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I hate my gym!

Original Post
Marek Sapkovski · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 65

One would imagine that in a city of 8 million people there would be a choice of good climbing gyms. Nope, there are only two gyms with proper lead walls.

Normally, I would not care; my preference is to train outside; Between bouldering after work and climbing/bouldering on the weekends, I can usually log over 150 days a year on real rock.

This winter, however, is unusually cold so I am forced to train/climb mostly indoors. I bit the bullet and joined a climbing gym reasonably close to my office. Two hundred dollars a month (well, it has all the non-climbing fixings)! The route setting sucks (possibly because of the wall specifics) and the choice of wall angles is very small. Every route is a jug haul, even the smaller, fingery holds are in-cut "little jugs". The main wall is essentially a cave (large roof). More jugs. There are no vertical walls with flat or sloped crimpers and bad feet, the sort of stuff that you probably want to train on for long free routes. There is no 45 degree wall. There are almost no slopers. Boulder problems are contrived and boring at the same time. The walls have fairly few T-nuts so there are few holds so creating my own routes/traverses using in-situ holds is impossible. In short, it sucks.

PS. yes, that was a rant and I am hoping for sympathy :)

RyanO · · sunshine · Joined Jun 2009 · Points: 145
Climbing gym

Wanna kick it at my parents' house and drink PBRs instead?
Jon H · · PC, UT · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 118

Chelsea Piers is lame. In other news, the sky is blue and the Pope is still Catholic.

Marek Sapkovski · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 65
RyanO wrote: drink PBRs instead?
Sorry, not familiar with this abbreviation - is that an alcoholic beverage?

Jon H wrote:Chelsea Piers is lame. In other news, the sky is blue and the Pope is still Catholic.
Somebody could have warned me before. Even the little bouldering place on the Upper East Side holds more promise, but God is it crowded.
20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346
Marek Sapkovski wrote:One would imagine that in a city of 8 million people there would be a choice of good climbing gyms. Nope, there are only two gyms with proper lead walls. Normally, I would not care; my preference is to train outside; Between bouldering after work and climbing/bouldering on the weekends, I can usually log over 150 days a year on real rock. This winter, however, is unusually cold so I am forced to train/climb mostly indoors. I bit the bullet and joined a climbing gym reasonably close to my office. Two hundred dollars a month (well, it has all the non-climbing fixings)! The route setting sucks (possibly because of the wall specifics) and the choice of wall angles is very small. Every route is a jug haul, even the smaller, fingery holds are in-cut "little jugs". The main wall is essentially a cave (large roof). More jugs. There are no vertical walls with flat or sloped crimpers and bad feet, the sort of stuff that you probably want to train on for long free routes. There is no 45 degree wall. There are almost no slopers. Boulder problems are contrived and boring at the same time. The walls have fairly few T-nuts so there are few holds so creating my own routes/traverses using in-situ holds is impossible. In short, it sucks. PS. yes, that was a rant and I am hoping for sympathy :)
WTF, you pay $200 a month to climb in a shitty gym? If I recall right, all of the top 10 gyms in the USA are under $100 a month. Is this a climbing gym with fitness gear, or a fitness gym with a climbing section?

Also, if you are going to talk crap about your gym, you should out them too. Post the URL to their website so we can see too.
Marek Sapkovski · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 65
20 kN wrote: Is this a climbing gym with fitness gear, or a fitness gym with a climbing section? Also, if you are going to talk crap about your gym, you should out them too. Post the URL to their website so we can see too.
Chelsea Piers Sport Center
It's a fitness club with a climbing wall - a reasonably big climbing section, to be fair.
skinny legs and all · · Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania · Joined Jun 2009 · Points: 2,600

I understand that it is not a bouldering oriented gym and the walls are relatively old, but doesn't the internationally ranked competition and 5.14 climber Vadim Vinokur train there?

Rob D · · Queens, NY · Joined May 2011 · Points: 30
Marek Sapkovski wrote:One would imagine that in a city of 8 million people there would be a choice of good climbing gyms. Nope, there are only two gyms with proper lead walls. Normally, I would not care; my preference is to train outside; Between bouldering after work and climbing/bouldering on the weekends, I can usually log over 150 days a year on real rock. This winter, however, is unusually cold so I am forced to train/climb mostly indoors. I bit the bullet and joined a climbing gym reasonably close to my office. Two hundred dollars a month (well, it has all the non-climbing fixings)! The route setting sucks (possibly because of the wall specifics) and the choice of wall angles is very small. Every route is a jug haul, even the smaller, fingery holds are in-cut "little jugs". The main wall is essentially a cave (large roof). More jugs. There are no vertical walls with flat or sloped crimpers and bad feet, the sort of stuff that you probably want to train on for long free routes. There is no 45 degree wall. There are almost no slopers. Boulder problems are contrived and boring at the same time. The walls have fairly few T-nuts so there are few holds so creating my own routes/traverses using in-situ holds is impossible. In short, it sucks. PS. yes, that was a rant and I am hoping for sympathy :)
also in nyc, same feeling. I live in brooklyn, but because of the G train being what it is, it's actually faster for me to go to that new upper east side bouldering gym, and honestly, its' really really good. It's super small (like, the size of a storefront), but feels much more welcoming, the people that work there are friendly, and the setting is superb. It's a bouldering gym, which is the opposite of what I"m looking for, but compared to paying out the ass for chelsea piers, or getting stuck in the crowds and dangerous kids groups at bkb, I'll take it for a few months until the long island city gym either opens, or declares bankruptcy.
RockinOut · · NY, NY · Joined May 2010 · Points: 100

I wouldn't call Chelsea Piers a climbing gym. Its more of a fitness center that happens to have a climbing wall. Far cry from a dedicated gym like BKB or TRC. You said you like to train outside….there's aways the bouldering in Central Park…..

