It's great to have a gym on this side of the river, not only boulder/scramble but also belay. There are even some pulley systems to self belay if you don't have a buddy. Safety is #1 here, the paperwork as a first timer and the orientation was *extensive*, so carve out 10 minutes for that. They do test you on belay abilities before they let you belay someone, which includes tying knots to the harness and carabiners. If you don't pass, you can't belay someone else but you can still use the self pulley belays. There are spots to chill and regain grip strength, and the gym is pretty clean. Staff were helpful. One star less because they do not have half sizes for shoes. It motivates you to get your own but for those just getting into this sport and wanting to keep the investment to a minimum until you decide, it's not comfortable. It's a gym in the area so I'll take it. I went for a holiday deal for the day pass was $16 and shoes were $4, and they do charge for rental chalk. I honestly wouldn't go for any other pricing, so I'll be looking out for the deals to return again. read more

The Gravity Vault Poughkeepsie - Self pulley belay - Climbing Near Me - Poughkeepsie, New York

Great first experience at this spot: friendly and helpful staff, good facility We went as a group of 3 with the $90 staff belay option. This is a good option for beginners and if you just want to start climbing and not worry about learning belaying. Anna was so supportive and helpful. The staff member helping you really does make or break the experience. We were given the harness to step into as well as shoes that should fit snugly. Then we started at the beginner wall to get our feet wet. We moved on to a few other walls, one with an automatic belay. The climbs are marked by difficulty level so a 5.8 is harder than a 5.5, for example, based on ease, size of the holds. You follow the color of your climb basically. We all got a good workout. An hour is good because you need to rest in between climbs usually. Perhaps the instruction option for 5 people would give you more techniques but this was fine for us. The space isn't that big but we didn't feel cramped. However if it was crowded you probably would have to wait. But no problems today on a Sunday at 11:30 am. If you have workout gloves they'd probably help with callouses on the hands. We didn't try the regular free climbs. There's cubbies to put your shoes and bags and lockers in the bathroom if you have a lock. I wouldn't want to bring anything valuable in there because there's a lot going on and someone intent on mischief could have a field day... hopefully not though! They seem to offer membership options and events. No issues parking. I would come back! read more

The Gravity Vault Poughkeepsie - Climbing Near Me - Poughkeepsie, New York

Very Supportive staff & easy to get a reservation to climb. This was a great way to spend a rainy day in the area!

Rock climbing can be extremely fun, but is there is a reason why you are required to sign a waiver. I was a pretty new climber when I started frequenting this Gravity Vault - I'd only been climbing two or so months. As someone mentioned, the staff takes the belay test seriously - this isn't something one should complain about. If you can't tie your knots or prove your ability to belay, you should not be allowed to top rope. I can't stress this enough - you can get seriously injured, or seriously injure someone else. The gym offers great introduction class pricing, I'd always recommend taking an intro class before climbing, just for safety. I have to strongly disagree with the review that say that this gym is only for avid climbers. I've now been going on and off for a year now, so I think I can attest to the fact that the staff and community have always been welcoming. I was new to the area as well as the sport, and felt like everyone was friendly and supportive. The staff has always, and continue to, answer my dumb newbie questions without making me feel awful. I eventually even built some lasting friendships within the community. The gym itself is nice and spacious - having come from NYC, the extra space and strong ventilation was a much needed change for me. Even pre-covid, I didn't love bumping into other sweaty climbers or breathing in their BO and chalk. Compared to other gyms I've been to (NYC, Boston, Charlotte) this location is overall pretty clean. Pre-covid, it did get busy (like most gyms), but people are usually good about taking turns. They offer a limited gym/training area with a campus board, a MoonBoard, a bike, and a small lifting area. Just before covid, they started offering some yoga classes in a separate room - I hope those will pick up again after things get safe and normal again. From a more beginner's point of view, I feel like there's a wide variety of routes for different climbing levels. I found that there was always a good selection of routes for my skill level, and I definitely improved a lot climbing here. For my skill level (v2, 5.9 pre-covid, v0, 5.5 since covid LOL), I haven't felt tired of the routes here yet. Someone here complained that the bouldering mats aren't thick enough - I'm not sure if they've been to other gyms. On top of the permanent mats on the ground, they offered thick mats that I'd taken a full face plant on from the top of the boulder wall - and the only thing I hurt was my pride. Since then, they've fully upgraded their bouldering mats to a second layer of permanent mats which feel fantastic. I see a lot of kids parties here. From what I see, they run great kid programs. The kids I see climbing are so good (I'm not mad! TT_TT ) and that has to be a testament to the solid staff/instructors. With covid, I felt like the gym took good precautions with the reservations and time slots. I definitely felt safer here than at other gyms I checked out during covid. Overall this is a super solid indoor gym, especially since there aren't a ton of gyms in the area (like in more saturated big cities). The pricing is more than fair in my experience, and the staff and climbers are generally pretty awesome. read more

