El Muro Escalada Deportiva — Attraction in Medellín

Amazing, clean gym, with friendly staff! Due to traffic we were over an hour late for our appointment (it's by appointment or membership only.) And they were super accommodating. I hadn't climbed in two years due to covid but this gym was amazing. One thing, this gym is mostly about serious climbers, they have routes in difficulty ranked 1-54 instead of the v system, attached photos are of route #3. Also some of the routes are marked with marker because the tape comes off, so sit and study the wall a good long while before hopping on.

Getting there: I was visiting family in Envigado during feria las flores, the trip took 1.5hrs. plan ahead better than I did

Checking in: we registered via WhatsApp (the best way to contact them) We were NOT asked to pay until the end of our session and they had lots of shoe sizes.

Staff: the place was staffed by one guy, but he spoke English and Spanish both. He was super chill and friendly. Hands-off but welcoming, perfect.

Ambiance: chill indie music and a handful of other climbers in a small but totally maximized efficiency space, the building is a two story house that's been fitted with volumes, inclines and holds. There's a small gym too with handweights and a couple basic machines.

Climbs: the difficulty goes from 1 to 54 as of 2022, lots of the holds are new and very grippy and crisp. However, the easiest climb is probably a V1 and the next 6 immediately jump into the V2/V3 range (comparing it to the standards at earth treks in the USA.) If you've never climbed before, you might not be able to finish even the easiest route they have, even if you're in good shape. However, of course it depends on your height and it's very subjective, it's just my opinion. The other climbers there knew their stuff but were mostly in the 1-16 range out of 54 too.

Climbs #2!: But here's the juicy part! The climbs are SUPER creative and exciting, I've never seen anything in the beginner/V2 range as mind-bending as these routes, not to mention their more difficult routes. Just out of the gate by route #3 you'll be upside down, making a full spin midair and transferring across a hallway to a completely different wall. And it gets wilder from there. Big dynos, bat hangs, they make you do everything.

Bottom line:

A little bit of a long trip, and definitely not for beginners (without a class), but for intermediate climbers all the way to pros I'm sure this is a can't-miss gym, I've never seen...

The GYM is a decent bouldering GYM with one sport route or maybe better said one rope for sport climbing on a narrow shaft that is 2.5 floors high. The ambiance is decent lots of foreigners.. And the routes are well planned and interesting making best use of the low ceilings. Note they are not very customer friendly. As climbers they may be great, but they have not just ZERO customer friendliness but I'd say -10 on that regard. I am in Medellin for 5 months live a block from their GYM and I now drive across town to the GYM in El Poblado because they are just not professional on the business side. I showed up a week before the end of the calendar month wanting to pay for a monthly membership I do go 3x a week.. They told me their memberships are calendar month only! So I'd have to pay the daily rate 3x this week then the monthly on the 1st week of the month.. WAAAAAAAT??? Can't I pay a month plus a week at the monthly rate? The answer was a straight faced NO! So I'll have to pay.. about 1/2 the monthly fee for one week then the month? Answer YES! ... OK I'm done.. Makes no sense, now I drive across town to the other GYM where they gladly took my money and gave me a membership that starts on the day I show up at their door! ... These guys lost a customer who is in Medellin for 5 months.. So 5 monthly rates for a total of 425,000 pesos $125 USD because they can't account for a week? Really ??? OK keep climbing guys you seem good at that.... But for your own sake don't open a real business.. You failed customer service 101.. and Business for...

If I could give this place zero stars I would! I went there for the first time to do bouldering and after I paid for the entrance and the rental of the shoes, the manager (a lady) told us there were no routes because they were doing competitions the week before. So I asked for a refund because I don’t like bouldering without routes, I don’t see the fun and the reason why doing it... well she didn’t want to give me anything back and she said she didn’t know it either, isn’t she supposed to know it and tell people before they pay??? She was super rude and absolutely dishonest (I even had to ask to show me the place, something she should have done without me asking!). After a month in Colombia, definitely the only rude person I met here. Anyway, if you guys want a nicer place, not so crowded and not managed by dishonest people just go to Altitude (10 minutes away from this one), I was there just yesterday and they are super welcoming and caring. Well I guess if I didn’t know which gym to...