Paul Hendricks – Terrain Park Climbing Center

Climbing the Walls for Healthy Family Fun

Red Bluff Natives

As a native of Red Bluff, CA, Paul Hendricks and his brother Kevin grew up exploring California. “We were fortunate enough to have parents who stressed the importance of travel and spending time with family,” says Paul. “If we had more than two days off, we were going somewhere—hiking, skating, biking, fishing, and surfing.” While a business student at California State University, Long Beach, Paul “ate, breathed and slept surfing,” but between waves, he noticed the trend of indoor rock-climbing gyms. He marveled at the unique atmosphere of each gym, and his entrepreneurial spirit began working overtime. In the winter of 2016, the idea of creating his own climbing gym gripped Paul. “The idea pretty much took over my whole body,” he says. “I couldn’t think of anything else. I couldn’t imagine myself working anywhere else.”

Bit by the Rock-Climbing Bug

As if destiny were calling, Mitch Robison, a fellow Long Beach State student from Red Bluff, phoned Paul and asked him if he had ever thought of owning a business. “That’s all I’ve been thinking about,” replied Paul, “and I already have the business picked out.” Mitch, an accounting student, had been bitten by the rock-climbing bug when Paul introduced him to a climbing gym two weeks earlier. He immediately jumped on board. “From that point on,” says Paul “we were not going to take no for an answer. We started getting our ideas together, traveling to different gyms in Southern California, writing down everything we liked and didn’t like, researching what drew people to different gyms and figuring out what our version of a climbing gym looked like.” The duo settled on Chico as the perfect site for their gym and began finding investors, a process made easier by Paul’s “110% confidence” in the plan. In April 2018, Paul and Mitch opened the doors of Terrain Park Climbing Center at the edge of downtown Chico.

Community Oriented

Paul’s brother Kevin helped with the initial liftoff of the business. Kevin identifies “building a family atmosphere and community around the sport and lifestyle of climbing” as one of Paul’s main goals when starting the gym. Paul describes the gym as “a huge opportunity for families because a 45-year-old dad has just as much fun as the 5-year-old son. You can be an adult and still have the same feeling on the top of a wall as a young child. It’s super cool for parents and kids to share that excitement and sense of accomplishment.”

Multiple Activities

In addition to the rock-climbing walls, Paul and Mitch designed Terrain Park with an upstairs lounge for board games, foosball, spikeball, ping pong, and a TV. Paul wanted to create space for people of all ages to enjoy community for hours on end. “All of the games are meant to be interactive,” he explains. “We built the gym, but what makes the gym are the people who come here day after day.”

You’re a Part of the Family

People do come to Terrain Park day after day, and not just because they enjoy climbing. “Paul is a huge part of what makes Terrain Park such a welcoming and positive environment,” says Mitch. “He really strives to make every one of our customers feel at home and part of our family.” Paul believes in the power of little gestures—a smile, a friendly hello—to build community. He says “it doesn’t take a lot of effort to brighten someone’s day.”

As Mitch says, “Paul recently became a dog dad to two little pups.” When Paul isn’t climbing the walls at work, he loves traveling and being outdoors with Bivy, a Yorkie dachshund, and Dune, a Pomeranian poodle. Paul is also an avid BMX and mountain biker, still enjoys surfing, tennis, and swimming. He recently completed his first outdoor V6, a challenging daylong rock-climbing venture, which Mitch describes as “a hefty and beastly accomplishment.”

“For a lot of us,” says Kevin, “our personal goals and passions are something we tend to be selfish with. Paul’s goals are not just on climbing, but also on creating friendships around an active and healthy lifestyle. He has sacrificed a lot to bring the joy he finds through climbing into other people’s lives.”

The mission of our Be The Change column is to feature community members from the North State who are actively making a difference in community life. If you would like to nominate someone who is making a difference, please write to pn@northstateparent.com.