Vertical Endeavors - Bloomington — Attraction in Bloomington

I do rock climbing here with Courage Kenny's Sports and Recreation department, so I work more with their volunteers, and don't really know the staff who work at VE. However, the ones I've interacted with at the front desk have been very nice, friendly, and helpful, whether I'm checking in or have questions about equipment, belay certification, etc. I've heard that a couple people are good at doing belay certification for adaptive climbers (I use a wheelchair), though haven't yet gotten certified myself

The biggest problem with VE is that, if you use a wheelchair, you cannot independently access any of the climbing walls, whether bouldering or top rope climbing) because they use chopped up rubber as the ground material in front of walls to provide a gentler landing, instead of gym mats like I've encountered at other climbing gyms. I have to have a volunteer pull me backwards through the rubber chips to check out a wall or get to a route, so I need someone strong enough to pull me backwards to even get to a wall to climb, which limits who I can work with among Courage Kenny's volunteers, or anyone else in general. Plus they generally have to go scouting ahead for routes that I can climb, to minimize having to pull me around a large gym checking out all the routes till we find in I want to try. There are mats that can be rolled out across the rubber chips, though they are often in use for other individuals so I have yet to try them. But I'm not sure if they belong to VE or Courage Kenny; if they don't belong to VE then that definitely limits the ability to independently access climbing walls, because VE can't just go and roll out the mats for access to the walls, regardless of if I'm there with a friend to climb or just showing up to do autobelay routes, if I go on a day other than with Courage Kenny.

Other than that, there is generally plenty of accessible parking, especially at night when the office building that shares the parking lot is closed. There's a gender neutral single stall bathroom right by the entrance, with grab bars and an accessible roll-under sink. The trash cans (bathroom and elsewhere), however, are the "step on pedal to open lid," kind, so I have to try to get weight on it, use a paper towel to open it, or ask someone else to open it. They also use scented air freshener spray (the canned kind) in the bathroom, which can be strong and may cause issues if certain scents and fragrances trigger health issues. There are also multi-stall men's and women's bathrooms, but I haven't been in one to know if it's accessible.

The yoga room has soft squishy mats in the floor that make it difficult to push a wheelchair across, but other than that and the rubber, the rest of the floor is tiled and easy to roll across. There is a ramp up to the biggest room with high routes, a "natural" rock wall, a variety of overhangs, etc. I don't have a problem doing up and down the ramp, though it seems steeper than recommended by the ADA.

The smaller room with top rope climbing has mostly shorter routes (30 ft), but does have several 60 foot routes, including one that goes up into a sort of tower room way up high; there's usually an easy route and harder routes up it so everyone can try it. There are other 60 ft routes there as well that vary in difficulty, but aren't generally as difficult as the routes in the big room because most are straight up, maybe with one overhang, instead of multiple overhangs, the wall sloping out and/or in, etc. Also in this room, Courage Kenny sets up a special adaptive rock climbing piece of equipment that allows one to sit and use only their arms to ascend straight up, allowing people who have higher levels of paralysis to climb and get way up high in the gym, like everyone else.

VE changes up the routes every few months, so there's time to practice a route that you want to conquer, but also gives things fresh and new enough so you don't get bored with routes.

Aside from the rubber situation, I really like climbing at this location and am always happy to...

Until this new rating system goes away, my score will be low. They have decided that the Yosemite decimal system now rates walls with 10+ or - instead of a, b, c, or d. I am an experienced climber, but I am not an expert by any means. When I look at a route, I expect to be able to tell where it'll sit in my abilities. I can usually climb 10a's and some 10b's. Now, I have to just try climbing a 10- without knowing what to expect. This place is too expensive to have shortcuts in the rating system.

And now, the original review...

Let me start by saying this is my favorite gym I have been to in the country thus far. The facility they have built deserves a solid 5/5 for height, variety, and quality of equipment. I have been to so many places that would qualify as scrappy at best. They also have a great gym for complementing your workout.

If you want to lead climb, overcome your fear of heights with the high walls, auto belay because you are by yourself, or boulder, there is no comparison that I have been to (yet). I have been to gyms in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Duluth, Grand Forks, Seattle, San Jose, Salt Lake City, to name a few, and all leave me missing VE Bloomington.

I think part of the problem is people come to a climbing wall expecting a normal kind of customer service; a thing that seems to always be subpar in climbing gyms. They are staffed by people who just love climbing and thus you get a fairly laid-back atmosphere which can lack costumer service. It could be better, but I have definitely seen worse. This place in Eugene didn't even do an orientation and the guy who took my money barely seemed to even work there.

Now for some negative. First off, these climbing gyms have gotten outrageously expensive. For my wife and I, we pay about 110/month; about what we pay for YMCA Twin Cities. But there, you get access to pools, child care, and all the classes you can fit into your schedule. The fact that VE charges on top of that to take belay lessons and such is way too Verizony. My main qualm is the overall rating system of routes. There is absolutely no standardization at VE. I am a 5.10a-b climber on a good day. But when I try numerous 5.9s or even 8s that I can't do, that is not right. My bigger concern is just how long it takes them to rate routes. Sometimes it is weeks after setting that they put a rating up for a route. I am not a pro climber; I shouldn't have to guess what a route is prior to climbing it. Just like I should know the weight on a dumbell before lifting it or the price on a car before test driving it.

Having their staff or even volunteers test routes and come up with a fair rating should be the absolute first priority after they clean the walls and reset everything. By the way, they do this way too often for these competitions. It seems like once a quarter they are putting up signs saying they will be closing the bouldering area and parts of the main wall for these. And that often means that you won't have a decent variety of routes for weeks to a month.

So there is my review. Hope people...

I have been going for about 6 months and is always greated with a smile. The staff showed us how to use the auto belay and there is alway other experience climbers to help if something looks wrong. No they do not have enough staff to give you personal climbing lessons. As far as the test they go by the book and those who did not pass because they did not communicate with the climber is there problem. They have a sheet telling you exactly what the test requirement and that includes doing harness checks and doing verbal communication such as saying climb on when the belayer is ready. If you start climbing before the person is ready and you fall who fault is that. The climber. Most of these people complain because they felt that because they climb they did not have to pratice the gym rules and that is that when you belay someone you do anyway they want to. They want to be extra safe and people who have a problem with that maybe should not being climbing to begin with since a small mistake can be deadly even in a gym. Meanwhile I was there for a Veterans recreational outing and we came one day a week for 4 week and had two 4 day session a year. Those who were in the session before and had some experience they allowed us all who wanted to be taught how to belay and how to back each up doing it.They did not require us to take there course or pay for it. When I did my test there was no problems because I knew what they required to pass because it tells you right on the sheet of there testing requirements. Meanwhile even if you fail the test about 40% of the climb are auto belay so the only reason lost there money is because they went home in a suff. If you fail the test you can do again the next day. They do not charge to take the test. So maybe people who think they are so good might look at there sheet first and follow it. Every place has there own rules and that depends on the safety needed with the ratio of climber and staff. When you have a gym full of climbers and there are 4 staff people around they cannot be in every room because you did not pay attention during the instructions they give you to get going. Again people blaming other for...