As many of you know, we are a small, family-run business. You know our names and faces.

Without being able to conduct parties and sell day passes, our members are the only source of support we have to meet our fixed expenses while we are closed. This is a real challenge for us, but we are keeping a positive outlook.

We are incredibly grateful for those of you who have graciously decided to continue your memberships with us. It means everything at a time like this to be able to count on the support of our community. We are resilient, as is our community, and with your help we can and will make it through this crisis.

Every bit of support will help us tremendously. If the regular membership amount is too difficult for you, but you’d like to contribute more than the freeze fee of $10.00, let us know what you can pay and we’ll gratefully accept whatever that amount is. 

If you’re considering terminating your membership, please consider freezing your membership for just $10/mo instead. Every little bit helps - $10/mo makes a significant difference for us right now. If even $10/mo is too much, you can still keep your membership: upon request, we’ll waive our freeze fee for you until we reopen the gym. Keeping your membership intact by freezing is the easiest way to reactivate your membership once we reopen.

If you'd like to choose any of these options, please fill out a Member Change Request at bridgesrockgym.com/membership at least 5 days in advance of our billing day, always the 1st of the month. If you have any special requests, such as a reduced membership rate, or a waived freeze fee, please include them in the comments. We will be processing all change requests manually, so we will make sure all special requests get our individual attention.

Published August 31s, 2020

On Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a sweeping new plan for the state’s reopening, titled Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The plan, which takes effect today, assigns each of the state’s 58 counties to one of four tiers, depending on the current spread of the virus.

Contra Costa County is currently Tier 1, indicating the virus is "Widespread."

The good news is that we’re pretty close to Tier 2. The criteria for moving from one tier to another largely revolves around two key statistics: test positivity rate and new cases per day per 100k people. As of this writing, Contra Costa County currently has a 6.0% positivity rate, and 10.9 new cases per day per 100k people. In order to advance to Tier 2, we need to keep our positivity rate under 8.0%, and reduce our new cases per day to 7 or fewer per 100k people. We need to maintain or reduce those numbers for at least two weeks before moving into Tier 2.

Once Contra Costa County reaches Tier 2, we’ll be able to open the Gym with 10% capacity. This means we’ll finally be able to open up Bouldering reservations, and we may be able to open limited Cardio & Weight Room reservations as well. As we move through the tiers, we’ll be able to increase our capacity and offer more services. We are beyond ecstatic!

Importantly, counties must spend at least 3 weeks in each tier, and we’ve just entered Tier 1 today. This means the earliest opportunity for our county to enter Tier 2 will be about three weeks from now, September 22nd or so, and only if we’ve met the criteria by September 8th.

Until then, we all need to do our part to keep our community safe. We’ll be wearing our masks, keeping our distance, getting tested, and keeping our fingers crossed. We hope to continue serving you with virtual Yoga + Fitness classes and BRG Outdoors sessions. More than anything, we hope to see you all again very soon!

Published July 29th, 2020

Today, Contra Costa County Health Services announced that they would “delay the opening of businesses and activities previously planned for July 1 until the COVID-19 outbreak in Contra Costa is better contained.”

Although we were excited by the prospect of reopening the gym to our community on July 1st, we understand the need for caution at this time. Contra Costa County has seen a sharp rise in community spread and hospitalization, and we look to CCHS for guidance:

“Many people who carry and spread the virus have no symptoms themselves. That is why it’s important for everyone to avoid social gatherings, observe physical distancing and wear masks or face coverings when around others.

Widespread testing is necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19 so we can safely reopen the economy. Testing is the only way to find out if you are carrying the virus and interrupt its spread. People can spread the virus without knowing they are sick.”

We remain committed to reopening the gym as soon as it is safe and responsible to do so. In the meantime, we ask you to do your part to limit community spread by following CCHS’s guidance: stay home, stay distant, wear a mask, and get tested.

Published July 26th, 2020

Today the Contra Costa County Department of Public Health released a statement on their COVID-19 Reopening Timeline. While not much is clear yet, we think this could mean a delayed reopening date, or it could mean we reopen with further restrictions such as a reduced capacity.

