Toronto Climbing Academy — Attraction in Toronto

Lovely staff who are friendly and helpful! I'm sure if I had come at a busier time I would have experienced the awesome community (most climbing gyms have super cool people).

However, the walls are definitely dated and the holds are rough (and not in the way you want climbing holds to be). The boulder problems were very difficult to follow. Some blue climbs were navy coloured, others were brighter blue, and some were set so close to black climbs that it was impossible to tell which holds were which. And this is coming from someone who works in a climbing gym has a fairly good grasp on setting movement. The purple holds were by far the worst off; so old they were gray almost and slippery as heck 😬

There was also an "all volumes are in despite the colour" rule, which would have been simple enough to follow but some of the fiberglass holds I think were counted as volumes? I could have been wrong but I could not see a way to finish some climbs because of lack of holds and volumes so my guess was the coloured fiberglass ones counted even though they were the wrong colour and definitely not volumes? It was confusing.

The tape job on the boulder was also rough. I'm assuming because of the wall texture lots of it doesn't stick but starting and completing climbs was a whole lot of this: 🤷🤷🤷 for me. The setting was pretty uninspired, a lot of out-of-my-reach moves as a smaller climber and most climbs felt similar (re: nothing really stuck out as particularly creative to me).

All-in-all I think this gym is a product of its time. And older model (think Guelph Grotto pre-reno) that could use a bigger hold budget. I hate to give a poor review because the rest of the space was lovely, clean, and welcoming: a thing I think all climbing gyms should be. I still enjoyed my time here despite a bit of a strugglebus on...

We celebrated a birthday party there recently. The staff was friendly and very helpful. We prepaid for 8 people with potential addition of one or two. When the day came, we had around 14-15 people instead of 8-10! The staff and instructor flawlessly accommodated this increase of participants. Everyone had a blast, from first time climbers to very experienced ones. The instructor was very funny, to the point and quick to explain the basics and bring everyone to the comfortable level. After the initial lesson, he was with us to assist anyone who needed any help. Other instructors would point out any errors and give tips, as they were passing by, if they saw someone do something wrong. Great experience. Will definitely suggest this place to anyone who wants to climb. Will come back for sure!

EDIT: (9 months later). Our company was planning an outing with lunch and some sort of a team building activity. Rock Climbing was the activity of choice, and TCA was our place of choice to hold this activity. As always the TCA Staff doesn't disappoint! We were a bit late, so in order to squeeze in more time for climbing, we split up into 2 groups, one would take a full lesson and learn how to belay, second would just do climbing and the staff would belay them. That way, people who only wanted to climb - got that chance, and those who wanted to learn belaying and safety rules, did that. Everyone had a blast! Several people came to me and said that they didn't expect it to be so much fun and that they would come back again with some friends. Very happy to come back to TCA again! The Staff was very friendly, accommodating and did everything to make sure our event goes smoothly. Thanks for the great...

Another day another climb. What can I say the overall atmosphere at TCA in 2024 is amazing. I had visited the gym before in 2022 just after the pandemic and all the struggles and was pleasantly surprised and amazed by the revamped equipment and overall experience. From a customer satisfaction perspective, it’s always been a fun-loving, and great place to be truly characteristic of the overall rock climbing community. The staff are always there to help, and welcoming and just holding true the spirit of climbing and outdoor sports. From a technical standpoint, they just renovated the gym and added a whole new section to which I was sooo amazed with the overall quality and vast amount of finger board and the KilterBoard which is almost done is soooo exciting! I recently did the lead test and was sooo happy with the attention to detail during the testing and the routes were fairly graded and set. I would recommend this gym to all especially those trying to get into the sport. The family oriented and professional vibe of the gym allows those curious to start off on the right foot.

Well done Chris and all staff. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has to offer! Wishing you much...