THE FOUNDATION OF ROCKHARD FITNESS
Thirty three years ago the sunny town of Elkford was blessed by a man with a vision. Rocky Culver made his dream come true by convincing the town counsel, as well as a well known local, to put their regulatory and financial faith in his ability to create, from nothing but a trailer on district property, the towns first fitness centre. There were doubts of course, but Rocky was confident the gym would be a success; “I’m not worried about not making it….there is a definite need for it.” Rocky was quoted by the local newspaper at the time. Rocky also told the press that he started working out just 3 years prior and he got addicted to it; ” I couldn’t get enough of it. I wanted it more and more.” And with that, this community and Rocky got a gym. That gym has been home to the ‘Gym family’ ever since, and Rocky was right, he never looked back. That is until 2019 when it was time for Rocky to focus on his family and grandkids.

All those years ago, Rocky was also quoted stating his hopes for growing the business; “If it goes well…there’s lots of plans for expansion”. That kind of enthusiasm and vision is what lead Rocky and Kelly Spec, the current owner of the gym to meet.

MEET KELLY
Kelly and her family moved to Elkford in 2017 as a ‘let’s see how it goes’ kind of thing, but fell in love with the community and the mountains. Kelly, a self proclaimed ‘gym bunny’ found herself at the gym at least 360 out of the 365 days of the year. As a Registered Dietitian, avid exerciser and total foodie Kelly was quoted saying; “I instantly feel in love with Rockhard, it was the first thing (well that and the grocery store) I checked out when we came to town. I loved the concept, how it ran, the feel of the place and most of all, the people.” Kelly already owned and operated a weight loss company in Vancouver remotely from her home in Elkford, so when Rocky started talks of retiring and succession, it seemed a natural fit. And so the conversation started between Rocky and Kelly from a totally by chance meeting on a Mexican beach. A year and a 1/2 after that meeting, the gym got a new owner, Rocky passed on his legacy and Kelly continued the dream Rocky made happen all those years ago.