So, there is a rock climbing gym in Lake Nona. Great news if you want to lead some routes, top rope, or Boulder. It's a great gym. Well layed out with Eldorado walls and sparkling new holds. The gym staff are great. They seem to know what they're doing, have good instructions and methods, and are all climbers too. The Rox gym gets 5 stars in my book. So why the 4 star rating you may ask? The rock gym is part of the "Lake Nona Performance Club" (LNPC) but, it appears no one told the LNPC they have a climbing gym. Before the gym opened we (me and some climbing friends) researched the requirements, hours, costs, can we lead, etc to climb. The first clue was the lack of any response to any of our emails. The second was their gym tour on Instagram that was narrated by a friendly helpful lady that appeared to have minimal climbing experience. But, hey, they're new, give em a break...
Then there is the price. The climbing gym itself is $15/day, but that's only if you're a member of LNPC, otherwise it's $30. But that includes gear (none of which we need). We were told that we can be a member of the climbing gym only for $90/month - or the whole gym for $98? (plus $299 to start). So at some point (6 days a month) it's cheaper to be a member (of Rox only). Cheaper, not cheap. Considering the other gyms in the area are about half the cost for a day pass. But if you are a member of any other climbing gym I've been to, you get unlimited climbing for no extra cost. As an example a member that climbs two days a week average would pay $50/month at gym "A", $65/mo at gym "B", and $210/mo at Rox! So Rox is definitely not geared to be a gym for serious climbers even though they have lead walls and a great climbing staff. This should cut down on the number of people using the gym considerably. Is it worth a drive to Lake Nona to lead climb every month or so? Yes. Is it worth getting a membership? No. But, at least the holds will still nice and new when you do go. read more