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Aug 30, 2004, 3:02 PM
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grinspoon
Aug 30, 2004, 3:35 PM
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The worst gym in the United States right now has to be Rock Ventures in Rochester. The owner doesn't climb (nor do any of the employees climb) or take suggestions from climbers seriously. All the holds are from when climbing gyms first appeared. They don't know how/care to remove stipped t-nuts, spinners are common. The whole gym is painted in bright colors and kiddie pictures. Most of the routes are 5.0 ladder jug hauls, but for some reason they think the YDS starts at 5.6. The very few harder routes they do have are just reachy or hand-foot matches. All the routes are set with a hydraulic lift! All the belay devices are gri-gri's with the fig-8s already tied/taped together. The owner only cares about if there's money in the register every night so he can go back out to the bars and get drunk. Oh man...I could go on forever...
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thewyseclimber
Aug 30, 2004, 4:07 PM
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Seeing as I have only been to 2 gyms in my entire life, the Spot and my own beloved Kansas Cliff Club, I'll just put in a plug for KCC. If you want quality routes, plenty of them, no crowds, and no employees getting in your way, it's the place to be. I climbed there all last year when I was in school close by, but now unfortunately I've moved away. Anyway, once you sign the waiver and pay your relatively low yearly or monthly fee, you can climb 24/7 if you want, with no staff around once you get belay certified. It's nice to know that whatever money you do pay is going to pretty much go right back into improving the gym, because as far as i know it's basically a non-profit sort of a thing. The owners climb as much as anybody else, and they're cool guys. There are anywhere from 35-80 foot lead and top rope routes, and numerous boulder problems as well. The format of the club encourages you to learn about your gear and how to use it, because they provide no ropes or other gear, and only a few key draws are pre-clipped. It's in Wichita, so look it up next time you're in the area.
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crimpandgo
Aug 30, 2004, 5:03 PM
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This does not seem like a valid question. Most people have only gone to local gyms in their own area. How can you get a valid comparison of gyms across the country (world)?
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fredrogers
Aug 30, 2004, 6:04 PM
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I second the motion on the Rock Ventures Rochester gym. My in-laws live there and I always make it a point to have a rest week when I'm in Rochester. I will not step foot in that place again. What's really aggravating is that the gym is really big and has really tall ceilings. It COULD be an awesome gym...but it's not. In all fairness to the owners, I don't think they'd make much money off of rock climbers, that's why they focus on boy scout/corporate "adventure" team building. They actually should just rename the facility and not include the word rock climbing in the title.
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climbguy
Aug 31, 2004, 3:50 AM
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One of the best gyms I've been to is Earth Treks in Timonium Md. It's where they had the Petzl Roc Comp and ABS National Championship. It's a full service gym, very airy, great bouldering and climbing area, and the routesetting is superb. They could change the bouldering routes alittle more frequently, but other than that a really nice gym.
I wasn't too impressed with Peak Experiences in Richmond VA. The bouldering walls were only like 10 feet high, but I wouldn't complain about it if the setting was decent. But it wasn't when I was there. And alot of the ratings weren't completely marked. As far as climbing, all the holds are color-coordinated for each route. What that tells me is they probably lack the flexibility of different holds (since they have to keep the routes the same color), and would rarely change the routes (in order, again, to keep it the same color). I could be totally wrong, but that's what I'm thinking. Another thing, at least with the bouldering section, is that the floor is covered in river rock. It makes walking on it inconvenient, and you can imagine landing on it after coming off a problem. Yeah, they have crash pads, but just maneuvering in general felt like a pain in the a$$.
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laclimberchick
Aug 31, 2004, 3:59 AM
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Best Gym/s in the US are anything owned by Touchstone, they really work with climbers to make every1 happy.
Worst Gym in the US: Rockreation Los Angeles, speaking as someone who trained there (up till december) for the better part of 6 years and has visited countless gyms not just in CA but in the UK and Spain as well. Rockreation is the worst run gym in the US. The staff try but the management sets conditions which do not allow the quality of routesetting to be anything other than appalling. This gym is designed to make money without regard to the climbers so it caters only to birthday parties, business groups, and television shoots. IF you take climbing remotely seriously you will not even attempt to train in this gym
After a while I found training in Rockreation so stiffling and awful that I actually built my own small gym and have trained there since december.
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microbdcamalot
Aug 31, 2004, 4:55 AM
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I think the best is Boulder Mortys in southern New Hampshire. They got the styro-foam indoor ice climbing set up, its awsome. Sweet bolderwall, and nice overhanigng sport routes for all the hang-doggers.
