I love this climbing gym! There's a surprisingly large parking lot here (despite being in the…read moremiddle of the city), and there's even some bike parking where cyclists can securely lock their bikes. Coming from a different gym, we had to get certified for belaying. Fortunately, through their membership system, we were able to take an extremely informative class, then take the belay test at our convenience at our next climbing session. These walls are probably the tallest I've seen in my cimbing time! Even my more experienced friends say they often get exhausted around 3/4 of the way through a route. Certainly a welcome challenge for top roping. With a membership (or day pass), you also have access to the full gym and bouldering upstairs. Members also have access to a host of yoga classes at different times. The locker room is super convenient with built in locks that you need to input a numeric combination. There are plenty of bathrooms and clean showers. Definitely worth checking out!

ALWAYS a great time at First Ascent Avondale! To celebrate my brother's birthday, he and a friend…read morebouldered and my friend and I auto belayed. We all had a great time! My friend and I are excited to take a belaying class at First Ascent so we can tackle even more climbs!

UPDATE: after posting the email exchange, Georges reached out to me directly via messages and…read moreapologized for his reaction to my original post and invited us to his gym. He was out of the country during the time of my visit and had volunteers open/close his gym. Writing is not my profession nor do I desire to become a storyteller. I prefer reading non-fiction. All of my reviews are based on my personal experiences. I'm just not imaginative enough to create fibs. I chose not to be descriptive of your colleague b/c I don't want to shame him. I will keep it at that. You know best as to who has access to the gym. I didn't see in the fine print a reservation was needed, also I bought the Groupon back in January of this year, so that fine print could've been revised after my purchase. In any case, what about the 5 people that were there on the same day waiting to get in? Did they also not make a reservation? If that's the case, maybe it wasn't obvious to any of us? Or, they made a reservation and you made all of us wait. As mentioned in my review, I emailed you. Since you flat out called me a liar, I traced back to the email I sent on the day of which was Tuesday, 5/16/2017 at 5:58pm. Hey, turns out the person I was communicating with was you! To make things easier, I posted a screenshot of our email exchange under photos.

Great experience today because a fellow climber took us under his wing…read more To be fair, the initial instruction was minimal. We got bored within an hour; all I knew was to move up the wall.

This place was incredible! My kids had so much fun! They…read morehad climbing structures of varying levels of difficulty for my bigger kids & a fun toddler area for my littles . They even had ninja warrior style ramps up to some of the climbing structures which my kids could do safely with the harnesses. And in the back there is a zip line obstacle course, video games, laser, tag, and more. We did not have time to do everything because there was just so much to choose from! I definitely recommend the physically active options over the video games. It is a bit on the pricey side, but definitely worth it!

We went to a birthday party this weekend at climbzone! I have seen ads for it all over the place…read morebut this was the first time seeing it. What a fun place!! There climbing walls, a soft play area, ropes course, zip line, laser tag, and bumper cars. As well as rooms/alcoves for birthday parties. It seems like there are activities for kids of all ages. I can't wait to go back with my little one.

Large & clean facility for rock climbing, bouldering for beginners, advance & expert levels &…read morevarious fitness classes available for members. Occasionally, there are young kids running around, which can be challenging as you need to be extra cautious. I think the cost is fair, the all-day pass & shoe rental total $30.

Huge place. Great variety of routes. There are so many routes that you can't do them all in one…read morevisit. It would be hard to get bored of the climbs there, because there is almost always a route you've not tried yet. This place has more realistic features and cracks that other gyms don't have. The route grades seem a little inconsistent at times, and compared to the other climbing gyms in the Chicagoland area. For example, most routes feel much, much harder than that grade anywhere else. And many of the mid-to-harder grades seem better suited for taller people, as the shorter among us have to dead point or dyno to many of the holds. You'll definitely get braver and stronger climbing at Vertical Endeavors. Room for improvement: The loose black rubber flooring is always a complaint because like a trip to the beach where you find sand everywhere, pieces of this flooring comes home with you. It also leaves black stuff on your hands and feet, so I recommend that you wear socks/closed toed shoes between climbs, because it's not that easy to scrub out.

Great gym Great workout…read moreNice people Bouldering only Many routes We Loved it Kids loved it Would recommend Will repeat

Located on the 4th floor of the mall the temperature in this gym is always perfect for climbing!…read moreThis is just a bouldering gym so no ropes. The space is large and they often have fun events to engage the community such as a kilter board competition, members meet ups, college nights, bloc fest, there is always something coming up! The staff are wonderful and super knowledgeable! If you are coming in for the first time, fill the waiver out on their website to get through everything faster.

Solid spot. Front desk is pretty chill. It's a really good top roping gym, just wish there was a…read morebigger bouldering

This is my favorite movement gym. I'm so jealous Chicago has this vs the gyms I have where I live…read more I love how many routes there are and how tall they are. Nice staff, clean, great hours. It was really quiet and open when I went on a Monday. I didn't take any classes but it looked like they had a full schedule again of yoga and HIIT

A fun fitness day with the girls! We tried rock climbing at Brooklyn boulders and it was…read morechallenging but fun. S/O to Lamuna (I hope I'm spelling that correct) , she was such an amazing guide for our visit. We got to try different level climbs and then the tall wall for the finale. I really enjoyed this experience! I loved the challenge the tall wall gave me but forgot I had to come down and got nervous to jump lol all in all, 10/10 experience would go again!

A fun time with friendly staff. The place has several rooms and floors for bouldering and rock…read moreclimbing. They also offer student discounts which is a plus for anyone still in school. We did some bouldering for the first time and it wasn't bad/scary, so if you're on the fence I say just give it a try!

Lovely gym! Very nice and informative owners, super kid friendly, lots of different levels of…read moredifficulty, with belay, auto belay, and bouldering

We brought our 6 year old daughters here and it is so much fun for them. We watched as they were…read morebuilding confidence as they climbed. And thanks to Elijah's help, my more timid daughter was able to reach the top and ring the bell!!! Extra shout out Elijah, you made their birthday a great one!