Mesa Rim Climbing Center — Attraction in Austin

What would've been a five star visit to a great climbing gym was unfortunately deflated by an upsetting interaction with an unfriendly staffer. Upon my first visit to Mesa Rim I was astounded by the scale and cleanliness of the complex. I've been to plenty of climbing gyms, and this one takes the cake for the most interesting and accessible floorplan.

Being a novice rope-climber, I opted into taking the belaying course, which was taught by the wonderfully friendly and helpful Sidney. They were extremely accomadating to myself and my mother, who I visited the gym with. Upon completing the hour long course we were given temporary certifications to belay eachother on the walls and we felt quite confident in our ability.

We climbed three or four different routes until we encountered a snag on one of them. A rope had crossed over another at the top of the route and created extra friction in the system, making the task of rappelling more difficult. As the belayer, I introduced slack into the system to try and allow for my climbing partner to lower but to no avail. At this point, things began to take a turn for the worse. My mother, who I'd been belaying, was taut against the climbers side rope, despite the belay side of the rope having plenty of slack.

We were then approached by a man wearing pajama pants and a hoodie, another customer I first assumed. He quickly began telling me to "turn it off," and he reached for my belay device. I was unsettled and stepped back, sensing that this might cause for a safety concern. I tried to explain the situation only for him to repeatedly tell me "I know what's going on, turn it off." At this point, my mother had been able to fix the rope-crossover situation, and I reintroduced tension to the belay system and started to lower her.

At this point the man had then said, "you're welcome" before walking off. It wasn't until this moment that I saw the man's nametag and realized he was an employee at Mesa Rim. I was shocked, to say the least, to have been accosted by someone who was supposed to be a representative of this organization.

I then recognized the man's name listed as a setter for one of the routes. Perhaps route-setting is a better choice of employment for this individual, as it doesn't necessitate customer service skills, something that was severley lacking in our interaction. I'm disappointed that my first visit to Mesa Rim had turned out like this, as climbing gyms have always been a very friendly and accomodating space in the past.

This was extremely dissapointing as we had spent sixty dollars to purchase two day passes, only to be treated in an unpleasant and dismissive manner that left us feeling uncared for. I may return to Mesa someday, as the facility is top notch, but interactions like this one have...

We are big fans of MR in San Diego and Reno for years because of the incredibly good setting, facility and staff.

MR Austin echoed the same of her predecessors. Driving up, the tall boxy and building, the entrance, the warm greetings, the clean and spacious layout, and the quality setting all remind us of a MR gym.

Congrats to the owner, a high level setter himself, whom we know puts a lot of emphasis on gym technical offerings as well as aesthetics into every one of his gyms.

I often climb alone so I appreciate auto belays but like most west coast gyms, sadly auto belays aren’t popular anymore due to the number of accidents.

What most people didn’t notice the trade off is that this gym has a lot more anchors. This investment on the gym’s part means less routes needed to share anchors which translates to more climbers on the wall on any given busy day/ night, instead of waiting to get on your climbs. Most big wall gyms share 2-3 routes per anchor. Next time you go in, look up and see how many routes share one anchor.

We are lucky to try some of the routes left by guests setters from the national team trial prior to opening and the para comp routes (you don’t get these intentional sets at gyms usually). We tried climbing with one knee and experienced a huge difference in body mechanics and balance. A huge respect as always to our para climbers.

MR Austin also boasts of a big bouldering center on second floor, workout area, and a generous mixed gender sauna plus nice country club style locker rooms. We visited other bouldering gyms in the vicinity and in all honesty, MR is in a different league altogether, in terms of facility offerings, settings and the variety of climbing and bouldering options for training or recreation.

To the friendly team, especially Grant, the youth team Headcoach and Steph at front desk, Jonathon whom we met at grand opening, thank you for everything.

If you’ve not tried climbing, you are in for a treat. Climbing gyms don’t get much better than this anywhere in the country you go. If you are seasoned climbers like us, lucky you now have access to a world class gym to train for...

Trigger Warning: Gym Frustration Narrative Dear Inclusive Wellness Community Management, I feel compelled to provide constructive feedback regarding systemic accessibility barriers and microaggressions present in our current fitness environment. The sauna's rigid clothing policy represents a problematic normative framework that fails to recognize diverse body autonomy and personal comfort spectrums. The towel situation presents an intersectional challenge of size discrimination. These minimalist textile provisions demonstrate a clear lack of consideration for body-diverse individuals, creating an environment of potential marginalization. The dimensions are reminiscent of colonial-era textile oppression, barely meeting the basic functional requirements of moisture absorption. Furthermore, the climbing area's current configuration appears to perpetuate hierarchical athletic privilege. By maintaining sparse belay zones, management inadvertently creates competitive barriers that disproportionately impact recreational climbers who lack advanced technical skills. The staff's communication approach suggests a systemic breakdown in empathetic customer engagement, potentially rooted in outdated service paradigms. Their dismissive responses indicate a need for comprehensive sensitivity training focused on active listening and inclusive problem-solving methodologies. In the spirit of collaborative transformation, I recommend a holistic review of our shared wellness space to ensure equitable access and representation. With profound respect and hope for...