Chicago gyms / Climbing Partners / Devil's Lake

I'm going to Chicago for the next two weeks (May 4-15) for work, anyone have some beta on the gyms there? I'd be into leading, toproping or bouldering.

Also, does anyone want to do some gym climbing on weeknights?
And possibly go to Devils Lake on the weekend?

Let me know! Thanks

there's brooklyn boulders about 10 blocks west of the willis tower on morgan street. nice selection of lead and boulder, plenty tall so the falls are safe. biggest gripe is their prices ($25 for a day pass)
brooklynboulders.com/chicag….

then you have vertical endeavors in glendale heights. haven't been there yet (they closed down one they had in warrenville and opened this one in its place). seems fairly roomy, not quite as tall as bkb. $15 for a daypass on weekdays, $17 on weekends.
verticalendeavors.com/glend…

then there's climb on in homewood. smaller gym but cheaper rates, friendly little place. $13 for a day pass.
climbon.net/ratesandhours.php

i think there's a few other small bouldering gyms in the city but i haven't been

Thanks!
That's very helpful, I'll probably check out Vertical Endeavors or Climb On

Apparently VE in Glendale Heights is the largest climbing gym in the country now. It is a little ways outside of the city ~40 - 60 minutes depending on traffic. I had a chance to go there on my last trip to Chicago. I only bouldered but it was a blast. Great set up with 3 bouldering areas, one of which tops out to another bouldering area. Then you down climb one of two options to get down which I thought was pretty neat. Grades seemed to be spot on as well.

I'd say it definitely depends on where you're staying. If you're downtown you definitely don't wanna trek out to the burbs in rush hour for after work climbing…. Have a rental car or on public transit?

I'm out in Oak Brook, about halfway between Vertical Endeavors and Climb on - I think I'll go to VE since I can public transit on the way there.
Looks like the weather might not pan out for Devil's Lake but thanks for the beta!

VE and BKB are best gyms for leading. Setting is super soft. If you want to boulder and climb fun hard problems, I would suggest Hidden Peaks or FFC Oldtown. Both have really really great setters...

The people are pretty nice at VE. My climbing group usually goes Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights. I have a rope, a little webbing, but no pro. I'm always down for DL. There is a ton of bouldering up there.

The new climbing wall at Maggie Daley Park down near the lakefront just opened yesterday. Bouldering and top rope for now. If you get down there maybe you can check it out. Have you found anywhere to climb during your trip so far?

maggiedaleypark.com/things-…

Thanks guys. I've been getting to VE during the week and got out to the Red last weekend - looks like I'll be here another week, a shame the weather looks bad for DL again this weekend

Are these recommendations still valid a year later? I'm in Chicago for a week and would like to climb once or twice while I'm here. I'm near the Chicago Loop, so I guess I'm near a bunch of gyms and have access to the trains.

I looked into Maggie Daley, but it seems like a hassle and I'm skeptical of their setting. They require a helmet and a spotter for bouldering? wtf? Require a gri-gri for roped climb?

I'm primarily looking to boulder since I won't necessarily have a partner

BKB would be the closest/best for the Loop.

I live in Chicago.

The two best gyms are Brooklyn Boulders or First Ascent. Both have different communities and setting styles. BKB is significantly more expensive.

I highly recommend FA, although it is farther out of the way for you. FA has two locations, one accessible by the blue line and one by the red. Both would be about a 30-40 minute travel time for you.

There are other gyms, but they're considerably smaller and not of the same caliber. Vertical Endeavors in the suburbs is also a large gym, but seems totally unnecessary to travel that distance with FA so close.

Yes- Go with either BKB or FA. I'm more partial to FA personally. But the setting is great (and different styles as said above) at both.

BKB has NO friction on their walls. It's varnished plywood-

If you go with FA- I'd say go to the Avalon location- prob even if you just boulder there.

The setting at Maggie Daley last year was actually great. I believe some of the world class setters from Entre Pris set the stuff when they built the walls. Have not been there this year- and not sure if they actually swap out routes with any frequency though. Yeah- they require helmets for everything cause they have some sort of amusement park insurance instead of regular climbing gym coverage is the rumor. Strange. Also- spinners like crazy there last year with the expansion and contraction of the walls going in and out of shade day after day. But it's a pretty cool location for sure.

You can find partners easily at either FA or BKB signup boards

Haha, yeah...it's pretty similar texture, albeit with very different angles.

Thanks for the replies. I ended up going to BKB, because it was on the way to another place I was going that day. I mostly climbed routes, and I have to say that it was top quality (even though I got my ass kicked). Lots of fun moves on really high walls. I felt the grades were stiffer than gyms/real rocks around Boulder, so I ended up getting on a bunch of pretty hard stuff - although maybe I'm just not used to the setting style.

Anyway, I'd recommend BKB for anyone visiting the area, though I probably wouldn't want to pay the hefty $25 more than a couple of times.