Really nice owners and staff. Great and affordable gym for learning how to climb / boulder with a…read moregood vibe to boot.

Olivia and the rest of the staff are so kind and welcoming! My partner and I have gone three weeks…read morein a row now as beginner climbers. I wish I could add extra stars for the cute doggos running around. Highly recommend going!

Fantastic time ice climbing with Kel (Adventure Spirit Guides) at the Frankenstein area in Crawford…read moreNotch, NH. Kel is probably one of the only people in the world to hold both IFMGA certification and a PhD. Kel was highly competent, experienced, and knowledgeable about the discipline of ice climbing as well as the local area. He tailored the experience to meet my educational goals in addition to putting together a great day of ice climbing. We did 8-10 pitches with plenty of time for instruction, lunch, and debriefing, even on a short winter day. In the past I was hesitant to hire guides, but I've found working with them to be highly valuable and a great way to find/fix areas where I have conscious and unconscious incompetence. Kel offers a great service for clients who have existing experience in their discipline (rock/ice/alpine/etc) and want to dive deeper or go bigger.

Only great things to say about Adventure Spirit ! Throwing this review out there because I couldn't…read morefind a ton on them before and and was kinda sketched out. Sorry guys. Anyway, my friend initially tried to plan a guided trip up mount Washington and got quoted from a couple guide services. One was way out of our budget and the other never got back to us so she kept looking and found Adventure Spirit. They were super prompt friendly and helpful and answered any questions we had. We did two days with Josh and Cory and didn't really know what the first day entailed but that was because they tailored it to what we wanted to accomplish. The whole experience was very custom which I loved and they provided us with rental gear for the weekend. You could tell that they were focused on us enjoying our trip but their main priority was safety which in my opinion is the best thing you can look for in a guide service. They even took spontaneous pictures of us without us asking and emailed them to us which was so nice and unexpected. Josh and Cory did their best to keep the 7 members of our group together but eventually we split into two groups which was much better in my eyes because of varying ability level and speed. I felt like we were much more prepared than other guided groups we saw on the mountain likely due to the first day learning about the gear. I would have loved the trip either way but having awesome guides was the icing on the cake to an amazing experience. You could tell they both loved their jobs and worked very well with the owner Kel. I'm totally hooked and can't wait to book more trips with Adventure Spirit.

Fun place for a hike or picnic or a bit of rock climbing. It isn't the most intense climb but for a…read morebeginner it's perfect. Disappointing was the number of teenagers who seem to have chosen this as their local hangout. They were a bit rowdy.

I recently bought a family pass so that my wife and I with our two tweens and two teens could…read morechallenge ourselves this winter. We've gone twice this week and can't wait to go again. It's a unique way to engage everyone in the family at the same time without anyone complaining. They all love it. We've been able to strengthen the family bond while engendering trust, encouragement and life's boundless joy. It really reduces the screen time as well. Bonus!

It was mine and my husband's first time climbing and Steve was great making us feel comfortable. We…read morearrived within an hour of closing but it was our last night in town so we were okay with it being a shorter session but Steve welcomed us and stayed open late and insisted we keep going. The facilities were clean and there was lots of easy parking. Super nice staff and we saw they tailored the instruction based on the person's experience. It seemed like a great place for both new and more experienced climbers.

My son and I were up skiing at Whiteface, and decided we wanted to take a day off from the slopes…read moreto do something else and picked ice climbing. We went to EMS, and they hooked us up with one of their guide/instructors on fairly short notice. It was a great day. And our guide/instructor, Derek, was terrific -- patient, good sense of humor, and enthusiastic. It was fun, and I felt like we covered a lot of material. A good experience. Highly recommended.

Rock climbing - WOW! We had a phenomenal experience!…read moreWill, our guide, was first class all the way! He was patient, informative, fun and supportive. Could not have been a better experience for my whole family!

