I'm a climber. My home gym is Movement in Columbia. Some love it and some hate it. But a bunch of us who gather there headed to SR Rio for a change of pace. It was definitely different than the local Movement gyms.
It was built in what used to be a pool/swimming area. That, at the least, makes the entire environment different and interesting. It did take us all a few minutes and laps around the entire gym to find our way around. There are two floors (at least we only saw two floors) and the ways to get up and down are kinda hidden. But it's a cool looking layout, mainly because it's the remnants of the previous swim center.
The climbs were different. The holds, ALL of them, were much more sticky (read: very new and raw feeling) than anywhere else I've ever been. In the main bouldering area upstairs most of the climbs lead to top-outs. If you're not comfortable climbing up and over the 'roof', then you'd better get used to it before you head here, if you're gonna boulder in that area.
The ropes walls in the main area were crazy high, 60 feet I think I was told. Nice routes and a nice variety of them. One very cool note: The main ropes area overlooks a huge glass wall, the one you can see from Rt. 270. Climb up, turn around and have a look at traffic zooming along from up high. Very nice view.
My main issues are 1) Almost no down-climbing holds. A few on the tops of most of the problems, but there should be a LOT more going much further down. Nobody should have to jump more than a few feet off of the problems to the ground. That's just bad practice. 2) The other thing that is admittedly a *me thing* is that the entire look, to me, makes the gym appear to be focused very much on kids. Everything from bright primary colors (holds and everything) to the signs (which need really really to be updated from the old swim center). Oh and 3) the problems were really confusing. The way they mark the starts, holds, and ends is not at all obvious. Our group several times stood in front of a few problems discussing where they might go. That's not right --- this stuff should be absolutely obvious for beginners, let alone for a group with a combined 20-25 years of climbing experience.
It's a nice place, don't get me wrong. Just not my personal style of climbing gym. I may try it again in a year or so; things may change since they just recently opened. read more