USA Climbing taps Momentum in SLC as new National Training Center

The vision of a new Downtown Salt Lake City sport climbing national headquarters facility. Photo: USA Climbing

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The USA Climbing Board of Directors voted unanimously on Sunday to pursue a partnership with Momentum to operate its National Training Center (NTC).

The partnership aims to create a new operating model that diversifies revenue sources beyond traditional memberships, with an emphasis on community access. Through this collaboration, USA Climbing and Momentum hope to bolster the local climbing gym industry and promote the growth of climbing nationwide.

The NTC, located in Salt Lake City, will serve as a world-class facility housing USA Climbing’s headquarters. It will host large-scale events and provide accessible training spaces, climbing terrain, and resources designed to support competitive climbers at youth, collegiate, paraclimbing, and elite levels from across the country.

“We are excited to partner with Momentum to advance this historic project,” said USA Climbing president and CEO Marc Norman. “Momentum has demonstrated close alignment with our mission and goals for the NTC. It’s been a pleasure to work with such a dedicated team, and we appreciate their longstanding support and advocacy of USA Climbing and the industry.”

Momentum CEO Jeff Pedersen added, “Momentum is honored to join USA Climbing in creating an exceptional National Training Center. We look forward to collaborating with Marc Norman and the USA Climbing team to elevate competitive climbing and share its benefits with the broader climbing community.”

The decision follows months of discussions with the climbing gym community, including input from USA Climbing’s Gym Partner Task Force, the addition of a gym operator to the USA Climbing Board, gym partner involvement in strategic planning, and a joint committee with the Climbing Wall Association that continues to meet regularly.

After issuing a Request for Interest (RFI) to gym operators in April, USA Climbing received five submissions from across the country. The evaluation committee, which included USA Climbing staff, board members, and external experts, recommended two finalists: Momentum and Touchstone. The board selected Momentum following extensive discussions, site visits, and model evaluations with both finalists.

“We extend our deep appreciation to Touchstone for challenging our perspective of what a National Training Center could be,” Norman said. “The Touchstone team has created an amazing climbing community in California. We gained valuable insights firsthand and look forward to continuing to build the relationship between our two organizations.”