Whether or not we'll be able to re-open on July 1st, we are finalizing our preparations for reopening and wanted to keep you in the loop.

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Memberships

For those of you who have continued to pay your membership dues during the shutdown, we can't say thank you enough. Because of you, we've been able to pay our rent + utilities, pay our essential staff, offer virtual classes, and keep Team Bridges running. We will be forever grateful, and are still trying to figure out how to say thank you.

For those of you whose memberships are currently frozen, you can unfreeze your membership at any time at bridgesrockgym.com/membership. While all Freezes start on the 1st, you can unfreeze at anytime – today, the day we open, or July 25th - it's all groovy.

If you are currently paying a reduced membership dues amount and would like to return to the gym, you are essentially a frozen member – please submit a member change request at bridgesrockgym.com/membership to unfreeze your membership when you're ready.

If you've lost your job because of the pandemic but would like to remain a part of our community, we want to work with you. Please shoot us an email at info@bridgesrockgym.com and we'll do our best to take care of you. Click Here to Fill Out Change Requests

Gym Sessions

Initially, all gym sessions will be by reservation only, and we will only serve current Monthly Autopay, Prepaid, and Team Bridges members ages 14+. We will not be accepting drop-ins.

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In order to ensure that everyone has a fair shot at using the gym:

• Sessions will be available up to 72 hours in advance

• Limit of one session per member per day. You'll have to choose between Bouldering, Weights, Cardio, and Classes for now.

• We need 24 hours notice to cancel your reservation, and will charge a $10 cancellation fee if you fail to show up for your session. Cancellations can be made by emailing info@bridgesrockgym.com or by calling us at 510-525-5635.

• Obviously, we want you to stay home if you are feeling sick at the last-minute, so please just give us a call and let us know.

We hope to be able to relax these restrictions, and to serve our younger members and day use customers soon. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

You'll be able to reserve a Bouldering Session, Cardio Session, or Weight Room Session at bridgesrockgym.com/gymsessions.

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Yoga + Fitness Classes

We are excited that we'll be able to offer a selection of Yoga + Fitness classes in person, with a class cap of 6 students per class. Since we won't have room for everybody initially, and we realize that some of our members may not be comfortable taking class in person yet, we'll continue to offer a host of Live Stream classes as well.

When the time comes, you'll be able to book Yoga + Fitness classes on Monday at bridgesrockgym.com/classes.

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Routesetting

We have a couple of pretty major surprises in store for you, and we can't wait to share.

First off, we've re-set the entire gym with brand new boulder problems. We've split the bouldering floor into distinct climbing areas, so it's easy to keep your distance. We focused on providing a variety of high-quality boulder problems in each style, and we think there's something for everyone. There's even a Dyno wall. Yup, get ready to jump!

We've replaced the V-Grade System with our own Circuit Grading System. Instead of each problem being assigned a grade sucvh as V4, V5, or V6, it will be assigned a range such as V3-V5, V4-V6, or V5-V7. There are many reasons that Bouldering gyms across the country are adopting Circuit Grading Systems, but we'd like to talk about just a few here.

You may have noticed already, but we think that V-Grades are pretty subjective. For Head Routesetter Jessie, a srcunchy, crimpy V7 feels like V4-5. For General Manager Kenneth, a V8 dyno to pinches feels about V5-V6. Height, weight, age, gender, body type, strength, and experience all play into how hard a problem feels, and this subjectivity often leads to disappointment, unmet expectations, dashed hopes and dreams, and generally bad feels.

It's far too often that we let ourselves as climbers get boxed in by grades. How many times have you said to yourself, "oh I can't climb V6, I'm not one of the Team kids," or even "I should be able this V3 if I can climb that V3?" These barriers are often no more than mental blocks we've put up for ourselves, and the best solution we've found is to challenge yourself with something a little outside your comfort zone.

