The Story of Vibe ·
Climbing at Altissimo, Odysseum, Montpellier - 27 September
On Sunday 27 September the community met at one o'clock at Altissimo, an indoor climbing gym in Odysseum, east Montpellier. This time we put the word out in the channel and turned up in a crowd. The only money went to the gym, for entry and gear hire; the community charged nothing for organising it.
| When | |
|---|---|
| Where | Altissimo Odysseum climbing gym · Montpellier |
| What it cost | Entry and gear hire at the gym's own prices, everyone paying for themselves; there was no community fee |
| What was on | Sunday 27 September, meeting at 13:00 at the Altissimo climbing gym (Allée d'Ulysse, Odysseum): climbing on the walls, each at their own level |
| What we brought | Nothing of your own needed: climbing gear is hired at the gym; just wear comfortable clothes you can stretch in |
How we got together
The announcement was as short as a Sunday outing deserves: “We’re off climbing at Odysseum this Sunday” and “Anyone who fancies it, come along for 13:00”. On Saturday, the day before, a poster followed: a foot in a climbing shoe on a coloured hold, a few yellow brushstrokes, and in big letters “One o’clock tomorrow”. Nothing more was needed: a time, a place and a picture everyone understood.
Climbing isn’t a new idea for the community. Altissimo in Odysseum is one of the places we drop into regularly, no occasion required. At the end of September we decided to turn that into a proper meet-up: we invited everyone through the channel, and on Sunday a whole crowd showed up.
About the gym
Altissimo sits in the leisure area of Odysseum, the same district as the Végapolis ice rink and the shopping centre. It’s an indoor hall, so the weather doesn’t matter: you can climb in the August heat or on a rainy November day.
Hérault Tourisme, the tourist office of the Hérault département, sums it up as a gym for “little ones and grown-ups, beginners and experienced climbers”. If it’s your first time, there’s a one-hour introductory session that teaches the basics. It’s open every day, until 23:00 on weekdays and from 9:00 to 21:00 at weekends, so meeting at one o’clock on a Sunday left plenty of time.
That’s what makes it a good format for a group: the experienced climbers head for the harder routes, the beginners start on the easy ones, and everyone stays in the same hall, so the group doesn’t scatter.
What it cost and how it worked
No fee and no kitty: everyone paid the gym directly for entry and gear hire, at Altissimo’s prices. The community just set a time and invited people. That’s how all our free meet-ups work: the ice rink, beach days, hikes. You pay only for what costs money with someone else, and you pay them directly.
You don’t need a car to get there: Odysseum is the terminus of tram line 1. Those who drove parked at the shopping centre.
What’s next
A week later, on 4 October, the community was back in the same district, this time at the Végapolis ice rink to open the skating season. On 11 October a picnic on Carnon beach closed the beach season; on 23 October a guitar concert at La Chistera drew about 50 people with free entry, and on 30 October the community heads to Toulouse for the Slavic Weekend.
If you’ve recently moved to Montpellier and are looking for people to go climbing, skating or to the beach with, the full event chronicle shows what it’s like with us, and the community chat is where you’ll find out what’s next.