When looking for new markets that might be a fit for their brand, the owners of VITAL Climbing Gym, a bouldering concept, seek out locations that are “in the mix and part of people’s lives.” This is somewhat paradoxical with the genesis of the company, which originated during a long and very solitary bike tour more than a decade ago. Co-founder David Sacher recounts that he was alone in Argentina (having started his tour at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska) and struggling through a “windy, slow and tough” stretch when the idea for the first VITAL gym emerged as a sort of exercise in escapism. California Dreaming Sacher, who had climbed throughout college with his now business partner, Nam Phan, envisioned “a little climbing gym” with a “very laidback culture,” 24-hour access and a barbecue out front — in short, a place where he and his friends could “cook food and hang out and climb.” In 2010, that dream became a reality with the opening of the first VITAL Climbing Gym in California, where Sacher and Phan attended school. In addition to achieving the atmosphere Sacher envisioned, which he describes as “happy,” “familial” and that of a second home, the facility …
