Monterey County’s only rock climbing gym expands for its 20th anniversary.

Photo: Twenty-year-old Austin Schaupp muscles up a hard route in the bouldering cave. He’s been climbing at Sanctuary Rock Gym for about 10 years.

A barrel-chested man sits on a wooden bench and slips into rubber and leather shoes. Jeff Zeitz doesn’t fit the standard physical profile of a rock climber, but he has a big smile as he slaps athletic chalk on his hands.

“I’m a big guy, so it’s hard to get involved with new sports,” the 31-year-old grad student says with a laugh. “Climbing isn’t [typically] for large people.”

That didn’t stop Zeitz. In January 2014, he and some friends went climbing at Sand City’s Sanctuary Rock Gym. By the end of that first night, he’d bought a membership. Now he climbs three to four times a week.

Being open is a major part of Sanctuary’s philosophy.

“Our goal was bringing the climbing to the people and making it safe for everyone,” says the gym’s owner, 48-year-old Michael “Spike” Bascou, a low-key guy who likes to riff about everything from local politics to beer trends. “It saved me from some shit when I was younger, so I wanted to offer that experience to others.”

This year the gym almost done with its first major construction since opening nearly 20 years ago. The new deep-cave feature is made up of a blocky array of plywood triangles, trapezoids and metal beams, shapes that look like they’ve fallen out of a kaleidoscope. With a thousand holds to choose from, climbers can wiggle up a tight chimney on one side, then spread their limbs out like a starfish on the other.

“WE’VE GOT SOUL. WE DON’T WANT CLIMBING TO BE ELITIST.”

Bascou’s life has revolved around climbing for decades. In the 1990s, he worked at a local climbing equipment shop, but he was frustrated that the closest climbing gym was in Santa Cruz. He remembers driving 50,000 miles per year – to places like Joshua Tree and Yosemite – just to feed his habit.

“All I did was drive to go climbing,” he says. “I wanted to bring the climbing closer.”

On March 1, 1996, Bascou opened Sanctuary’s doors in Sand City, where he now counts himself among the 300-odd residents. He sold his car years ago. He now cycles to the gym.

His right-hand man is Charles Schrammel, who moved to the area in 2003 from San Diego. “I quit surfing because it was a lot colder up here,” he says, “and I was a pansy.”

The first time Schrammel checked out Sanctuary, he signed up for a membership. Then he started pestering Bascou for a job, and got one working the front desk. It was only meant to be part-time; Schrammel was studying at CSU Monterey Bay to become a high-school English teacher. But when a managing vacancy opened up, his hours expanded from 15 a week to 40. He’s been the gym’s manager since.

“I was about to become a father that year and needed a steady job,” he says. “For the past 10 years, climbing has become everything.”

What attracts Schrammel the most is the problem-solving inherent in climbing: mentally sorting out precise hand and foot movements while using flexibility and physical strength. Many climbers are able to support their weight by curling a few fingers around a tiny crimp.

“It’s so cerebral and personal,” he says. “Sometimes, a kid will come here for a birthday party and climbing will click for them.”

Schrammel is built for climbing. He’s tall and lean with muscle definition in his forearms and shoulders. He sometimes climbs shirtless, showing off tattooed arms and torso. He bends in every direction as he snakes up the wall, a rope trailing like an endless tail behind him.

Sanctuary’s customers range from people who climb just once, for the novelty to competitors who train for hours a day. Maddy Grupper, a biologist with Hastings Natural History Reservation, has only been climbing at Sanctuary for two months, but appreciates it as part of her fitness routine. “In order to climb here, you really have to be interested in climbing, but not necessarily good at it,” she says. “They are definitely building community with such a small space.”

In addition to its regular 15 roped climbs, a 10-foot arch for bouldering and fingerboards for strength building, the gym also offers programs for guided climbing trips, national climbing competitions, aerial silks and yoga for climbers.

Most climbing gyms have around 20,000 square feet, Bascou says. The largest ones in the U.S. can top 50,000. Sanctuary, by contrast, is a cozy 7,000 square feet. But its managers say it has something else that’s special.

“We’ve got soul,” Schrammel says. “We don’t want climbing to be elitist.”

Bascou agrees. “You can come into my gym,” he says, “rent gear, and climb for the first time ever.”

SANCTUARY ROCK GYM is located at 1855 East Ave. in Sand City. 899-2595, www.rockgym.com. Memberships start at $47 monthly with discounts for military and children 13 and under.