Our story

Rocksport was built by Louisville climbers, for Louisville climbers.

In 1996, longtime Louisville climber Rob Butsch opened Rocksport — the city's first climbing gym — with a simple mission: create a space where people could train hard, push themselves, and discover what climbing could offer their lives. Long before climbing reached the Olympics, before modern training facilities existed, before the sport went mainstream, Rocksport helped shape Louisville's climbing scene from the ground up.

For decades, climbers learned how to tie in here. They climbed their first routes here. They trained for competitions here. And they built lifelong friendships here.

Rocksport became more than a gym. It became a community that pushes you when you need pushing and catches you when you fall — the kind of place Louisville climbers come back to for decades.

A new chapter

When Rocksport's future became uncertain, we stepped in. Not to buy a business, but to keep Louisville's climbing home open — and to invest in what comes next.

We're climbers, coaches, and community builders.

Co-owner Andrew Gearing brings 30+ years in the sport — two-time Youth National Champion, Youth World Championship competitor, and North American Continental Championship competitor — along with 25+ years of yoga practice and a coaching philosophy built on strength, mobility, technique, and movement efficiency. The point isn't credentials for credentials' sake. It's that we've trained at the level most climbers are working toward, and we know what a gym needs to actually move climbers upward — from your first 5.10 to your first 5.14 — for a lifetime.

Co-owner Will Sowders heads our day-to-day operations. He's coached climbing, calisthenics, and movement for nearly as long as he's been climbing, with a simple goal: helping people live their lives to the fullest through how they move. Will also brings a Master's in Applied Cultural Anthropology from the University of Kentucky — earned through years of listening to and learning from a rainbow of cultures around the world. That's why "community-focused, community-driven" isn't a slogan here. It's how Will runs Rocksport every day.

What Rocksport has always represented hasn't changed:

Grit over ego. Progress over perfection. Community over clout.

What's changing is what we're building on top of it.

What modern climbers need

We're preserving the character that made this gym special while investing in what serious climbers actually need:

a safer, more welcoming experience for every climber who walks through our doors
stronger community events
youth development programs
thoughtful route setting
yoga and recovery offerings built on decades of practice, not bolted on
movement education and coaching
elite-level training resources — programming informed by national- and international-level competition experience

Who Rocksport is for

Whether you're climbing for the first time, training for your next project at the Red River Gorge, joining one of our youth teams, or chasing national goals — or beyond — Rocksport exists to help you grow.

We believe climbing gyms should feel different. They should challenge you, humble you, and build something in you that carries off the wall. And after all of that — they should feel like home.

That's what we're building at Rocksport. A place where first timers become life timers. Where families grow together. Where Red River Gorge climbers hone their skills. Where Louisville's climbing community continues to rise.

And we're just getting started.

Climb. Flow. Connect.

Meet The Team

Will Sowders - Owner / Operator

Will Sowders heads our day-to-day operations here at Rocksport. He has been climbing since 2014, having first gotten into the sport at his university gym in Lexington at UK. Thereafter, Will quickly dove into the climbing world. Climbing, training, coaching, and aspiring to share the experience of climbing with as many people as he could. From a passion for climbing to a passion for advanced calisthenics and movement. It was within these areas that Will discovered the joys of teaching and instructing others. With the simple goal of enabling others to live their own lives to the fullest he has been training and coaching individuals in advanced forms of movement for almost as long as he has been climbing.

Will has a background in Applied Cultural Anthropology which he received his Master’s in 2019 at the University of Kentucky. The path to acquiring his degree exposed him to and allotted him the opportunity to work with a rainbow of cultures around the world, interacting and learning about each of their lives, and to come to understand as close as possible what it is like to stand in their shoes and see the world through each individual’s eyes.

With these unique experiences, Will strives to ensure that Rocksport remains community-focused and community-driven in its daily pursuits.

Oliver Ramsey-Smith - Proshop Manager

Oliver started climbing at the end of 2020 and has gained a love for technical rope skills. As Rocksport's pro shop manager, he puts that passion to work helping climbers find the right gear for the situation. Over the years he has developed what might be called a "small" obsession with gear himself, with some of his favorites in the industry being Edelrid and Zartman rigging. When he's not climbing, you can find him riding one of his bikes, playing a round of disc golf, or occasionally doing some photography.