This is a great climbing gym! I've been here a few times with my brother. I'm an intermediate climber and he's a beginner. The routes are accurately graded, challenging, and use a variety of holds on each grade. There's a variety of climbs at each grade so you never run out of climbs to try. There's also a small fitness section including an assault bike, rower, and some free weights. The staff is really friendly and knowledgeable as well. Every time I'm in the area, this is my favorite climbing gym to visit. read more

Reviews on here are pretty spot on. I've been to a bunch of indoor rock climbing spots and I honestly must say this was by far the least fun of them all. Inside is very clean and well laid out. Staff members are a bit smug when they find out you are not an avid rock climber. If you do not know how to tie your own harness you are limited to a small outer section of the gym where harnesses are not used. Even though the walls are shorter, (I would guess approximately 12 feet) I felt uncomfortable not using a harness - as when you loose your grip or become tired it forces you to fall from that height onto a padded floor. After a few of these drops you tend to take it a bit easier and not push yourself to go any higher. This takes the fun out of it... Overall the gravity vault is definitely a spot for a rock climbing enthusiast, but not for the average Joe to come in an have some fun. I wanted to do something different, something challenging and really all I got was sore hands and a bruised butt. Lastly, when we left I looked over at the staff and said "bye, thank you" to which I received no response from either, that was really rude. I won't be coming back, but due to the options they have for experienced climbers I won't give a bad rating, as I feel if I was a climber it would have been a different experience. read more

The Gravity Vault Poughkeepsie - No harness area, note it is quite high so falling from this section is not something to look forward to. Beginners beware. - Climbing Near Me - Poughkeepsie, New York

Since COVID19 started and gyms closed down, I haven't really gotten a chance to go to any climbing gyms in NYC. Fortunately we were able to find a gym outside of New York while I was on vacation. To avoid the crowd, I decided to head to Gravity Vault on a Thursday morning. Only two belay climbers and one person bouldering. After a brief sign up time, we were educated on their COVID guidelines, only one person per section of bouldering wall and masks on the entire time. Originally my girlfriend wanted to do some auto-belay climbs, but strangely you have to be belay certified to use the carabiner clip. Each route was color coded and individually numbered based on difficulty. I do wish that instead of using color coding they just used the individual number in a larger font. Since I was so rusty, I was only able to finish some of the v0s and maybe one or two v1. My girlfriend was able to do most of the v1s but she said they seemed a bit more difficult than normal. Overall the experience was pretty good. I do wish they had a larger numbering system instead of the coloring, it's hard to refer to a path as the orange path when the climbing holds are blue. The crash mats could be a bit more absorbent, it felt like it would hurt if you fell unexpectedly. Also do not expect to be able to use the auto belay if you aren't belay certified. read more

All this first time climber can say is fun, fun, hard work but oh so fun! I came with a group of friends late on a Friday for ladies night. I walked in with all sorts of nerves and fear as to what I had agreed to do on this low key Friday. Walking in it's a very big open space where there is a front desk, some chairs, Merchandise to sell, then the varios walls surround the space. The staff on at this time was your typical young kid with a winter job. Signed the waivers, paid my rental if equipment fee and prepared for what was to come. A tip to my large foot having friends, the shoes should be tight but not uncomfortable, I wear a 14 but in the climbing shoes 15 was my size so keep that in mind. I put my harness on and prepared to climb. My friends tied me in explained that it's not just upper body has but more about using your legs to stand and moving pace by pace. I climbed the first was fairly quick and the second I made it I was HOOKED! It was thrilling to climb and play the game of chess to figure out what moves to make, where to place a foot or hand, to make it to the top. I climbed 3 walls but in #4 I felt cocky and tried a harder wall. Well 25 minutes later through sheer determination, random strangers encouraging me, my friends shouting and this little kid who basically walked up and down the wall 3x before I finally made it, I refused to quit and was so happy when I hit the top. My hands were numb, legs tired, covered in sweat but I felt accomplished and was smiling ear to ear. If you have never tried it, Get to it after that day I 100% want to go back and do it again. Fun activity, great workout and overall amazing experience. This has climbed its way to 5 stars read more

