Sandpoint Rock Gym offers winter climbing fix

Sandpoint climber Ashley Stoneham reaches for the next hand hold on Thursday at Sandpoint Rock Gym.

“I like the challenge,” described Stoneham, sporting a shirt that read ‘go climb a rock.’ “A lot of it is a puzzle, figuring out body movements to make certain routes work.”

The gym, located across from Evans Brothers Coffee, features several different walls and challenging routes. It’s open every Thursday, from 3-6 p.m., and costs just $5 for a drop-in visit.

There are a handful of climbing enthusiasts in Sandpoint, and during the winter, the indoor climbing walls offer a way to get their fix. Who can forget the great line by early English mountaineer George Mallory? Upon being asked in 1921 why he wanted to climb 29,000 plus foot Mount Everest, Mallory famously answered “Because it’s there.”