During the long Pentecost weekend, we decided to visit a bouldering gym a bit farther from home. We chose Enschede, which feels like half a world trip to us due to the two-hour travel time. The city has two bouldering gyms. Since we had never been to either of them before, we let fate decide by flipping a coin. It landed on heads, and so Boulderstation.
The bouldering gym
This bouldering gym is located in an old textile factory building and was partly made possible through crowdfunding. Instead of starting with a warm-up right away, we began calmly with coffee and tea to acclimatise. The changing rooms are one floor down and accessible via a narrow staircase in the centre of the gym. The walls are decorated with inspiring photos of top athletes. There is also a spacious training area for strength exercises and a smaller room called Playstation for practising specific movements.
Journey Around the World
Part of the climbing walls is based on the Olympic walls from Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. Our climbing journey began symbolically in Los Angeles, the host city for the upcoming Olympic Games in 2028. The vertical walls here are perfect for warming up. After the first boulders, we made a brief stop at the central climbing structure, a mushroom-shaped block in the middle of the gym. There, I climbed several 7A problems on the overhang.
Our route continued to Tokyo. Many holds felt familiar but turned out to be from the brand On-Climb. A brand that is not yet commonly found in Dutch gyms. After that, I returned to the central block for a beautiful boulder with wooden holds, designed by Adam Ondra. After a few attempts, I managed to tick it off.
We ended our climbing journey in Paris. Here, a gold challenge awaited us: gold-coloured pinches, once again designed by Adam Ondra. Although I tried several times, I could not get through it. Still, it was a beautiful challenge.
Because of the layout, you do not realise how large the gym is, as each zone feels compact. What stood out to me most is that the bouldering style seems to want to teach you something. It feels as if the gym challenges you to climb with technique and awareness. Moreover, there is a rich offering of training sessions, workshops, and competitions. A lot is organised, which makes it especially interesting for the local climbing community.
We ended our world trip in the bar area, where we enjoyed a delicious and affordable pizza. A brief detour to Italy, as a closing touch.
Final thoughts
Boulderstation Enschede feels like a world trip in a single gym. There is an active community, and you can see the owners' passion reflected in every detail.
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