Movement Belmont — Attraction in Belmont

I'm reviewing this gym as a training facility for rock climbing. I have not been to any of their yoga or fitness classes, so I can't comment on that.

The good: As far as an all around training facility, this place is above average. I've been to climbing gyms across the country, and this one has just about everything. Bouldering, TR, lead cave, a variety of cracks, and they just installed new exercise equipment (Feb 2025). They have a good variety of free weights and machines. They always have a good mix of climbing routes/bouldering problems from intro level to advanced. They're constantly re-setting routes/problems somewhere in the gym. They have a schedule posted for when they will re-set routes in specific parts of the gym, so if you have a project you're working on, you won't be surprised when it changes. Friendly staff. They've always been super helpful whenever it is needed. Texture on the walls. It seems like most new gyms use Walltopia, but this old school texture is slightly more realistic, especially when climbing the cracks. They just installed new AC and there is new lighting in the bouldering pits. The ventilation is pretty decent. I have been in gyms where I can see chalk in the air. That's not a problem here. Classes. Movement has some good skills classes at all their facilities. I've taken a couple, and I think they're pretty good.

The not so good: It's the only climbing gym on the mid-peninsula (unless you have access to the tiny Stanford gym). That's not a Belmont problem though, and at least there is a gym for this area. But it's the only option in one of the most densely populated areas of the country. Like most climbing gyms, it gets busy between about 4-8pm. I try to climb in the mornings when it is not crowded for this reason. Otherwise, you can expect to wait your turn, and you have to really be cognizant of the people climbing around you. Both Belmont and Touchstone have announced new bouldering gyms which should open in the near future - hopefully that will help disperse the crowds a little. Belmont will still be the only ropes gym in the area though. Size. I've heard people complain about the gym's size. It's really more about the growing crowds in the afternoons. Belmont is middle of the pack as far as size when compared to the other Bay Area gyms. Pac Pipe is the largest, and there are several much smaller gyms in the Bay Area. Movement could use another gym in the mid-peninsula for it's growing clientele. There are no cracks on lead. They should really install some draws next to one (or more) of the cracks on the foam wall to somewhat simulate climbing cracks on gear. Lead checks have to be scheduled well in advance. I've done lead checks at other gyms with little or no advance notice. I've had friends try to do drop-in lead checks several times at Belmont with no luck. It seems that most of the employees should be qualified to do this, but I don't think...

I started climbing arround 4 years ago at planet granite in Belmont and since then, I have climbed at dozens of different gyms in the bay and in colorado. I also work at a climbing gym and I have a fair amount of route setting experience. I believe that I have the right qualifications and experience in the climbing industry to say that the setting at this gym has significantly diminished. I know this gym is hard for the grade (way harder than it should be for a commercial gym) however, I’m not talking about the grades when I talk about the quality of the sets. For the people that do actively set at this gym, please dear god focus on handedness for all routes and focus on flow for your top rope and lead routes. I climbed the entire boulder set yesterday through about the v6 range and I can confidently say that there was not a single problem I would have been proud to have put up myself. Very few problems felt like they were forerun and many of the problems were extremely hight depended.

Now about the grades. I do not know if you’re doing consensus grading and that might be the problem or if you guys just decided that you want to be 2 grades harder than anything in the area. The gym that I climb at the most in colorado is considered to be fairly “sandbagged” in terms of indoor climbing. Some v5s and a lot of v6s climbed like v7s in my gym back home. Your roped setting is also significantly harder than it should be. I have quite recently flashed 2 12as outside in poudre canyon in colorado and I struggled to top rope 11cs in your gym. Now for the higher grades, this doesnt really matter but for people that don’t climb and are in good shape, v2s should be accessible. I shouldn’t have to watch a group of friends project v1s and v2s because the movement is convoluted and too difficult for the grade. All in all, the setting is just out of wack in this gym.

If you own this gym, I highly recommend that you REQUIRE all of your setters to take at least a. Lvl 1 route setting cert course. After observing the current state of the gym, it kinda just seems like u don’t care. I mean if anyone wants to climb in Redwood City, San Carlos, or belmont, you guys are the only option. If there were any other option for climbing in the area, this gym would not succeed. You guys have the wall, the holds, and the facilities required for a great climbing gym. All you guys need is good setting and this gym could be great. Please make...

Did not have a great experience here. I'd give it maybe 3 stars until I went to cancel my membership. First, the place smells like a bad combo of feet and climbing chalk. All climbing gyms have something of a funk, but this place is the worst. I joined to take the yoga classes mostly, but that's a hard pass.

Classes start on time, but the gym allows members to show up late. When they do, they move the curtain, light up the whole room, and the noise of 100 climbers floods the room. Right in the time when you're settling in and trying to focus. Then the weight room is above the yoga room, so you get to hear weights slamming down during class, which is also disruptive. I found the classes super uneven, some being great (Bronwyn) and others being a weird combo of loud music over soft voices so you can't hear the instructor, or instructors borderline shouting at folks to expel breath as loud as possible. Not what I'm looking for.

So, no problem, it's not for me. It's close to home, price is reasonable, and they have good climbing facilities. Boulder area isn't the best, but the rest of it is quite good with interesting routes changed often...enough.

When I went to cancel, I was hit with a "policy" that you have to cancel on or before the 25th of a month or they will charge you for another month. I reached out on the 26th, 5 days before the next charge cycle. Seemed like plenty. Complained, go zero response. So basically I consider they robbed me of $110, because of course the cancellation policy is not visible..until you go to cancel.

Hope it was worth the money, Movement....