We think our new Circuit Grading System is a little more honest, a little less subjective, and a little more accessible. We also know it's going to help us offer a better spread of boulder problems and climbing styles that are accessible to different ability levels. You'll not only have more fun climbing with us, but we think you might even progress faster. We can't wait for you to try it.

Finally, we'd be remiss if we forgot to mention that we built something. Something big.

But you'll have to wait until we open to see it.

Published June 12th, 2020

As of today, June 12th, gyms across California are allowed to reopen, pending local County approval. Yesterday, Contra Costa County received a variance from the State of California allowing more local control over which activities can resume.

According to CoCo County’s Road to Reopening, gyms are slated to open by July 1st, but it’s important to note that the county's timeline is based on current projections, and is still subject to delay if community health indicators don’t stay stable or continue to improve with COVID 19 cases.

Contra Costa is the first of six counties in the lower Bay Area to seek or receive a variance from the state COVID-19 health order, joining the North Bay counties of Napa, Solano and Sonoma.

For now, we’re crossing our fingers and finishing up our preparations for reopening. We can’t wait to see you again!

Published June 1st, 2020

Last Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced guidelines for hair salons and barber shops to open up, and mentioned that guidelines for the fitness industry should follow within a week. This announcement marks California's move into Stage 3 of the Governor's 4-stage reopening plan, though the reopening plan varies by county. In order for Contra Costa County to enter Stage 3, the County will have to attest that it's got the COVID-19 outbreak under control by hitting certain benchmarks.

While we don't know exactly what State & County guidelines for gyms will look like, we're happy to share a few highlights of our reopening plan so far.

• You will make a reservation to use the gym. Whether you'd like to climb, workout, or take a reduced-capacity Yoga or Fitness class, you're going to have to book it ahead of time.

• We'll all be screened on the way in. Employees and customers alike will have their temperature taken and attest that they haven't been exposed to COVID-19.

• We'll all be wearing masks. The main vector for transmission is respiratory droplets, and cloth face coverings help prevent the respiratory droplets from traveling in the air and onto other people.

• We'll be social distancing. We'll maintain 6' between each other, and we'll limit the number of people in each area of the gym. We'll split the bouldering floor into distinct climbing areas, to make it easier to maintain your distance.

• We'll be checking out, in addition to checking in, in order to support contact tracing. In case a member of our community does test positive, we'll be able to quickly identify who they may have come in contact with.

As we get closer to reopening, we'll be finalizing these policies and provide a video orientation so that you can come to the gym prepared to have a good time. We can't wait to be able to serve you in person once more.

Published May 1st, 2020

When Will We Reopen?

Although gyms are included in “Stage One” of the White House’s reopening strategy, California Governor Gavin Newson has released his own four-stage plan for the state that works with specific criteria to re-open the California economy. Under this four-stage plan, Gyms won’t be reopening until we’ve reached “Stage Three.” While no one can say when we’ll get to “Stage Three,” some key milestones are widespread testing for COVID-19 and the establishment of “a statewide COVID-19 surveillance system.” Although Newson’s plan focuses on milestones as opposed to dates, the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order has been extended at this point through the end of May.

Last Friday, several climbing gyms in Georgia reopened for business. As more states are likely to open up before California, we’ll be paying close attention to how our friends in those states work with the COVID-19 concerns in order to learn everything we can about best practices for operating a covid-conscious climbing gym. No matter what happens, we’re committed to prioritizing the health & safety of our community, and will only reopen when we feel it is responsible to do so.

When the time is right, we plan to set the whole gym with brand new bouldering problems, do some deep cleaning, and make a few small facility improvements to the gym. We’re waiting anxiously to get to the point where we can get started on all of this. In the meantime, we’re excited to offer 20 Yoga, Fitness and Climbing classes each week via Live Stream, and are looking for even more ways to help you meet your fitness goals at home this month.

We are deeply grateful to our members. Although we’ve been operating on an extremely tight budget, we want to thank those of you who have kept your memberships current, as this has allowed us to pay our fixed costs and keep the ship afloat. We can’t thank you enough, and promise to continue doing all we can to keep offering you the best value for your membership.

