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Tomo Bouldering Club is a 1400 sqm (15,000 sq ft) bouldering gym in Portland, Oregon, designed as a modern indoor climbing facility focused on movement, progression, and long-term use.
It wasn’t built to move people through. It was built around how climbers actually develop: through movement, repetition, and time on the wall.
When three longtime friends and climbing industry veterans came back together to open their own space, they partnered with EP Climbing to build a gym that reflects that philosophy throughout the facility’s layout, training spaces, and routesetting potential.
Tomo includes just over 460 sqm (5,000 sq ft) of climbing terrain organized across three distinct zones within the larger facility.The layout includes a main wall, a large island wall, and a dedicated training wall. Together, these zones give routesetters the flexibility to create movement that is deliberate, varied, and sustainable for daily use.
The facility also integrates multiple climbing-specific training spaces designed to support progression across different climbing styles and ability levels. Training features throughout the gym include spray walls, adjustable training boards, hangboards, campus boards, and dedicated strength training areas that extend how climbers use the space beyond standard bouldering sessions.
The mezzanine level also provides space for events, gatherings, and community programming, reinforcing the gym’s focus on long-term engagement alongside climbing performance and skill development.
A well-designed climbing gym supports movement, progression, and consistent use across the space, rather than focusing only on capacity. At Tomo, that philosophy shows up in both how the walls are built and how the space is used day to day.From the start, the goal wasn’t just variety.It was movement that teaches something.The walls support modern routesetting, including greater use of volumes, coordination movement, and more complex movement patterns as setting styles continue to evolve.EP Climbing’s Mozaik panel system provides a consistent surface across the entire facility, giving routesetters a reliable foundation for building movement at every level.“One of the amazing things about climbing is movement. As you climb and get experience, you can feel what good movement is and what not-so-good movement is.”— Joel Velasco, Co-Founder
Tomo draws on a philosophy shaped in part by Japanese climbing culture, where the focus is less on chasing grades and more on refining movement.
This approach influences the layout, the routesetting, and how the space is used day to day.
It’s not just a place to climb. It’s a place designed to help people improve over time.
In climbing gym design, the wall system plays a central role in supporting movement, progression, and long-term use.
At Tomo, the build supports that from day one, giving routesetters the tools they need and climbers a reason to keep coming back.
For more updates, check their website, or follow them on social media:
📸 Instagram: @tomoboulderingclub
Tag @EPClimbing with #BringsClimbingToEveryone