We put the fun in functional fitness with CrossFit training for all levels. Every class is an adventure when you’re training in a barn-inspired CrossFit gym, located on a pineapple field.
Mission
We help people get fit while having fun.
Vision
Creating a healthier Upcountry community, one person at a time.
Values
- Community before competition
- Safety and technique before load
- Exercising for health and longevity
- Striving for virtuosity, doing the common uncommonly well
- Every person, regardless of ability, has an important place in our fitness family
OUR STORY
Deep, dark topics are often taboo. Drug addiction, alcohol, mental health, abuse and other hardships get buried — especially in the idyllic setting of Maui because paradise is supposed to be perfect.
Our founder, Kaye Whitney, was a phenomenal athlete.
She completed five Ironman competitions, once cycling through multiple bee stings after disturbing a nest. Kaye was accomplished in her career, too, demonstrating work experience in advertising, marketing and starting her own CrossFit Upcountry Maui gym, among the first on Maui in 2009.
What many didn’t know was her struggle with alcoholism and depression. Despite two years of growing a successful business, Kaye took her life in 2012. She was 52.
Kehau and Kaye
Kehau Deutsch was one of Kaye’s first athletes and loved Kaye for her colorful personality and constantly varied, and sometimes eccentric, CrossFit classes. One moment students would be running a mile; the next minute people were learning how to power clean, using bags of dog food or potting soil. Kaye would often bake for her athletes, or make smoothies to take home free. Her heart was big, even though her struggles were big, too.
In early 2012, CrossFit star gymnastics coach Jeff Tucker left a CrossFit Upcountry Maui gymnastics certification, cautioning Kehau that Kaye wasn’t doing well. A few weeks later, Kaye texted Kehau to buy her gym.
“I don’t have much money,” Kehau replied. “Let’s meet for coffee this week! How are you?”
Kehau wouldn’t hear back from Kaye ever again. She died on March 28, 2012.
Kaye’s husband, Lance, and her son, Cole, decided the gym should be purchased by Kehau and Frank Deutsch, to honor the wishes of Kaye, despite other interested buyers from the Mainland.
The affiliate received a $10K grant for equipment early on from CrossFit’s founder, Greg Glassman, who heard of the news of Kaye’s death. Starting with 30 members, the gym grew to more than 120 over three years. It expanded from a small unit on Maui Land and Pineapple farmland, to more than 10,000 square feet and two rooms in a Quonset hut nearby. Other miracles have happened, too. Former CrossFit Games winner Camille LeBlanc Bazinet and husband Dave Lipson came to train for a week, bringing lots of attention to the little gym, tucked away in Upcountry’s rural hills. Other big names such as Andrea Ager, Dave Durante, Donny Shankle, and Jon North have trained there as well.
Longest Standing Maui CrossFit Gym
Now, CrossFit Upcountry Maui is the oldest and longest-standing affiliate on the island, as others have since closed or changed hands.
At CrossFit Upcountry, we believe in the power of redemption, in beauty coming from ashes, in light casting out darkness. Our goals are to be authentic, building a real community, one that doesn’t shy away from hardship — but decides to meet it, head-on. Only in confronting the darkness, the pains, the hurts, the shame, the lies, can true — and lasting — health be found.
A Strong Cultural Foundation
We want to honor our beginnings and the model of superb physical health that Kaye provided while striving for internal health, which is often more difficult.
Owners Frank and Kehau Deutsch are most proud of our kind, genuine community, and our coaches, who embrace one another without judgment because we each have our own battles to fight and wars to wage. Life is hard enough; we find refuge in our gym, where challenging workouts provide unparalleled preparation for the hardships we face outside these doors.
Our Challenge
We invite you to get stronger, faster, fitter and healthier alongside us. The only requirement is a willingness to face hard things.