We’ll continue to keep you posted as the situation develops and we look forward to seeing you in our online classes as often as you can!

Published March 28th

We can't believe it's already been two weeks.

Just hours after we announced that we would close our doors, six Bay Area counties announced shelter-in-place orders. Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a state-wide shelter-in-place order. And since then, Mayors and Governors all over the country have followed suit.

While none of us know for sure how long California's shelter-in-place order will be in effect, most reliable sources are telling us it will likely be 8-12 weeks.

We are committed to opening the gym as soon as it is responsible to do so. We have already updated a number of our standard operating procedures in light of the current crisis, and we hope to invite you back to an even cleaner, corona-conscious gym once we're able to do so.

In the meantime, we're working hard to give back to our community by helping you stay fit at home.

Published March 15th

Dear Bridges Rock Gym Community,

The spread of COVID-19 throughout the world is truly devastating to many lives, and our thoughts and hearts are with those directly affected by this illness. As we've been watching this situation unfold, we've realized we need to play a bigger part in preventing the spread of this virus, and in protecting the health of the Bridges community that we love. 

After limiting access to Bridges Rock Gym yesterday, we have since realized that the restriction was potentially not enough to curb the spread of COVID-19. Even with the limited number of people in the gym, it is just too difficult to keep to the social distancing guidelines.

Although there is not yet official guidance forcing us to close now, the possibility of contributing to the spread of the virus is something we simply cannot bear. In an effort to support the health of our community and the world at-large, we believe the best thing to do is to take the preemptive action to close Bridges Rock Gym, effective tomorrow, March 16th. We will continue to evaluate the situation closely, but at this point we anticipate being closed through the end of March.

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Bridges Rock Gym is a small, family-owned business, and we are in this as a team with our employees and all of you.  It humbles us to ask for such consideration from our community, but in order for us to take care of our dedicated employees, and to continue to pay for our fixed expenses, we are asking for those who are able to please consider keeping your membership intact while we ride out this difficult time.  We will definitely show our appreciation to those of you who are able to power through this with us! To those who are unable, we completely understand - upon request we will issue a credit for the remainder of March, and even waive the freeze fee for the month of April to make it easier to return to the gym when you’re ready. The overall impact of this time period may not be realized for several weeks, but with your help, we can all pull through.

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While we are closed, we will perform thorough cleaning of the facility so we can reopen with a fresh start.

We've already started looking at the possibility of providing you with at-home options for your fitness needs, through live-streaming of yoga and fitness classes, exercises to keep your climbing strength up, and tips for your general health and well-being.  We understand that this is not the same as being able to physically visit Bridges, but we hope these efforts will give you assurance that we will not stop working to give you the same loyalty you've given us over the years.

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Please feel free to reach out via phone or email with comments or concerns.  If we all do our part to reduce, and whenever possible, eliminate our contact with others, we will slow the rate of spread, and hopefully shorten the time it takes to recover.

With heartfelt gratitude for making Bridges what it is,

Bridges Rock Gym Management

Published March 13th

A lot has changed since we sent out our first Coronavirus notice last Friday. According to SF Gate, there are now 168 cases of Coronavirus in the Bay Area. Local parks, schools, libraries, even courts are closed through the end of the month. And Costco runs out of Toilet Paper every day.

On Wednesday, California updated its public health guidelines, including those relating to nonessential gatherings of people, in effect through at least the end of March:

• “Gatherings of 250 or more people should be postponed or canceled.”

• “Smaller gatherings held in venues that do not allow social distancing of six feet per person should be postponed or canceled.”

• “Gatherings of individuals who are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 should be limited to no more than 10 people. This includes gatherings such as those at retirement facilities, assisted living facilities, developmental homes, and support groups for people with health conditions.”

Further, Contra Costa County has recommended we avoid gatherings of 50 or more people in order to mitigate the spread of the virus in our community. Local health officials are stressing the urgency of assertive, proactive action to curb the spread of the virus, in spite of a lack of useful information on what the right actions are.

