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    Vertical Hold Rock Climbing Gym

    4.6 (49 reviews)
    Closed 9:00 am - 10:00 pm

    Services - Vertical Hold Rock Climbing Gym

    Group fitness

    Virtual fitness classes

    Vertical Hold Rock Climbing Gym Photos

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    Private room for birthday party
    Phil S.

    We had our 8-yr old's birthday party here and had a great time! We didn't really know what we were getting into; none of the kids had any climbing experience, but are all active/athletic and fun and the staff was so helpful and patient, everyone had a great time! In addition to the accessible climbing walls that kept the boys busy, we had a private room for the birthday party, with tables and chairs, and a ping pong table! We brought pizza, drinks and cupcakes. Two and a half hours was the perfect amount of time. I really can't say enough about the staff and how helpful, patient and kind they were. In addition, they trained (quickly) 2-3 parents to be additional belayers and that just made it all the more fun. Highly recommend for birthday parties! Our group of 8-yr old boys had a blast, and the two 7-yr olds had fun and got some good climbing time in too! I think it's probably perfect for 8-10 year olds.

    High wall climbing
    Brookie B.

    Super fun spot for all levels of climbing. They really took time showing my boys what to do and giving them great instructions. The place is huge and has free (no ropes) climbing areas as well. Definitely recommend you come and spend the day! WiFi for mom and dad, too

    Bouldering Wall
    Joyce L.

    VHRCG operates a few locations around San Diego, and I believe this one is the largest. Catering to a range of age and skill levels, there are a variety of walls to suit everyone, and problems/routes are changed regularly to keep things interesting. The staff members are avid climbers themselves, and happy to give tips if you ask for help navigating a particularly tricky section. Otherwise, they'll pretty much leave you alone to do your thing. On weekends (before COVID), this location can get crowded, especially with excited groups of kids running around - no shade as I'm a parent myself, just stating facts. I suggest coming on a weekday if you want a little more space.

    Moon board
    Brittany A.

    I believe this is the location that started vertical hold. But it's great! You walk in feeling the same vibe as the San Diego location. Same music playlists, same just friendliness and welcoming spirit. This location though is much bigger and does have much more to offer regarding training and working out. I would say there is either more or the same top ropes.. (didn't count) but much less lead climbing available. San Diego really does have an amazing lead climbing cave. And bouldering opportunities, with top out. But.. not a lot of slab opportunities. And the big plus.. LOCKER ROOMS WITH SHOWERS!!! Just nothing feels better than a cold shower after a climb/workout. Wish San Diego had that buttttt that's alright! I will trade showering at home if it means a shower 15 min drive rather than 30! Also, i don't know why maybe I was just off my game today but It feels like climbing gradings are much higher here.. both bouldering and top rope. Anyways, this location is great if you are in the Poway area! If I lived smack in the middle of both locations I'd have a hard time picking which one to go to.

    part of boulder wall
    Jan T.

    VH is amazing! There are problems for beginners, intermediates, and advanced. Pretty cool upstairs training area, as well as a mini gym with a squat rack, bench press, dumbbells, lat pull down area, and even a ping pong table. There are two self belaying devices, as well as a vast amount of top roping routes and lead climbing routes too. The boulder wall is small but the setters at VH are really good and rotate the problems every once in a while, but seemingly at the perfect times for you to go through all of the grades you can climb. The staff here is also very friendly and kind!! Pros: awesome staff, great problems, actually a vast amount of equipment to get super strong on. Oh yeah people here are great too! Everyone vibes with each other Doesn't get too crowded as well. ALSO they have showers and a locker room yay!!! Cons: Small bouldering area, the back boulder area doesn't have crash pads so unless you have your own or unless you are ok with not using crash pads there it's basically a useless area.

    Joy J.