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eyecannon
Aug 31, 2004, 5:02 AM
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In reply to: Best Gym/s in the US are anything owned by Touchstone, they really work with climbers to make every1 happy. Worst Gym in the US: Rockreation Los Angeles, speaking as someone who trained there (up till december) for the better part of 6 years and has visited countless gyms not just in CA but in the UK and Spain as well. Rockreation is the worst run gym in the US. The staff try but the management sets conditions which do not allow the quality of routesetting to be anything other than appalling. This gym is designed to make money without regard to the climbers so it caters only to birthday parties, business groups, and television shoots. IF you take climbing remotely seriously you will not even attempt to train in this gym After a while I found training in Rockreation so stiffling and awful that I actually built my own small gym and have trained there since december.
I climb at Rockreation and I don't think it's THAT bad. What's appalling about the route setting? I agree it does have a few too many kids' birthday parties though. Just curious about specifics of why you hate it so much.
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korntera
Aug 31, 2004, 6:45 AM
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I have only been to three gyms, the Porland State rock gym, Portland Rock Gym and The Crux in eugene. Portland state was small had 20 foot tall maybe 30 ceilings and routes never changed but it was only $10 a month. at PRG the staff is some of the friendliet people i have ever met, they will give you a belay or help you find a partner they know you name after hearing it once and always ask how you are doing, The routes change all the time and are great routes. The only downside is they are 45'(i hear of 180' in arizona) and its $67 a month and there is only climbing and a bench press set, it is not a gym. As for the crux it is a lot cheaper its around $40 a month or $24 a month for college students. They have a full workout area and nice staff. The holds are all from 1994 when they opened(so it seems) and some of the routes are on a brick wall with slippery paint so you cant' shmear and if you miss a foot hold you foot slips off the wall and takes you with it. So for $24 a month its still worth it.
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deleted
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Sep 2, 2004, 2:31 PM
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The question is quite valid as I can see by the responses. My reason for asking I that the owner my local gym doesn't seem to care anymore, so I am hoping to encourage improvement or open my own.
Thanks for your opinion.
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itakealot
Sep 2, 2004, 3:09 PM
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I have been to about 20 rock gyms around the country from Atlanta to Truckee, and the best ones are Mission Cliffs and Pacific Edge. The employees at both gyms were really cool and the bonus at Pacifc Edge was 5 years ago there was this lanky skateboarding kid who was a sick climber and later I found out was Sharma. The routes are really long and are not contrived like routes in shorter Gyms.
I do have to give an honorable mention to the owners of Beach Cities Rock for being so awesome and turning old LA Rock into a better gym.
In reply to: Worst Gym in the US: Rockreation Los Angeles, speaking as someone who trained there (up till december) for the better. Rockreation is the worst run gym in the US. The staff try but the management sets conditions which do not allow the quality of routesetting to be anything other than appalling. This gym is designed to make money without regard to the climbers so it caters only to birthday parties, business groups, and television shoots.
In reply to: After a while I found training in Rockreation so stiffling and awful that I actually built my own small gym and have trained there since december. |
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laclimberchick
Sep 2, 2004, 3:32 PM
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In reply to: The only thing I liked about about Rockreation were the weird routes John Long set (one called Mt Jackass)
John isnt really coming into the gym that often anymore and I havent seen one of his routes for a while
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euleto
Sep 3, 2004, 7:19 PM
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Well, I have only been to 6 gyms, so my opinion is based on limited experience, but IMHO, the best gym (ive been to) is The Urban Krag in Dayton Ohio.
Its an old catherdral from the late 1800s that got bought out and converted into a gym. Its pretty large, has a lot of good features, a helpful, responsive staff (all of whom are actually good climbers). And, as an added bonus, you are climbing right next to antique stained glass windows, walls, supports etc.
Has anyone else been there?
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ccharles
Sep 3, 2004, 7:42 PM
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Registered: Jan 24, 2003
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The best gym I have climbed at the is The Front in Salt Lake City. It is almost all bouldering, so it might suck if you only wanted to do routes, but the bouldering is awesome. It is super clean, well lit with natural light (at least during the day), up to 17 feet high, with thick fixed mats running the entire length of the bouldering wall, so you can fall off from almost anywhere without worrying about the landing. Also, they are (I guess were, now that Pusher is gone) associated with Pusher, so they always had tons of new pusher holds with awesome friction. And the staff is super friendly for the most part, a guy named Jay in particular. Everyone should check it out if they find themselves in SLC and the weather is not amenable to climbing outside.
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