbello neighborhood in northeast Denver. The project marks the first of a “series of public climbing walls” it plans to build in a partnership with The Trust for Public Land.
The announcement was made at the Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show, and it’s part of the brand’s “Walls Are Meant for Climbing” program.
The climbing wall will be a part of the larger ongoing Montbello Open Space Park restoration project. Montbello Open Space Park will be a 5,000-acre green space serving 40,000+ low-to moderate-income youth and families from the area.
“The Montbello Open Space Park is no average park – it is being carefully restored to its natural state and will include beautiful native gardens, educational kiosks, walking trails, and other outdoor activities, like climbing! Construction on the wall will begin this spring and the plan is to have it open for climbing in the summer,” said North Face in a statement.
“Last year we launched “Walls are Meant for Climbing” and committed to making climbing more accessible. Our new wall is the first in a series of public climbing walls that we will construct, through our partnership with The Trust for Public Land, across America to make this commitment real. Our company was born in the climbing community and we believe walls can be a place to unite people versus divide them.”
To kick off the Denver wall announcement, we’re gathering with the Denver community and our athletes to give local kids the opportunity to both climb with pros like Matty Hong, Daniel Woods and Maureen Beck, and also get involved in the actual design of the new wall. We want the community to be as much a part in bringing this new wall together as we are.”
“Climbing has been at the core of our brand for more than 50 years.,” the company added. “We’re excited to continue our support and inspire kids to connect with the outdoors by bringing this free public climbing wall to Denver. And for those of you in the Denver area, we hope to see you at the wall this summer.”
Photo courtesy The North Face