Woodchuck ATC · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 3,280
Marek Sapkovski wrote: Sorry, not familiar with this abbreviation - is that an alcoholic beverage? Somebody could have warned me before. Even the little bouldering place on the Upper East Side holds more promise, but God is it crowded.
!!!What country are you from? America's symbol of cheap swill and laid back drinking of brew is the PBR...Pabst Blue Ribbon, beer! Made famous in great movie Blue Velvet...and many other places seen on screen as a casual everday working mans beverage of choice.
Locker · · Yucca Valley, CA · Joined Oct 2002 · Points: 2,349

You call yourself a climber and DON'T know what PBR stands for?

"drink PBRs instead?

Sorry, not familiar with this abbreviation - is that an alcoholic beverage?"


You MUST be a GYM climber!

;-)

Brian Moore · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 25

After watching the video on their page you should be inspired to climb, do yoga, run hurdles, swim, box, wrestle, and get ripped cleaning, snatching, and throwing down some significant weight...have you not watched this inspiring video?

Will S · · Joshua Tree · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 1,061

Sounds like a business opportunity for you.

I'm kind of gobsmacked at the prices you folks are willing to pay. I don't exactly live in a cheap area of the country being in the endless sprawl of the greater L.A. area.

The last ~6 years, my gym membership has cost $300...per YEAR. Granted, I renew during their annual "birthday" sale every year for a nice price break, but even full price is maybe a little over 400. Monthly with no contract, full price is about $50/mo. Then again, we have shitloads of industrial warehouse type space in the IE and a competing gym about 10 minutes away.

Rob D · · Queens, NY · Joined May 2011 · Points: 30
Will S wrote:Sounds like a business opportunity for you. I'm kind of gobsmacked at the prices you folks are willing to pay. I don't exactly live in a cheap area of the country being in the endless sprawl of the greater L.A. area. The last ~6 years, my gym membership has cost $300...per YEAR. Granted, I renew during their annual "birthday" sale every year for a nice price break, but even full price is maybe a little over 400. Monthly with no contract, full price is about $50/mo. Then again, we have shitloads of industrial warehouse type space in the IE and a competing gym about 10 minutes away.
there are less expensive gyms, the original poster just chose the single most expensive gym in the new york city area that has climbing. That said, the new gym on the upper east side that's only bouldering, and is very very small (though quite a good gym for the size), is $88 for students! Brooklyn Boulders, the only climbing-dedicated gym in the NYC area with proper lead climbing is $800 for students IF you prepay, and doesn't do an educator discount (I'm a teacher, not a student, but most places will do student discounts for teachers). That said, I recall when I bought my yearly pass, someone slyly let me have the cheaper price, but it didn't seem like it was meant to be done.

It's fucking new york. Everything is expensive, except gunks annual passes which are only like, 80 bucks or whatever. That said, as someone without a car, it costs me close to $40 to get to new paltz every time, and then I have to hitch hike to cliffs.
Rob D · · Queens, NY · Joined May 2011 · Points: 30
Will S wrote:Sounds like a business opportunity for you.
I ignored this part of your post! for an idea of how easy it is to start a climbing gym with lead climbing in nyc, just have a look at the Cliffs in Long Island City and all of their wonderful drama regarding trying to open, bribery, DOB threats, and the wonderful moment when they wouldn't let them open because the exercise equipment wasn't positioned in the same way in their initial plans!
if you check their facebook page, go to the posts starting october 27, 2013, and realize that they've been closed by the department of business since that day, after only being open for 20 days!
facebook.com/TheCliffsAtLon…
Jon Frisby · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 270

Yeah dude living here sucks as a climber.

Rob D · · Queens, NY · Joined May 2011 · Points: 30
Jon Frisby wrote:Yeah dude living here sucks as a climber.
well, other than loving the gunks, I agree.
rogerbenton · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 210

i got a discount at BKB for being a teacher/instructor, you might want to look into that again.
When/if the cliffs re-open it's a great gym. BKB is too, just a crowd issue.

Optimistic · · New Paltz · Joined Aug 2007 · Points: 450

Why not just approach Chelsea Piers about setting some routes for them? Be the change you want to see in the world, and all that? Maybe they'd give you a discount, too!

rgold · · Poughkeepsie, NY · Joined Feb 2008 · Points: 526

Everyone I've met who has been to The Cliffs in LIC says it is really good. It has been open and closed because of problems with a beyond-idiotic DOB. Eventually, this agency of imbeciles is going to run out of dumb reasons to deny permits and the The Cliffs will stay open---hopefully this will be real soon.

Once they're open for good, there will indeed be an excellent---world-class---climbing gym in NYC.

Jan Tarculas · · Riverside, Ca · Joined Mar 2010 · Points: 917

damn that's a lot of money. I pay $25/month for mine

climbth.com/

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
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