I took my daughter here for the first time last weekend and she loved it. She wanted to try it out and the deal was $20 for 2 climbs. However, that took all of 10 minutes, so, of course, she wanted more. They let us upgrade and we paid an additional $30 for the $50 for 1 hour deal. The employee helping my daughter was very nice and encouraged my daughter to keep going. They have many different walls to climb of different levels of difficulty. I thought it was somewhat expensive, but an hour of rock climbing fun for the kid is priceless, I guess. read more

The Gravity Vault Poughkeepsie - Climbing Near Me - Poughkeepsie, New York

Today was my wife's 50th birthday. The one thing she wanted more than anything this birthday was to climb. May seem kind of silly but it was huge for her. She is 8 weeks post-op on one and 12 weeks post-op on the other of her bilateral total knee replacements. A couple weeks ago, her surgeon lifted all restrictions and said she could do anything as she could tolerate. She was determined to climb. We've never climbed before!!! We were helped at the counter by Julia who was awesome and she turned us over to A.J. Who was our line man. He was awesome!!! Actually awesome is an understatement! Thank you A.J. for your attention, assistance, patience and for making this birthday wish come true. Anyone who thinks they might like to try this, do it! And ask if A.J's available! Thanks again Gravity Vault! We'll be back!!! read more

The Gravity Vault Poughkeepsie - A.J. from Gravity Vault Poughkeepsie doing his thing... The wife and her new titanium knees doing her thing!!! - Climbing Near Me - Poughkeepsie, New York

Can say enough good things about this place. Had my daughter's birthday here this past weekend, but the snow insured than NONE of her little friends showed up (can't blame them). The GV allowed us to climb for the day as a family AND reschedule the party even though they had already set up the party room. Wonderful staff from the owners/managers all the way down to the young folks helping you climb. Recommend! read more

The staff at the Gravity Vault did a great job of making our son's 13 birthday a terrific success! They were helpful and encouraging with the kids and organized and friendly with the grown ups. The facility is spacious, safe and fun! Thanks to James and Gabe for a wonderful afternoon. A late afternoon party is recommended if you want things to be a little less chaotic. read more

The Gravity Vault Poughkeepsie - Climbing Near Me - Poughkeepsie, New York

Although my son loves going here, my husband had a bad experience today. I got a Groupon for my son, not realizing it was for 14 and up - he's 10. As it says on the Groupon "promotional value never expires" I called a few days ago to speak with Jessica. Jessica was very nice, said I didn't need an appointment and said that I'd be able to apply the value paid toward the free climb session and I should speak with Julia when I came in on Sunday. My husband just went in with my son and Julia wouldn't let him use the Groupon at all. Didn't even deduct the value from his visit. It expires next week so we can't try again another day. And if we were just going to pay regular price, we didn't have to rush to use it today, before it expired. Business should understand how the promotions work. All Groupons have the guarantee that, even after the expiry date, you can use it for the value paid. read more

My family and I were looking for something to do on a Friday night and we decided to go rock climbing! The place seemed cool and we were excited to go, but when we got there we were less than thrilled. We were greeted, annoyingly, by an employee who could obviously tell we were not avid rock climbers. We filled out the form and he asked if anyone had experience belaying. Only one of us had, but a long time ago so he was tested. The employee was putting a lot of pressure on him and he couldn't figure out the knot, so we had to boulder. That was fine but, the employee gave us an attitude for not being experienced. We ended up having a blast, there were so many things to do and places to go even though we couldn't climb the big walls. At the end, jokingly, my father asked if we could learn how to tie the knot on YouTube. Attitude is an understatement for what we got in return. The employee rudely stated "well! I wouldn't learn how to tie a life saving knot on YouTube!". My father was taken aback because he was just trying to make friendly conversation. Overall we had a blast, the prices were very reasonable and we'll totally go back. The only bad part was the employee, everyone else was great even the experienced climbers welcomed us! read more