So What're We Going to Do?

We understand that the gym is an important part of maintaining your healthy lifestyle and social world. In order to preserve a safer environment for our beloved members and guests, we are implementing the following measures through the end of the month.

• We will be limiting gym access to no more than 50 customers at a time. 

• We will remain open to both members and guests at this time, however we will be prioritizing space in the facility for our members. We may be faced with the difficult decision to limit or discontinue day use access to the gym in order to accommodate our members; this is a moving target, and we will update as soon as we know more.

• We will be encouraging “social distancing” by limiting the number of people in each activity area.

• Team Bridges practice will be limited. Team climbers and parents will be addressed in a followup email.

• Yoga + Fitness class sizes will be reduced to allow for appropriate “social distancing.” Advanced Registration will be required for all classes. We are exploring options for live-streaming classes for members who can’t make it to class or prefer to stay home.

• We have rescheduled all group events at the gym through the end of the month, including Birthday Parties, After-Hours Parties, and Field Trips.

• We have cancelled our upcoming Kids Climbing Camps over Spring Break.

• If you have a group event, or Kids Climbing Camp booking with us, our staff will reach out soon to help you cancel or reschedule your booking.

• We have rescheduled Members Night from next Saturday to Saturday, April 25th, 2020.

• We will not be renting chalk or chalk bags, and are encouraging the use of alcohol-based liquid chalk, which is more hygienic.

• We will keep the front door and our locker room doors open so you have one less surface to touch on your way in and out of the gym.

Further, we are continuing the following efforts from last week:

• Cleaning every surface we can as often as possible

• Requiring sick employees stay home

• Making extra hand sanitizer stations and gym wipes available to members

We will reassess these measures as information and government recommendations develop.

If you are over the age of 60, otherwise part of a high-risk population, we recommend you stay home. If you’re under the weather, experiencing flu-like symptoms, or are just feeling anything other than 100%, please take a few days off of the gym, rest up, and feel better. Wait until your symptoms subside, and maybe then some, before returning.

If you’ve read the above and you’re ready to come on down to use the gym, we’d like to stress the following good hygiene principles.

• Wash your hands when you get to the gym, to avoid spreading outside germs. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds using hot, soapy water. Wash your hands again when you’re ready to leave, to avoid taking germs with you.

• Use hand sanitizer often.

• Don’t touch your face if you haven’t just washed your hands.

• Don’t shake hands, or even bump fists.

• Wipe down gym equipment before and after use.

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Put your used tissue in a waste basket.

• If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hands. Remember to wash your hands after coughing or sneezing.

• Practice “social distancing” by maintaining a 6-foot personal space bubble whenever possible.

We thank you for your support and understanding during these trying times. Our thoughts are with all those directly affected by this terrible illness. We hope that by taking the measures above we can do our part to help “flatten the curve,” and limit the spread in our community. If you have questions, concerns, or feedback for us, we encourage you to respond to this email to open up a dialogue.

Stay fit, stay healthy, and we hope to see you soon.

All the Best,

The Management Team

Bridges Rock Gym

Published March 6th

There is a lot of concern about the spread of Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

We're doing everything we can to help keep our gym clean, like extra cleaning of shared surfaces, encouraging sick employees to stay home, and making extra hand sanitizer stations available throughout the gym.

Climbing gyms and other fitness facilities will never be sterile – from climbing holds to dumbbells, we all touch the same stuff. While we all love brushing chalky holds, it's just not practical to sanitize each and every pinch or pocket after use.

There are some very basic things we can all do to help prevent the spread, and continue on with our lives. We based our list below upon the Center for Disease Control's recommendations.

Spread Love — Not Coronavirus!

Tips on Using the Gym Amid a Public Health Crisis

• Wash Hands Frequently

• Use Hand Sanitizer

• Avoid Touching Your Face

• Wipe Down Gym Equipment Before & After Use

• Feeling Sick? Consider Staying Home