    Came here with my bestie to try it out for the first time. AMAZING!! They do the belay lesson if you've never tried or it's been a while. It took me a bit to get the hang of it, but eventually I got it down. Conrad was super nice and patient with me. Showed me the proper way to belay, and I felt confident after the lesson. There are different routes you can take, and you just go with what you're comfortable with. When you get to the top, it's a great feeling, like you made it to the top of the world, lol. They also have a small weight lifting area where I kinda tried my hand for the first time. Bestie is a pro and she schooled me the whole time. I liked it a lot...so empowering!! It's located in an industrial area with plenty of parking. Their prices are pretty reasonable and they also offer memberships. Although it's not a huge facility, it has enough room for you to move around and do what you need to do. They also host birthday parties. There was a kid party going on when we were there, but it was nicely controlled by the staff. Employees are all friendly and I would definitely return!

    Lisa G.

    Am a fan! Came here with a girlfriend who recently got the membership with another one of her friends and got to get a free belay lesson along with rental gear. The belay lesson was v helpful. Learning the basics of belaying - how to strap yourself correctly and see that your partner does the same if you have one. We were there for about 2 hours. I got the thrill of climbing up...but the hardest part for me was trusting in the other person in coming down. It's just hard to let go. I managed to successfully do it, but it is still a fear of mine to let go. For beginners, the easiest would be the 5.5. As the numbers go up, it gets harder. And there aren't many easy ones to train on besides two walls which you could use any shape to climb up, the 5.5 and the 5.6 (the auto-belay) in the front. Lots of parking, not too bad of a drive if you live in Poway, plus its a few blocks away from In-n-Out too! My girlfriend E said that this location definitely was bigger than the other Vertical Hold locations. Bouldering is also available but a bit scarier as you don't have a rope securing you. But they have cushions around to break your fall. Overall, had a good experience, and I hope to go more often next year as this year, all my weekends are booked

    Blaine H.

    Couple things to cover here, first the two outstanding staff members that make it memorable, Ryen and Alex. Really, customer service is not dead Ryen and Alex are there to prove it. The facility it self. Went here recently with a friend, had a blast! What a great way to workout and have fun. We were treated so nicely by Ryen, she took the time to really explain how to properly belay and top rope with my partner, which we are both complete noobs, even going up herself and I was her partner on the ground so that I could gain the confidence of how it felt. Ryen then explained all the different levels of climbs around the gym. Which helped, because its huge with climbs of all variance all over. She had our best interest at the top, sharing a passion for climbing and spreading the joy thereof into the customers. Basically we weren't just given some 5min explanation and sent out to fiddle fumble. I enjoyed it so much I returned with my children a few days later and signed up a membership with Alex. Talk about above and beyond. Alex took the time to explain the basics of the membership and perks at all three locations. While I was climbing with my kids, he would come around and offer guidance to all patrons including my daughter. I'm sure he could tell she was a bit timid at 5yrs old. He had a great way of being relatable with her and helping her enjoy herself more. Alex then took the time to give me my Top Rope certification and tutorial. He made sure I was versed in the figure 8 and ATC usage. Enough to were I confidently tied in my daughter and sent her up. At the end both Alex and Ryen were there and they both gave me an opportunity to top rope as they were my belayers (not sure if a word) while my children watched daddy go high! All in all, Alex and Ryan have made and continue to make my visits memorable and personal. If I haven't already said it, they are the definition of taking care of your clients. On belay, belay on. Climbing, climb on!

    Bobby D.

