Stone Summit Climbing Team — Attraction in Doraville

My 4 year old son joined the Apex Climbing Gym 4-7 year old team August of 2023. Coach Corey is very personable and an excellent coach for this age group. We saw big strides not only in my son’s climbing but also his confidence!

Unfortunately, I still can’t recommend this tean or gym itself as a result of some really awful interactions with team management, specifically Jennifer Hunt and Claudiu Vidulescu. One of the 4-7 year old team practices was moved from the Kennesaw location to the Atlanta location, and communication about this change was really poor— they didn’t send information on the change out via the portal that we were told to keep an eye on for exactly these sort of updates.Several of the families, not just ours, showed up to the wrong location.

Since each class is $45 and this was a communication error on their part, I reached out to ask about a refund. I was polite and understanding that oversights like this sometimes happen. After a slew of “it’s against policy to refund” replies (these policies were somehow never available for me to look at, despite asking), days between responses, no reply from upper management or the owners, and some real cold-shouldering on their part, they agreed to provide a refund and fully agreed that the communication error was totally on them.

I thought the matter was settled— until I kept reading and saw that they were throwing my 4 year old off the climbing team, permanently. I guess because they didn’t like me wanting a refund? Or…something? Because they were mad at me? But they flatly said that he was not allowed to ever be on a climbing team at this gym again. Not gonna lie, I cried. I hate that asking for a refund— over something they agreed was their mistake!— lead to retaliation against my kid. Any business that throws a 4 year old off a recreational climbing team over something like this doesn’t have your kids best...

I happened across an open house at Stone Summit when looking for an activity for my tree-climbing daughter, that she would really enjoy and not just attend. She scrambled up that first wall and we haven't looked back! Since then her younger brother has also joined and loves climbing as well.

For my kids, however, it's more than just a fun activity where they can be active and make friends. I see them learning to work hard to achieve a goal, learning to step up to challenges instead of giving up, even when they're tired. They come home hungry, exhausted, and happy every time.

I especially have seen my daughter's confidence grow exponentially since she started climbing, and she has a passion about it that I've never seen in anything else she's participated in. Her focus in school has also improved, which is no small feat for a kid with attention issues forced into online learning for a year. I absolutely love that we found her niche.

I also appreciate the safety measures taken by the facility during the pandemic. Stone Summit is the only piece of our routine that I've felt safe maintaining, and I'm so grateful that the kids are still able to have an outlet through all of this.

If I could give six...

When our family discovered Stone Summit, we knew nothing - and I mean NOTHING - about rock climbing. So, we were a little surprised when our daughter (who is super shy and sometimes anxious) expressed interested in joining a team. After reaching out to Coach Neal and sharing my concerns about our total inexperience and her timid nature, I was completely assured that not only do they welcome beginners, there is a huge focus on character building, inclusivity and kindness. It was absolutely evident - even from the initial trial practice - that these teachings, methods and activities are embedded into Stone Summit’s climbing program.

The coaches are wonderful in leading the dynamic and diverse groups of kids. I’ve witnessed the utmost patience, compassion, respect, encouragement and support in every session. Not only have they helped bring my daughter out of her shell, they’ve also instilled confidence and celebrated many accomplishments with her - both big and small. We are so glad to have discovered...