Boston area folks, HELP!!

I live in Colorado and am strongly considering going back to the Boston area (where I am originally from) for an indefinite amount of time. I hope to head to NH on the weekends but am starting to look into finding a good climbing community in the area - a good gym to train and meet folks, and any local rocks outdoors. I am out here in Boston this week and visited a gym today. Was nice but not the best fit for me. Any thoughts on Boston Rock Gym? Was thinking of checking that out. Huge priority, HELPPPPPPP!! Thanks!

Thoughts on Boston Rock Gym: Not worth going to. Last fall, when I moved to Boston, I visited three gyms: BRG, Central Rock, and Metrorock. The other two were so much better than BRG that it was crazy. At BRG, the walls were short and looked like they hadn't had a paint job in 20 years, the padding on the floor was hard and crusty with age, most of the holds were dirty and worn smooth, the route setting was erratic...you get it.

For gym training I go to Central Rock, but that's because it's closer to me than Metrorock; both seem like places I'd be happy to work out in. I haven't looked at Brooklyn Boulders, that's even farther from my house.

I'll let other people talk about the outdoor climbing, I don't have much time so I mostly gym climb to keep in shape, only manage to get outdoors a few times a year.

BRG isn't a bad gym, but it can definitely feel a bit small/dated compared to the other options in the area. What gym did you visit?

Marissa Lueders wrote:I live in Colorado and am strongly considering going back to the Boston area (where I am originally from) for an indefinite amount of time. I hope to head to NH on the weekends but am starting to look into finding a good climbing community in the area - a good gym to train and meet folks, and any local rocks outdoors. I am out here in Boston this week and visited a gym today. Was nice but not the best fit for me. Any thoughts on Boston Rock Gym? Was thinking of checking that out. Huge priority, HELPPPPPPP!! Thanks!

Which Gym did you go to?

If I could choose a gym without location being a factor it'd be Central Rock in Watertown or Metrorock in Everett.

Boston rock gym is too old, Brooklyn Boulders is too hip and too expensive with not enough parking, and Rockspot just doesn't have the wall height.

christopher adams wrote: Which Gym did you go to? If I could choose a gym without location being a factor it'd be Central Rock in Watertown or Metrorock in Everett. Boston rock gym is too old, Brooklyn Boulders is too hip and too expensive with not enough parking, and Rockspot just doesn't have the wall height.

I'd definitely agree with this statement. That being said though I have high hopes for the new gym that Rockspot is putting up in South Boston. If nothing else it's going to be very easy to get to and their membership prices are way lower than Brooklyn Boulders. Also, I've always like the staff and people are Rockspot even if their facility isn't that great.

Pictures of the new gym

I've lived in Boston for two years now and the only two gyms I've been to are MetroRock and Brooklyn Boulders.

Coming from the UK, both are far superior to what I was used to in terms of climbing gyms, but I way prefer MetroRock. I only tried Brooklyn Boulders once and for me the biggest drawback is the polished plywood walls. Aesthetically pleasing, but I don't know why anyone would climb anywhere where smearing is impossible. In terms of where you can put your feet, it's the holds or nothing! I also felt that the routes weren't very imaginative ( harder routes just seemed to have smaller holds placed further apart).

Saying that, the staff were really friendly, it was really clean and I know a lot of people like it. I'm not so sure about the scooters though... Also, I went more than a year ago, so a lot could've changed since then. MetroRock is a little more rough around the edges, but the routes are great and change regularly, there's a good atmosphere and plenty of parking and facilities.

If you're looking for partners, The Boston Rock and Ice Climbing Meetup is a great option. They meet three times a week at MetroRock and Brooklyn Boulders as well (I think). Not as many people turn up as you'd expect from the number of members, but you'll usually find someone who climbs the same grade as you.

Alastair

Yesterday I checked out Rock Spot Climbing. It's close to my families home. Folks were real nice but I'm looking for something a little different. I think I will check out MetroRock next... commuting from Sharon so it's a ways, but worth it if the facilities are pretty good! Also will check out Central. When I make the move I will look into those meet-ups. Thanks for the insight

Hey Marissa,

I live in Stoughton and go to CRG. It's easier to get to than Metro since you don't have to go thru Boston. Also there's more bouldering and lead climbing. Also, they finally just opened their new yoga studio and it is nice although they don't offer a lot of classes. The routes/grading, however, I've found to be better at Metro.

Bryan

I moved to Boston from Colorado last fall, and started climbing at Central Rock in Watertown. My experience there has been really positive, the community there is really friendly. People I met at the gym became my really good friends and a solid group of outdoor partners. We all go up to NH to climb on weekends pretty frequently, feel free to PM me if you'd like to join (might go to N Conway this Sunday for some easy trad).

Marissa Lueders wrote: but I'm looking for something a little different.

Unless you can elaborate on that there really isn't any more to be said.

I'm a member at CRG Watertown but have climbed some at MetroRock, Brooklyn Boulders, and Boston Rock Gym. Metro and CRG are the two best gyms in the area (not counting RockSpot South Boston, which isn't open yet), IMO.

