Earth Treks

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.