It’s become a typical weekly question among the bartenders, servers and management of Flying Squirrel Bar. The bar’s employees don’t have to love rock climbing – but at least half of them do.
Flying Squirrel staff hang out at the Southside bar.Since the newer Southside staple is closed on Mondays, it’s only natural for its employees to take advantage of their free first day of the week by trekking to places like Rocktown, Little Rock City or maybe even Hospital Boulders for some rest, relaxation and, of course, rocks.
And because many of the staff members make that trek and tackle those boulders together, the activity gives them much more than a good workout. “If anything, it brings us closer together,” says manager Kelsey Waligora, a transplant from Miami who says she moved to Chattanooga for the climbing. “Having fun outside of work makes us more cohesive; it keeps the positive energy going.”
The resulting workplace community even acts like a magnet for new climbers, including server Josh Torbett.
He says the whole reason he became interested in climbing last fall was because his fellow workers invited him along for a Monday of bouldering. “I kind of went on a whim and I fell in love with it on day one. Now I’ll never look at a rock the same way again,” jokes Torbett.