Our name originates from combining two core aspects of our business: climbing and life. “5.” represents the Yosemite Decimal System for grading technical climbing difficulty and Life flows from our desire to impart a life-long love of the sport in everyone who climbs with us. Our enduring project no matter what we accomplish on rock or in business is “Life” itself.

5.Life began in 1994 as Vertical Adventures (VA) and re-branded in 2019 as it expanded into other markets. When Alexis and Carrie Roccos opened Vertical Adventures in Columbus, OH, it was one of only a handful of indoor rock climbing gyms in the U.S.. Matt and Mardi Roberts partnered with the Roccos starting in 2012 to help lead Vertical Adventures into a new era in the climbing industry. 

• After multiple upgrades and additions to the space, a new facility was built in 2014 a stone’s throw north—Vertical Adventures.  

• Simultaneously, in 2015, the original VA was remodeled and reopened as The Training Center, serving as a dedicated competition training space, one of the first in the U.S..  

• In 2018, Chambers, 5.Life’s first bouldering-only gym opened in Grandview, OH.

• In 2020 Climb Nittany, a full-service climbing gym opened in State College, PA.  

• We opened Bloc Garten in May 2021, beside the Scioto Audubon Metro Park in the German Village neighborhood in Columbus, OH. 

• After 30 years of faithful service to the climbing community the original VA facility (operating as the Training Center) couldn’t overcome the challenges and hardship of Covid-19.  The OG Vertical Adventures closed its doors August 2021. 

• In 2023, Adventus Climbing in Toledo, OH open as a partner gym.