I sit here today writing this letter, in complete awe of all the great
experiences I have witnessed and/or have heard about at AZ on the Rocks (AZR to
our friends).
It was approximately 9.5 years ago that we first experienced rock climbing in
any form. My brother, Kent (who is my partner in the gym, along with our mother)
and his family were visiting Flagstaff. The forest was closed because of a
drought, and they were in need of entertainment for the family. There was an ad
that said “come climb our walls” by the Vertical Relief climbing gym, so they
went climbing for the day. When my family and I joined them in Flag. later, we
spent 4 hours at Vertical Relief climbing together. We had never seen a look
like the one we saw on our kids faces that day, one of such accomplishment and
pride, as if they were on top of the world. It was that day that we said, “We
need to build a gym in Scottsdale.” There had always been talk of a family
business, but nobody had ever expected it would happen like this.
Fast forward a year and a half (past lots of blood, sweat and tears), and we
opened on January 17th, 2004 to all of those who had helped build AZR,
literally. The painters, electricians, etc. and their family members were
invited in to come climb with us. It was a great way to show our appreciation,
and do a trial run. The next night, on January 18th, we hosted all of our
pre-opening members (115 of them). And on January 19th we officially opened to
the rest of the world.
A countless number of interesting and memorable things have happened along the
way. Not the least of which is that my mother met and got married to her
husband, Randy, at AZR. There have been others that have met at AZR and ended up
getting married: Dan and Irene, Jackie and Justin…and those are just the ones
that we know about. There really is such a thing as Love on the Rocks!
Can’t-here is some inside info for you. If you EVER come to AZR and say “I can’t
do this,” I will personally guarantee that I will get you to the top of the
wall. I accept, “I don’t want to,” or “I’m scared,” or just about anything else.
But I do NOT accept “I can’t,” especially if you haven’t ever tried.
I have found climbing to be a metaphor for life. We tend to dream up and focus
on all of these bad things that can happen to us, which limits our ability to
try, and subsequently enjoy many things. However, when you actually try, you
find out that these things aren’t as bad as we imagined. Several years ago, a
doctor came in with her 2 friends. I was at the gym climbing at the time, and
saw them literally pulling her into the climbing area. She was crying and
fighting against her friends, clearly not happy to be there and terrified of the
idea of climbing. I went over, talked with them, joked around, helped lighten
the mood and offered my services in the form of belaying for her or climbing
alongside her. She finally relented, and after about 30 minutes we got to the
top together. After we were back on the ground, she gave me a hug and continued
on to climb several more times that day. Days later, I received a letter from
her, thanking me for taking the time to help her. She said, “this experience and
you have CHANGED MY LIFE. I feel amazing and am a new person.” Now, I can’t tell
you that owning a climbing gym is financially rewarding, but when you have an
experience like that and you get a letter like this, it really doesn’t seem to
matter as much. I have been lucky enough to have “helped” many people overcome
their fear of heights, vertigo, trust issues, etc. Even parents of
employees…nobody is safe from me!
I am El Presidente of the gym, my brother, Kent, is a full time attorney with
his own law firm (Berk & Moskowitz, shameless plug), and my mother, Joyce, is
our birthday coordinator. It has been a great experience for us as a family to
be in this together. But it has not always been easy. It’s pretty tough when the
people you work with can “uninvite” you to holiday dinners…not that that has
ever happened to us.
I have had the honor and pleasure of growing up with several of our staff
members. Stephanie (our 2nd in Command) was only 19 when she came to us part
time, but quickly became a manager and now runs the joint day to day. She now
has her own baby (not named AZR, but Eli. I tried). Kody and Nick have both been
with us since they were much shorter than I, and now Kody towers over me. They
are the only two employees that have performed every job function at the
facility. And we are very proud of the people that they have all become. While I
know AZR is merely a short stay for most of our employees, I hope that we have
had a meaningful impact on their lives. Our former employees often come back and
visit with us, and we love that!
AZR has been open for 8 years now, and we have met over 110,000 unique people;
many who just come to try something cool, some to exercise and others who have
made climbing a part of their lives. Regardless of what brought each of you in,
it has been our pleasure to serve each and every one of you. We thank you for
being a part of the AZR family, and look forward to continuing to grow the
climbing community.
