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by MAXINE DONNELLY (16C)
photo provided by Marc Heileman
photos by MARY CLAIRE STEWART (14C)
MARC HEILEMAN
has spent most of his life reaching for something – usually the next rock ledge. Now he’s also reaching new heights in the climbing industry. IN THE CLIMBING BUSINESS, THERE’S ALWAYS ANOTHER PEAK ON THE HORIZON. Just ask Marc Heileman (93C), whose 26-year journey transformed a hobby into a passion, a passion into a business, and a business into a growing mission to help others experience the exhilaration of scaling new heights. “Climbing’s the perfect metaphor for life because it promotes enthusiasm about setting goals and persevering,” he explained. “You don’t have to artificially inflate someone’s self-esteem when they’re climbing. Even making it halfway up a wall is difficult, so people get this real sense of accomplishment when they can reach a goal.” Once the ninth-ranked competitive climber in the United States, Heileman today is founder and owner, with wife Gaylene, of Treadstone Climbing Gym in Columbus, Ga. He also serves as an outdoor leadership
trainer and designer/builder of climbing walls and gyms, boulder rooms, and ropescourse “outposts” in other states and nations. His business is burgeoning: In addition to being a source of recreation and fitness training, the Columbus gym also is a hub of activity for companies, churches, schools and military groups interested in leadership training and team-building exercises. And the Heilemans are in the initial stages of franchising Treadstone as well as scouting locations for other gyms they will operate. THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
Climbing wasn’t always on Heileman’s radar. Growing up in Angleton, Texas, he knew nothing about what was then a niche sport, much less that it would play a central role in his life. Things changed when he enrolled at Berry while on a National Guard BERRY MAGAZINE • WINTER 2016-17
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