Up The Bloc — Attraction in Mississauga

First of all, this place is not easy to find. I showed up almost half an hour late driving around the block because Google maps kept changing it's route when I got to the marked destination. It sent me to the wrong street and then kept making me do circles. Note to readers: turn where you see Laser Quest and go all the way to the back of the parking lot. The sign for this place is so small. I ended up calling them and the person told me they were on the other side of Laser Quest which is wrong. Follow my instructions and just turn into the plaza where Laser Quest is and then pass it and go all the way to the back.

I had to fill out a waiver which is understandable but then they took my picture. Upon asking why, they said that it was to ensure that I never come back using the Groupon I used. I did not like their explanation but accepted it as this would be my first and last time at this place. The facility is great but it was just something for me to try once and that is it.

The walls were quite challenging and it was good. My group and I had fun. We had a day pass but only stayed for an hour.

Be aware that there are open shelves but no lockers for belongings. Do not bring anything that you do not want to have stolen. If they cannot trust you to honour their promotion only once, there is no reason to trust them for anything either. You cannot trust anyone these days. You can have your things with you near the walls that you climb but you never know if something goes missing while you are climbing or looking another way. Also, people are constantly jumping from the walls to the mats. You do not want them to bounce off or get crushed.

My entire group did end up getting bumps and scrapes but they will heal over time. We just came for the experience and had...

I've been climbing at this gym on and off since it opened, it makes a great change of pace to switch it up when my main gym starts to feel stale. The setting has generally been of high quality (the best of the half dozen or so gyms I've been to) and grading reasonably consistent.

The setting is more 'comp style' - as advertised - but still retains plenty of variety. Their use of volumes is done well such that they often add dimension to a problem rather than simply making volumes something you need to climb around.

One of the things I really like about this gym is that the style and variety of setting makes me feel like I've achieved good, all-over muscle activation after a solid session - in that it feels like climbing here makes me stronger. This is as opposed to some other gyms which seem to favour particular styles and/or particular body sizes.

There's probably better gyms around for those who are absolutely brand new to climbing, in that some other, larger gyms will have more variety to offer to newbies, but UtB is not at all unfriendly to beginners.

I generally prefer to climb low-key with fewer people in the gym, but the few events I've been to here have always been really well done. Canadian Nationals a few years ago was...

Awesome bouldering gym where you can feel the dedication and passion the staff & owners have for climbing.

I was in town visiting family and heard some great things about this gym. I'm sport & trad climber, so I went in with low expectations, but walked out blown away. I would boulder more if more gyms were like this.

The gym is small compared to the mega gyms of Europe or the USA like KI Innsbruck, but makes the most out of every square meter with quality routes and training features.

The route setting was quality and ranged from modern style competition coordination dynos, old school crimp fests, and interesting slab problems. There were a variety of holds (probs aided by the fact that the owner also owns friction holds), so every climb felt unique.

Training wise they have campus boards, a spray wall to make up your own routes or use an app to get others routes, a moon board, and some weight racks. Anything you need to get strong.

I heard the owner also owns Joe's Rockheads which Canadian Climber Olympian Sean McColl speaks highly of, so I'll stoked to check out that next during my visit.

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