(For context: I've been climbing indoors and out for about 12 years)
Visited Black Rock yesterday while traveling in the area from out-of-state. After trying another gym in Mesa, I'm really glad I made the drive to check out Black Rock. For beginners, this bouldering-only gym (no roped routes) would be a great place to get acquainted with the sport of bouldering and learn.
But for the intermediate/advanced climbers out there, if you've climbed at various gyms you likely have appreciated the wide gaps gym-to-gym in terms of the quality of route & problem setting. That's where Black Rock really stands out amongst so many gyms I've been to around the country: the route-setting is as good or better as any place I've been!
I kept waiting to find at least a few inevitable awkward/stinker problems with nonsensical sequences or tweaky moves, but all I found was gem after gem. It was hard not grin ear-to-ear as I beat myself into exhaustion trying as many problems as I could in my first session. Just a few highlights on the routesetting here:
- They intentionally differentiate competition/"parkour"-style problems from more conventional problems during each set by setting them in different sub-areas and labeling them accordingly. This way, you can more intentionally focus your energy on whatever you're training for, instead of accidentally stumbling into something you won't like.
- They don't label a grade on new problems until a few weeks after they are first set. This makes it fun to drop the ego, and try things you might not otherwise get on.
- The setting is not only monochromatic, but is actually done pretty sparsely on each wall - they could easily set more problems interspersed between existing problems (and maybe that would be appreciated by regular members who may run out of new things to try?), but the spareness as it is makes it very easy to cultivate your route-visualization skills, ID on-route footholds from various angles above, and avoid accidentally knocking into volumes/etc. on other problems.
- The hold sets are modernized and clearly well-rotated to provide not only a great variety of movement, but enough "freshness" that even the older problems had handholds with plenty of texture/friction and minimal slickness/grease. This is really an area where most small-ish climbing gyms around this size really drop the ball, and that's something I find that really detracts from the experience at so many other places.
So if you want to climb on tweaky, greasy, slippery problems set 5 months ago and left to obsolescence, definitely don't come here. But if you want to challenge yourself across the full spectrum of bouldering styles on great problems, definitely come to Black Rock!
Some final logistical info along with some very, very minor nit-picks (nothing at all worth subtracting a star for):
- They conduct a smart "fall test" for first-timers - experienced climbers may find this an annoyance, but I was glad to see it, because I'm sure it saves a lot of tweaked ankles I've seen befall beginners at other gyms who haven't been taught how to boulder-fall properly (it IS a skill to learn!)
- There's a nice open-space feel to the whole place - it was clearly designed intelligently to allow for traffic to flow on likely-busy weeknights (though it was very sparsely occupied during Saturday morning/afternoon when I was there)
- The floor padding is a bit firmer than some other bouldering gyms I've climbed at. This isn't a problem as long as you know how to boulder-fall properly, but take note because the highest walls here are pretty tall if you want to jump down instead of downclimbing, or if you're pressing hard up high at your limit.
- The training area has a decent free weight set, a few benches, a Moon Board (yes!), a couple systems board, and multiple hang and campus boards. But it could definitely be improved with some full-sized foam rollers, stretching mats, and more than just the single kettlebell I found.
- For cardio, there is just a couple older stationary bikes and rowing machines. This area could use an upgrade with some proper ellipticals, treadmills, etc.
- The bathrooms are spacious and clean, and include showers, but I believe you need to bring your own towels to use them.
- The hours of operation are a little limited - weekdays it opens at 3PM, so if you're a morning workout person, you're out of luck for now. read more