CRG is newer (opened last year) and has a pretty good community; if you're a regular on the same weeknights you will see many of the same faces and meet lots of nice climbers. I find CRG routes more "athletic", meaning the setting is sometimes more for the sake of being hard or scary than being interesting. It's a good place to train and get stronger, but they don't let you follow lead routes, which I find a bit annoying.

Metro has been around for about 10 years, so the gym might seem a bit dingy compared to CRG, but they are good at what they do. The route setting at Metro is more interesting, they have more varied walls to work with (e.g. chimneys, etc.), they grade using a/b/c/d instead of just plus and minus, and you can follow lead routes (which I appreciate since most of my partners are stronger than I am). They also seem to have more climbs despite having less SF than CRG. I would make Metro my home gym if it was more convenient to get to; it's in the middle of a sketchy industrial park in Everett.

mfskibum wrote:I moved to Boston from Colorado last fall, and started climbing at Central Rock in Watertown. My experience there has been really positive, the community there is really friendly. People I met at the gym became my really good friends and a solid group of outdoor partners. We all go up to NH to climb on weekends pretty frequently, feel free to PM me if you'd like to join (might go to N Conway this Sunday for some easy trad).

Thanks! I think I will try and check out Central tomorrow afternoon depending on what time I can get out of the hospital/city. Then check out Metro next trip. As for this weekend, I fly back to Colorado early Sunday morning, but it's looking like I will be back here in October. If you don't mind, I may take you up on that PM as I'd love to meet people to get outside with. Thanks everyone for all the insight

For gyms with good routes, CRG Watertown is probably the closest to Sharon, MA.
Metrorock has good routes too but further and more time consuming to get to.
CRG Worcester is an hour away for a change of scene if you wish.

Marissa, if you're living in Sharon, you're much closer to Rockspot than you are to CRG, BKB, or BRG. (But you probably know this . . . ) People say that the setting is really good at Rockspot. The best gyms if you don't mind traveling more than three times as far? CRG and BKB, no question. But my recommendation is that you climb at the Quarries or Rattlesnake if the weather is nice. They're almost as close as Rockspot, and you'd be following in the footsteps of "Hot Henry" Barber and John Strand, "the Glasswalker."

This place is good for a quick after work session, better than sitting in traffic trying to get to a gym on the other side of the city: mountainproject.com/v/hammo…

MY 2 CENTS... metro is great i climb there abit it's close too my work. crg, brooklyn, and rockspot are pretty cool too (crg prob the best of those 3) carabiners was pretty rad last time i went there (10yrs ago) down in new bedford mass which might b close to sharon. boston rock gym in woburn's a great gym too, lot of negative stuff said bout the brg, come on folks it's a rock gym, not bally's and def ain't state of the art but the staff's super cool, and it's a great place to climb

If you just order the gyms chronilogically by their opening dates you see that the whole vibe they present follows a distinct pattern of going from real climber centric to urban yuppie-follow-the-latest-trend centric. Given that, I think Metro is the best compramise - pretty equivalent terraine - the basic resource - to the 2 more modern places and the users are more likely to be real actual climbers - meaning the gym is a..well gym. And the goal is outdoors. The setting reflects that (Metro has the best - unless your idea of good setting is urban yuppie follow-the-latest-trend dyno dyno dyno). That said - if you are into onsighting - you need to make the rounds.

Forget the New Bedford gym, "Carabiners." That's way far away from Sharon compared to Rockspot.

Eric Engberg wrote: That said - if you are into onsighting - you need to make the rounds.

Time and resources permitting, this is what I like to do when I can't make it to NH for the outdoor experience. Keeps it fresh, even when it comes down to training on plastic.

I used to live in Mansfield, right next door to Sharon, and wold often drive down to Carabiner's when I started climbing. In distance, it might be a tiny bit farther than Metro, but there is far less traffic, and the drive was always significantly shorter than the Boston gyms.

However, I would highly discourage against going there. I haven't been in about four years due to disagreement in philosophy. From what I have heard, the owner himself is not a climber, and you can tell that it is not a facility being operated with serious climbers in mind.

They also require that everyone belay on a grigri (the brand itself, other assisted braking devices are not accepted) because of their insurance policy. This was fine when they used to supply grigris on every rope station, but they decided they could make more money if they made you rent them. Seemed like a scam to me, so I bailed, Metrorock and Central Rock will be a longer drive, but provide a much better value.

thanks again for all the info. I am checking out Central today, and definitely will check out Metro soon, too. Looking forward to checking out the Yoga/Pilates program at Central. I direct a Yoga/Pilates studio and teach a Pilates for Climbers class. I climb at two gyms in Fort Collins- these two in the Boston area sound like they may have similar differences (one more modern with athletic/bouldery setting, and one more thoughtful/skillful setting, but smaller and less new). I appreciate going to both and like to mix it up, but my real climbing community is in the older gym. Will you go see for myself and looking forward to it! Also picked up a local climbing guide "Boston Rocks," and have guide for NH. Looking forward to checking it all out :)