“The beauty of this sport is that no matter how good you get, you can always find a way to challenge yourself.” - Randy Leavitt

Aaron “Bert” Owens - Team Member

As an avid lifelong lover of the outdoors, Bert’s first exposure to rock climbing wasn’t until his initial visit to the Red River Gorge in August of 2015 while tagging along with a small group of friends climbing in Muir Valley. He promptly made the assessment that these folks were not in their right mind to tackle scaling the sheer cliffs that loomed over them, and refused to tie in to give it a try.

Fast forward to the spring of 2019 - after many visits since his initial trip to hike, camp, and take in the majesty of The Red, a friend finally convinced him (after much persuasion) to follow them up a very dirty off-width chimney in the North Gorge on a top rope. After topping out the cliff, taking in the vast landscape, and gaining a new perspective on what he was capable of, it all clicked for him. It was only a matter of days later that he bought his first shoes, chalk bag, and gym membership to begin his climbing journey.

Climbing is now an integral part of Bert’s life, and thoroughly enjoys the unique movement, connection to his body, problem solving, and communion with nature that it offers. He loves to introduce others to the joy and challenges that climbing provides both in and outdoors, and show them the safest practices to get the most of their climbing experience.

Outside of climbing, Bert can be found searching for critters between pitches at the crag and on the approach trail, teaching guitar and bass at a local music store, playing shows with his band (Darlington Pairs), hiking, making a home-cooked meal, or enjoying a good book in a hammock on a nice day.

“The best climber in the world is the one having the most fun!" - Alex Lowe

Jason Kinser - Team Member

"A bad day of climbing is still better than a good day in the office"

Jason was introduced to climbing in 1998. He was immediately drawn to the physicality, mentality and camaraderie shared in the pursuit of climbing.

Once hooked, life irreversibly changed. Jason spent the next decade traditional, sport, single and multi-pitch climbing across the country and into Canada. During this time, Jason worked as a climbing guide and outdoor educator.

Ryan Chapman - Team Member

Ryan Chapman started climbing in 2021 and since then routine has become a passion. He started climbing every Saturday and Sunday with his dad at RockSport and started at the beginning to climbing through 5.12s. He personally favors crimps, lead cave climbs, and moonboard sessions. When not climbing or hanging out at the gym Ryan can often be found working in tech theatre (Set & Props), propmaking, playing video games, or trying to get out to climb in the Red!

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul”― John Muir

Andrew Gearing - Owner / Head Setter

Andrew is a co-owner of Rocksport Climbing Gym, a life partner and father, and a lifelong climber with 30+ years in the sport. He has a deep passion for movement, performance, and athletic development, and a never-ending love for the Red River Gorge and routesetting.

A two-time Youth National Champion and competitor at the Youth World Championship and North American Continental Championship, Andrew has lived what it takes to progress — from your first 5.10 to your first 5.14. His coaching philosophy blends strength and mobility with technique and movement efficiency. Combined with 25+ years of yoga practice, his approach helps climbers build power, prevent injury, and stay in the sport long-term.

At Rocksport, Andrew is building an environment where elite-level training, authentic community, and a lifelong love of climbing all live under one roof.

"Because climbing is bigger than sport — it's a way of life."

He believes climbing should be both accessible and transformative — for the first-timer who's never tied in, and for the climber with national-level ambitions. His mission is simple: help people move better, climb stronger, and become life timers in the Louisville climbing community.

From first timers to life timers — that's the work.

"Be water, my friend." — Bruce Lee

Luke Reeves – Head Coach / Marketing Director

Luke has been climbing since 2018. His love for the sport started in the gym and eventually led him to the Red River Gorge, where he has spent most of his free time over the last eight years climbing sport, trad, and multipitch.

Taking those skills on the road, Luke recently spent a year traveling from climbing area to climbing area, living out of a pop-up A-frame camper. The experience strengthened his connection to the climbing community and deepened his belief in climbing not just as a sport, but as a lifestyle.

“I’ll never stop climbing. It’s the best way I’ve found to connect with nature and with my partners. It brings you into rhythm with the seasons, both outside and in your own life.”

As a coach and mentor, Luke takes his role seriously. He and Andrew have developed a holistic approach to climbing instruction and are ready to work with climbers at every level.