Irvine, Ca. Climbing Gyms

I'll be moving to Irvine in a few weeks.  Which climbing gyms are the best and pros/cons.  I don't really like bouldering...  so I'm looking at gyms with roped climbing.  Taller walls are preferred.  

How is Sender One?  Is it overly commercialized or is it a good training gym?

Thanks!  

P.S.:  I'll be looking for climbing partners too ;-)

Thanks!  you covered a number of my assumptions.  Being able to lead is pretty important for me (training and keeping the lead head).

As for the people, I too find them annoying but I've gotten pretty good at chuckling at them or ignoring it.

Rockreation in Costa Mesa is an older gym, with shorter walls than Sender One, but decent lead, tr and bouldering, weights, etc. None of the poser vibe of SenderOne. Depending on where in Irvine you are, it may be easier to drive to (less traffic).

Gym in Lake Forest is not that good and not freeway close as are SenderOne or Rockreation

Cory F wrote: I'll be moving to Irvine in a few weeks.  Which climbing gyms are the best and pros/cons.  I don't really like bouldering...  so I'm looking at gyms with roped climbing.  Taller walls are preferred.  

How is Sender One?  Is it overly commercialized or is it a good training gym?

Thanks!  

P.S.:  I'll be looking for climbing partners too ;-)

Per your criteria no other gym compares to Sender. 

You have 2 real choices in OC, Sender One and Rockreation.  S1 is a little more expensive, but it is taller and larger, with modern Walltopia surfaces.  Rockreation is older and smaller, but still a good gym with older, more natural textured walls.  S1 ratings are soft, but you can just recalibrate your grades for the setting.  Rockreation used to be a fair bit cheaper, but I don't think the price difference is that great now.  Depending on when you want to go climb and where you are coming from, traffic can be an issue for either of them, but I would assume that S1 is a bit of an easier drive from most of Irvine.  I have not been to Rockreation to climb in a long time (so I can't comment on the crowds), but S1 does get crowded after work.  If you lead, that opens up more terrain as there are lead only, top rope only and lead/top rope sections.

S1 membership also gets you into the LAX facility, which is even bigger and taller, and is a good alternative for weekends when it is too cold/hot/wet... to climb outside.  I expect that Rockreation has a good group of outdoor climbers, but since I don't go there, I can't say for sure.  But I can say that every single one of my outdoor climbing partners now are folks that I have met at S1, and every time I go to JTree, I see at least 1 group of S1 climbers out there.  They host a Monday Meet-up group where you can meet other climbers as well.

Thanks everyone!  Looks like Sender One might be where I go (part of the reasoning is location).  

Thoughts on the parking at S1 during busy hours?  I was in San Francisco for a few years and parking was..  well...  yeah, didn't exactly exist.  

Cory F wrote: Thanks everyone!  Looks like Sender One might be where I go (part of the reasoning is location).  

Thoughts on the parking at S1 during busy hours?  I was in San Francisco for a few years and parking was..  well...  yeah, didn't exactly exist.  

Parking in the immediate vicinity of the building can be a zoo sometimes but there are hundreds of spots in the adjacent lots for the golf and wine shops. You can always count on a spot no more than 100 yds out.

Parking at Sender is free, and while you might have to walk just a little during peak hours, it's in such a massive parking lot that it's not really an issue. As a rule, I would try to avoid Sender on Tuesday and especially Thursday evenings unless you plan on bouldering; there's just too many people in the roped area, and gumbies will climb right below you, even if you're leading. Sender has the softest grades I've ever seen in a gym, although they've gotten a little bit better with this recently. Sender One is more or less the picture of an "overly commercialized" gym, but the routesetting tends to be good and the staff friendly, if somewhat clueless. I can throw you a guest pass at Sender when you get down here if you want to check it out. 

Cory F wrote: Thanks everyone!  Looks like Sender One might be where I go

Pro tip: they usually have lowered membership rates around mid June for their anniversary sale. The last couple years they've had a 1year prepaid membership for 800 flat. (breaks down to 67 monthly). Otherwise it's 89 monthly plus a 60$ initiation fee. If you're ok with holding out on a membership for another couple months, I'd suggest going in on a day pass or punch card a few times, as well as at Rockreation, to get a feel for each before shelling out the big bucks.

+1 for Sender. Most of the other gyms in the greater LA area are average to poor in setting and hold quality