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Earth Treks
Chris Warner founded Earth Treks in 1990, building it into a premier indoor climbing operator before its 2020 merger into the Movement Climbing platform.
Earth Treks
Chris Warner founded Earth Treks in 1990 in Columbia, Maryland, building the company from his own experience as a mountaineer and guide. The firm grew into a multi-location operator of indoor rock-climbing and fitness facilities along the East Coast, with gyms in Maryland, Colorado, and Virginia. The business predated the mainstream explosion of climbing gyms by two decades, establishing a loyal regional customer base and a reputation for high-quality routesetting and instruction. Earth Treks operates large-format facilities that combine rope climbing, bouldering, yoga, and group fitness classes under a single membership model. The company's asset mix is centered on specialized commercial real estate — requiring high ceilings and engineered structures — leveraged with a recurring membership revenue stream. Before its acquisition, the portfolio included flagship gyms such as the Timonium, Maryland location and the Englewood location in Colorado. The business served a range of customers from first-time youth climbers to elite athletes, with coaching programs that produced national-level competitors. The firm attracted outside capital as the climbing gym industry underwent consolidation. In 2020, El Cap — a holding company formed by private equity firm NewHold Investment Corp. specifically to aggregate climbing gym brands — merged Earth Treks with Planet Granite to create a nationwide operator. The combined entity continued to operate under the legacy Earth Treks and Planet Granite names before ultimately being rebranded as Movement Climbing, Yoga & Fitness, a portfolio company of NewHold (per NewHold Investment Corp., 2020). At the time of the merger, the combined network spanned over 16 locations, making it one of the largest climbing gym operators in the country. The transaction exemplifies a distinct structural play: private equity's application of a roll-up strategy to a historically fragmented, founder-led industry. Earth Treks transitioned from a single-founder lifestyle business into a key asset within a broader consolidation platform, a path now common in specialty fitness. The shift moved governance away from the original operator and into an institutional board structure managed by the acquirer's investment team and operating partners.
General information
Firm type
null
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Columbia
Corporate office
Columbia, MD, United States
Principals
Chris Warner
Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Earth Treks and what was the original vision?
Chris Warner founded Earth Treks in 1990 in Columbia, Maryland. Warner, a mountaineer with extensive high-altitude experience, aimed to create a dedicated indoor training facility for climbers that also served as a community hub. The business focused on high-quality walls, expert instruction, and a membership model that predated the modern boutique fitness trend.
What happened to Earth Treks after its acquisition?
In 2020, private equity firm NewHold Investment Corp. formed a holding company, El Cap, to execute a consolidation strategy in the climbing gym space. El Cap merged Earth Treks with Planet Granite, another established operator, creating a coast-to-coast network. Following the integration, the combined entity and its locations were rebranded under the name Movement Climbing, Yoga & Fitness.
Does Earth Treks still operate as an independent company?
No. Earth Treks was merged with Planet Granite in 2020 under the El Cap holding company and ceased to operate as an independent entity. Its former locations now operate under the Movement Climbing, Yoga & Fitness brand, which is the current portfolio company continuing the gym operations.
What was the scale of Earth Treks at the time of its merger?
At the time of the merger with Planet Granite in 2020, Earth Treks operated multiple large-format climbing gyms primarily in Maryland, Colorado, and Virginia. The combined Earth Treks and Planet Granite network comprised over 16 locations, making the merged entity one of the largest indoor climbing operators in the United States.
Who owns the Earth Treks brand and real estate now?
The Earth Treks brand name is owned by the El Cap / Movement Climbing entity, which is backed by NewHold Investment Corp. The specialized real estate assets that housed the gyms — typically high-bay industrial-style buildings with engineered climbing walls — are leased or owned by the corporate entity that emerged from the merger, not by the original founder.
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