This was one of mine (and families) favorite indoor activity in the Hudson valley! We were inexperienced rock climbers and attended the 2 hour belay course with mark...it was fantastic! Mark was an excellent instructor, he made us feel safe and was very informative...we felt like pros by the end! Also, he was very friendly and kept us laughing ...overall a very great experience and we will be back again! read more

We had our kids' birthday party at Gravity Vault Poughkeepsie. They were turning 8. The climbing part was really fun and the kids loved it. The staff was super helpful -- singing people in, taking gifts, organizing the activity, managing the pizza and cake. I would highly recommend. read more

Don't go. Drive to rock climbing in new paltz instead. We went as a family. Staff would rather talk behind counter regarding schedules than help customers at counter. This includes managers. We got checked for safety.... Did not pass us although we clearly did it right. If it is slightly off from their technique, they should take the 2 min to show you. I get that it's for safety, but all places do it slightly different. So after we we're failed, the staff said that they "did not have time for us".... And then I needed to stand around while they checked with manager re: refund.... Don't go.. Rude staff.... We made the drive to new paltz and had a blast! read more

Great business in poughkeepsie, Karen and Mark are as friendly as it gets and Jess is an expert in customer service, she might have a masters degree in customer service but im not sure read more

Huge rock climbing gym with something like 66 different top-rope stations, some auto-belays and an enormous bouldering area. I'm at a beginner/intermediate level and the place has tons of routes for me to climb, with lots of harder ones for the more advanced climber. A really great place overall! read more

Most helpful climbing community that I've ever seen! Staff is great as well as the customers. Everyone is welcoming and helpful to one another. They also sell shoes, harnesses, etc and will help you get fitted and teach you about the tech (never seen this before even at big end sports stores). The staff changes the climbing problems pretty regularly so you never get bored. Some of the downsides: When parties go on for children they arent watched and often become a safety hazard around the gym. read more

Super nice facility with friendly staff. Took the belay class there and Mark was excellent. Will definitely be back more often. They need to open one in NE Pennsylvania. read more

Had my 6 year old sons party there recently. Great experience all the kids really enjoyed themselves. Besides rock climbing they had fun games for the kids like potato sack race, tug of war, obstacle course on the wall. Two great hosts made sure kids had fun. If you want a new exciting way to throw a party that involves good fitness for your kids, then this is the place for you. I highly recommend this place, the staff is very professional. read more

Staff did an awesome job with my daughter's birthday party. All the kids had a lot of fun and no one was left out. Even my youngest who was nervous to climb went up about halfway twice with the encouragement of the guys who worked there. Very friendly and reasonably priced for what you get. read more

If you're actually into climbing, it's not the greatest. Routes don't change very often, and some of the same ones have been up for an entire year. Most other gyms I've climbed at have something new every week. There's no training equipment (campus board, hang board etc.) That being said, the community here is great, and the employees are nice. It's got the potential to be great if they focus more on making it more climber-friendly. read more

Came here today as a outing trip with Girl Scouts. I have to say I was impressed! The staff was very attentive to the children. Gabe was really attentive to my seven year old daughter, and encouraging her every step! When she felt like she couldn't climb and wanted to leave, he said I could show you where to climb and it will be easy! So he did... and she was doing a great job has he again was helping her every move! After that she wanted to stay and keep climbing! I will definitely be back soon! read more

Great place to take kids on a hot summer day!! Guides are knowledgeable and equipment is brand new and well-maintained. If you plan to go, call in advance. They offer a discount (though this may be short-term) if you reserve before you go. Unfortunately, they didn't tell me that when I called (or I would have probably given 5 stars). That said, I wound up having to reserve because they were full when we arrived, however they gave us the advance booking discount anyway so all worked out! read more

Loved it the staff was great my grandkids had a great time and they can't wait to go back!