The Front, previously known as The Body Shop and The Wasatch Front, has been a part of the Salt Lake climbing community since 1989. Over the last three decades we’ve gone through big changes, such as moving locations to our current SLC location, opening a second location in Ogden, expanding The Front SLC from a 13,000-square-foot bouldering gym to a 50,000-square-foot gym and opening The Front South Main in Millcreek! However, over the years one thing has never changed: our love for the outdoors and the community that surrounds us. As our customer base, reach and platform have grown, so has our ability to give back and make a difference in our community. That’s what #TheFrontLine is all about! We hope you will join us.
We started the Impact Coalition in May of 2018 to provide ongoing support for nonprofits that are working hard to make positive impacts in our community. We currently partner with Utah Clean Energy, Community Animal Welfare Services, YCC Family Crisis Center, Utah Open Lands, and Volunteers of America, Utah.
Our members have the option to donate $1/month or more to our partner organizations, and we match their donations dollar for dollar. Since launching the Impact Co., The Front and its members have provided more than $775k in support of local nonprofits.
Learn more about our Community Climbing Groups, meet their leaders, and see when the next meetup is here.
We partnered with longtime friend and owner of Farmer Next Door, Jill Bell to provide our members with discounted CSA shares at The Front. All proceeds go directly to Farmer Next Door and the local growers, ranchers, cheese makers and food artisans they support. This program is thriving and is proudly supporting 23 local farms.
As a thank you for being kind to the environment, each time a member rides their bike (or walks, or takes public transit!) to The Front, they’ll receive one raffle entry to a monthly drawing for gear or Front swag! Riders at SLC and South Main can also earn one stamp on their Ride for Rewards card, which can be redeemed after ten stamps at one of our cafés for a delicious smoothie!
Display your art at your favorite gym! The Front continues to focus on community through a display of our local community’s artwork on art rails at each of our locations. These art rails are a unique place to showcase or sell your work in your community! Apply above to display for one month.
The Rotating Art Program is currently on hiatus. The RAP is a South Main-only art program that involves a stipends for participating artists and a final commissioned piece chosen by a committee of local art industry members. We will announce here if the program restarts again.
This committee, made up of Front staff, was founded in 2020 in order to support inclusivity at the Front. Our mission is to ensure that our gym is a welcoming, accessible, and safe space for all individuals regardless of their race, color, age, size, national origin, sex (including gender orientation, gender identity), socioeconomic status, and ability level.
The values that we are currently focused on are accessibility, outreach, community engagement and sustainability.
ACCESSIBILITY: Discounted day passes for our community climbing groups , providing free youth programming for qualifying groups, and creating free or low-cost membership options for qualifying applicants.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Identifying and directing our members and staff to relevant ongoing volunteer opportunities in our local community. Working with Impact Co. partners to enhance education, awareness, and engagement with the nonprofits’ areas of focus
SUSTAINABILITY: Ensuring that our sustainability initiatives surrounding alternative power sources, recycling, composting, and green modes of transportation are current and active
The fight for clean air never stops in the Salt Lake Valley. Running Up for Air, founded by world-renowned athlete Jared Campbell, has been supporting Breathe Utah since 2012 through a daunting fundraising endurance challenge. In six years, the runners of RUFA raised over $36K to improve our air quality! Then, we proposed that our athletes join the fight in a climbing endurance challenge! Since our partnership in 2018, RUFA and CUFA together has additionally raised more than $155k in support of Breathe Utah & Utah Clean Energy.
The Front has a deep appreciation for our trails and the environment that surrounds our beautiful city. We’ve partnered with the Ogden Trails Network for several years to help provide maintenance on many of the climbing access trails, remove graffiti off boulders, prevent erosion, build mountain bike trails and more! In 2018, we raised more than $60k for OTN as a result of the Shindig!