    I'm 6 feet 3 inches and weigh 215lbs. I consider myself an athletic dude and work out at least 3 times per week. I'm close to half a century, but I've stayed relatively fit having played basketball since the 8th Grade, played competitive volleyball, and have consistently lifted weights throughout my adulthood. When one of my best buddies broached the subject of rock wall climbing at Vertical Hold, I thought to myself I can do that and I'd like to change up my fitness routine. Yeah, I was over confident and my fitness experience did not translate to rock wall climbing. Despite this, I had a blast monkeying around with two of my best buddies. Although this review falls under the Poway Vertical Hold location, please consider my review applicable to both Poway and the Hancock Street locations in the sense that the basics are similar, but each is different. My first rock wall climbing excursion was at the Hancock Street location and my second was at Poway. I recommend that you purchase the one week trial at either location for $40, which includes the harness and a pair of shoes each time you visit during that one week period. With regards to the climbing shoes, I suggest that you request shoes that are two sizes higher than what you normally wear. For example, I wear size 13 in regular shoes, but in climbing shoes I wear size 15. When I visited the Hancock St. location, I was told by the young lady behind the desk that your big and second toes were going to be bunched up due to needing your big toe to pivot on rocks and grips. She's definitely correct about needing to pivot, but she recommended I wear a size 14, which made my first rock wall climbing experience an uncomfortable one. When I wore size 15 at the Poway location, my feet were so thankful and my second visit was so much better due to being more comfortable. The friendly and accommodating staff will also provide you with instruction on wearing your harness, how to operate the ropes, and most importantly, how to belay. Both locations have lockers where you can place your valuables and the restrooms were clean and sanitary. As for the monkeying around, I had so much fun and I loved that I wasn't as fit as I thought I was at least for climbing and descending 20 feet rock wall faces. It's definitely a total body workout where every part of your body gets worked. After both visits, my arm muscles ached, my hands were sore, my legs pulsated, and my cardio was improved as I sweated throughout each session. I'm sure you might be questioning my assessment of rock wall climbing being fun because it sounds painful. There are many facets of why I considered it fun. It was fun because it was different. Rock wall climbing is not an everyday activity. It was fun because it was challenging. For each climb, there are different paths you can ascend. For each path, there are placards with numbers or numbers with letters. The higher the number after the decimal means the path to the top is very difficult. Difficult because there isn't much to grip on or minimal space to put your foot on. Finally, it was fun because you felt a sense of accomplishment after completing a path and reaching the top even when you didn't think you could scale a 20 or 30 foot climb. Once you touched the top, you swell with pride as you fast rappel down the rock wall face. I thoroughly enjoyed my two experiences at Vertical Hold. I'm thankful to my buddy for infusing some variety into my workout routine. I also have a better understanding and appreciation for mountain climbers and monkeys. Good times!

    Mother's Day Climbing
    Audra B.

    First- just got to say- Climbing is an excellent FULL BODY work out! And it's fun! This place is an older climbing gym, but it has everything you need and Super Friendly counter help willing to answer any climbing questions you may have and help you get going. Prices totally reasonable and there are Groupon deals, so if you think you want to climb but aren't positive, get the Groupon, it's worth it or just get the membership, it's totally reasonable. My whole family climbed here- 4 boys and the hubby on Mother's Day. We love it! Kids have birthday parties here, but I'm thinking about having my next b-day party here. Parking is plentiful- some hours of the day are a little too busy for me, but there are plenty of off peak hours. There is a ping pong table, old school work out equipment, a couple of treadmills, and Yoga on Monday and Tuesday. So, all in all- great place for a great, alternative and fun workout! Climb On-!

    Getting ready to climb on the rope thingy!

    Wow! All the staff members I met were super friendly and supportive. Instead of just, "Okay, here's the gear, you are ready to start." They told you how to USE the gear. They had this amazing rope climbing setup that most other places do not have. They had many different kinds of climbing stuff, which you do not see in many other places. Absolutely indescribable. The top of the smallest rock climbing thing, there was a roof of like, rock, and it had many places to sit. On the smallest one, when you climb up, instead of having to climb back down, you just walk across it to a bridge, walk across the bridge and walk down the set of stairs! That is why this place is the best!

    Janice C.

    My family yelped and this place popped up. It is very kids friendly place, adult is also welcome. My plan to get my 9 years old boy worn out and this place is ROCK (climbing)! Clean facility, less crowded, nice gym equipment even though is pretty limited. If you're looking for a healthy hobbies rather than regular gym, this place is a fun try.

    Rock walls!

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    Shoutout to Alex! He was so kind and helpful!! :) I had a great first experience rock climbing :))

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    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - Vertical Hold Rock Climbing Gym

    Is there a squat rack open to membership holders?

    Yes.

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    Review Highlights - Vertical Hold Rock Climbing Gym

    It had been a while since I rock climbed, and my boyfriend had never done top rope, so the lesson was much needed!

    Mentioned in 5 reviews

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