Defy gravity at Budapest’s new climbing gym

Near Buda’s busy hub of Széll Kálmán tér, the Gravity Boulder Bar opened its gates with plenty of climbing surfaces and hundreds of routes. Designed by architects, sportsmen and experts, the features of this climbing gym are unmatched in Budapest – for a similar experience in the region, you’d have to travel to Vienna.

In recent years, climbing has become more and more popular – what started out as an underground community with secret spots and its own slang is now a mainstream sport. At Tokyo 2020, climbing will make its Olympic debut and gain even more publicity. Aware of this trend, the team at Gravity have opened the Boulder Bar at just the right time.

The brains behind the project are childhood friends Olivér Szatmári and architect Gáspár Bonta, climbing partners for seven years. They were joined by the veterans of the Ujjerő Boulder Gym, Zoli Komjáti, one of Hungary’s most successful climbers and coaches, and Gabi Komjáti-Szücs, whose sports equipment carries the brand name KOGAMI. The Boulder Bar’s professional design has evolved from this diverse expertise, in collaboration with the Austrian Walltech, one of the best wall-design companies in the world.

To reach the Gravity Boulder Bar, take the lift of Mammut 1 to the fourth floor. After a chill zone with beanbags, you arrive at a huge, two-levelled space. A red staircase leads to the gallery, where you can find the reception and bar, changing rooms, sauna and equipment shop, as well as the ends of the climbing routes.

While sitting at the bar, sipping on a post-or pre-work-out drink, you can watch the climbers below, hanging on the most dramatic parts of the wall and learning new moves. This viewing arrangement is deliberate: as the sport gains more publicity, the Boulder Bar will host contests with spectators in attendance.

Descending into a climbing arena confined by walls 4.5 metres high, each route is assigned different colours. Each increases in intensity, starting from the entrance and children’s wall with animal figures, and ending with a 60-degree overhanging panel. There are no safety harnesses here, but a thick mattress would soften the highest fall.

After an exhausting session, you can rest on the roof terrace, still only partly complete and due to be ready by summer. Looking down from here feels like standing on a cliff above a colourful terraced cave. This rock-like structure is a conscious part of the design, harking back to the roots of the sport.

The Gravity Boulder Bar is already busy. After work, as many as a hundred people might be climbing simultaneously, others chatting at the bar or relaxing on beanbags. The team also organises training sessions on different levels, from children’s to advanced, and weekend climbing therapy for kids with attention deficit disorder, in collaboration with the Hópárduc Foundation.

If you have been thinking about giving climbing a go, this is a perfect time to grab some comfortable training clothes and get to it. Sessions start at 2,500 forints, with reductions for students and children.

You can also rent all the necessary equipment, such as chalk powder and climbing shoes, at the gym.

Gravity Boulder Bar Mammut mall, District II. Lövőház utca 2-4

Open: Mon-Thur 6am-11pm, Fri 8am-11pm, Sat-Sun 10am-10pm