When you live in Hanover, there's really not much to do. Even though we're in the nature and we…read morecould easily go rock climbing, most of us don't know how to rock climb and we would probably die if we spontaneously went out and decided to rock climb. That being said, the Climbing Gym is an awesome place to learn to climb! And to just hang out. Everyone there is extremely friendly and they're also nice enough to teach you how to climb. Since this is the only indoor climbing gym that I'm aware of in Hanover... it's pretty much as good as it gets! Go go go! You can borrow shoes. Rock climbing is exhausting, but quite rewarding :)

Ausable Chasm, NY - billing itself as "the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks" is a shamelessly…read moreambitious boast for an attraction that I'd more accurately describe as Watkins Glen with the consumer interface of Bushkill Falls, but there's no denying Ausable Chasm is a fun, scenic, and daring adventure for all ages! We came during the off season at the end of April, before the more high thrills activities like rafting & tubing, riverwalk, Via Ferrata adventure trail, rappelling, rock climbing, etc. were open for the season (usually around late-May to June through autumn). That was no problem as we are visiting with our toddler who isn't old enough to do most of these activities anyway, and, as we discovered, it was actually perfect and to our advantage, since as first-time visitors we only wanted/had time to explore the chasm itself. And as there were very few other visitors on a weekday, it was as if we had this private park all to ourselves! No need to jostle for views/photos, can enjoy lunch & snacks at the best picnic tables by vista points, and it's also more pleasant than hiking in hot summer, though many of the trails are shaded. The basic "trails only" admission is about $20 for adults & teens, $12 for kids 5-12, and free for under 5. All the other activities have additional fees, which can add up so you might explore packages, or even stay overnight at their campground & cabins. We are a family of hikers so wanted to do the whole perimeter and see the entire gorge (about 2 miles). But if you only wish to see the exciting parts and leave time for other activities, then you can turn back halfway and do the shorter loop (1 mile if you do the Inner Sanctum Trail which I 100% recommend as this is the "signature" trail along the canyon's edge. But note it has many stairs up & down). We took the Inner Sanctum (yellow) trail, crossed over to Big Dry Chasm and hiked to the Whirlpool Basin Overlook at other end, then looped back around on the orange trail via Little Dry Chasm. The trails are well maintained, with most of the outer edge trails on comfortable soft padded ground. They're mostly well marked except the end part is not really shown clearly on the park map so I used AllTrails. The orange trail (Dry Chasm Trail) is marked as more difficult, but it's basically just a regular wooded hiking trail that's not paved, with rooty and rocky sections. The park is very walkable for most able-bodied people. Even our 3yo was able to hike the whole thing by himself, with a bit of help over the orange trails. We loved our visit and are excited to come back when our child is older to do more activities! Will update my review when we've had a chance to experience all the action-packed adventures the park has to offer. TIP #1: No trail maps are given out so take a photo ar a screenshot. But there are maps placed along the trails marked with where you are. TIP #2: Porta-potties only on either end of the trails, so I recommend taking your nature break before setting out. TIP #3: There's a cafe by the Welcome Center but it's only open seasonally. Bring water. No garbage bins along the trails (cos bears!) so trash is carry-in carry-out.

This place is the best. Great for families. Do the explorer package with river walk...ropes…read morebridges are awesome. Boat is mild, it's not white water rafting. Very safe. Go here and enjoy!

My favourite climbing gym so far. It's big, doesn't get too crowded, has a nice open cafe area, a…read moregym area to warm up, and lots of challenging climbs. I really enjoy coming here with friends. The staff is very friendly and if it's your first time they explain the rules and guide you on the different areas of the gym. You can rent shoes and a chalk bag, they have a nice shop area as well if you want to buy any of your own gear. Their entryway could use a bit of a change since in the winter I find it gets really wet with all the boots and they run out of hangers because of the heavy winter coats, but other than that it's good!

A good, small climbing gym that's on the outskirts of Montréal. They have two indoor bouldering…read morewalls and one outside, but we weren't able to check out the latter as it was raining pretty hard. We were only able to climb the top out bouldering wall on the lower floor as they were changing the routes on the bouldering wall upstairs (not top out). There're more top-roping options than bouldering, and lead routes have the least available (understandable). I find it more worth it top-rope, so if you're new to the gym or visiting I would go with someone who can belay. As for the boulders themselves, they are graded based on circuits (V0, V0-V2, V2-V4, etc.; the grading scale is accurate). There were no V0s when we went, and there were 2 V0-V2s and 2 V2-4s, so if you're looking for a place more beginner-friendly, I would look elsewhere. Most of the climbs were advanced, so I would recommend being around V4 and above to make your visit(s) here worth it.

I was in dire need of some new hiking gear and the crew here helped me find exactly what I was…read morelooking for. Thank you Keagan, Sienna and David for the help!

From the owner: Black Diamond Equipment. Designing and constructing the world's best climbing, skiing & mountain…read moregear since 1957.