SOCORRO, N.M. – New Mexico Tech President Dr. Stephen Wells performed the ceremonial ribbon-cutting at a new gym facility Monday, Feb. 1.

The Tech gym unveiled the new “high performance room,” which had been in the works for nearly a year. The renovation started with the removal of the old bouldering cave in March 2020 and the renovations in the weight room. The bouldering cave is taller and wider than the previous cave, and features a large NMT Miners logo.

Physical Recreation Director Melissa Begay said, “I had plans to rebuild a new bouldering wall in one of the racquetball courts. But [team sports director] Gearoid Dunbar came up with the idea to make the old bouldering cave a ‘high performance’ area for our sport clubs.”

The new bouldering cave is available for students to use once they’ve completed the $5 safety course. Non-students can use the bouldering cave after taking the safety course ($15) and signing up for a monthly membership ($20 per month).

“The bouldering room is awesome. It’s world class,” Begay said. “The students are ecstatic. They love it. We have some alums who are thrilled and already purchased memberships.”

The climbing club includes members interested in recreational bouldering, and others who are on the competition teams. About 25 students comprise varsity and JV teams.

NMT sports clubs can reserve and train for their practices in the high-performance room. When the room is not reserved by one of the sports teams, any gym member or student can use the training room to workout.

The gym purchased all Hammer strength equipment that cost about $30,000, including six double squat racks, six benches, six barbells, bumper plates from 2.5 pounds to 45 pounds, as well as all the other accessories. The gym also added six rubber platforms with the new Miner sports logo.

– NMT –