Our Story
3:27 pm by Annie Osenbaugh
In 2009 we began in Brooklyn, a city filled with passion, creativity, and the drive to make things happen. We opened doors. You created a community.
Since then, the BKB community has inspired us to open new doors in New York, Boston, and Chicago. Each outward manifestation of our community has helped us grow inward to develop and provide innovative climbing technologies, industry-leading recovery amenities, virtual programming, WILD™ excursions, and the Brooklyn Boulders Foundation.
We bring Brooklyn everywhere we go. We hope to spread the #bkblove and a sense of community to other urban areas through climbing, fitness, art, and events. At Brooklyn Boulders (BKB) you’ll find unconventional experiences that not only push you physically, but engage your imagination and ignite your passion.
Our History
2009
We moved into the Daily News Garage and turned it into a climbing gym, becoming the first dedicated climbing gym in NYC.
2010
We started the BKB Foundation (BKBF) and City Rocks, which uses climbing to build mentoring relationships that empower students from under-resourced communities to develop self-confidence, resiliency, and the ability to succeed.
Our competitive youth climbing team, BKBeasts, launches.
2011
We opened our home away from home, the Hueco Hacienda, next to some of the best bouldering in the country at Hueco Tanks State Park, Texas.
2012
Founder, Kareemah Blatts hosts the first Adaptive Climbing Clinic at Brooklyn Boulders Gowanus. Our Gowanus team hosts Team Rubicon during Hurricane Sandy.
2013
We opened Brooklyn Boulders Somerville, established the Active Collaborative Workspace and hosted the HACKFit Hack-a-thon.
2014
We branched out of New England and opened our first Chicago facility with Brooklyn Boulders West Loop. Our Somerville team hosted TEDx Somerville and Brooklyn Boulders Gowanus was voted Best Birthday Party spot by Time Out New York.
2015
We opened our second NYC facility, Brooklyn Boulders Queensbridge and produced a short film based in Turkey, Climbing Bridges.
2016
We took to the outdoors and established BKB Wild. We were honored with the American Institute of Architects People’s Choice Award and collaborated to launch Augmented Reality Climbing. We expanded our Out to Climb pride celebration to all four facilities in June and raised thousands of dollars for LGBTQ non-profits including Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative (SIGBI), Boston Alliance of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Youth (BAGLY), and Howard Brown Health.
2017
We hosted our first year of The North Face’s Walls Are Meant For Climbing. Our Somerville team hosted Visual Somerville and our Gowanus team hosted an On Belay fundraiser for Hurrican Maria relief in Puerto Rico.
2018
We hosted a GoPro x Red Bull adventure videography competition featuring Sasha DiGuilian at Brooklyn Boulders Gowanus.
2019
The first annual IMPACT Competition, set by a crew of womxn setters and created by BKB routesetter Foxman James, was held at Brooklyn Boulders Somerville. We hosted the first United States qualifier for the Adidas Ticket to Rockstars competition at Brooklyn Boulders Gowanus.
2020
We partnered with the American Alpine Club to put on the 22nd Hueco Rock Rodeo. We launched our first virtual fitness programming, BKB Live, and established our Diversity Equity + Inclusion Dashboard.
Our Commitment
Diversity, Inclusion + Belonging
We are committed to honoring the diversity of our community by creating actively anti-racist, inclusive and equitable environments for our team and everyone who considers themselves a part of the BKB community. Our community deserves positive, long-lasting change. We are ready to do the work and invite you to hold us accountable.