The Refuge Climbing and Fitness — Attraction in Enterprise

Edit 8/28/2025 I'm updating my rating to 4 stars. I been as though i was not entirely fair. These gyms are about the climbers and the routes they climb. Based on that alone it's a 5 star place

Its when you add the other things that I mentioned that aren't really pertinent to the climbers did you have to start lowering the rating and even then I don't think I was fair when I took away two stars

So I'm updating it to four stars but keeping an original review because that all still remains relevant I think

i've been to the other places around Vegas (as a watcher, not a climber) my son says it's a lot more advanced. and pretty confusing at first

they don't have the grades on the routes they have like a number and it's from 1 to 39 based on easiest to hardest. I don't know they said it was left over from a competition and they just kept it

The holds on a route are the same color but they also use a color system for the difficulty and those two colors do not match. And the only place to find out what color is what difficulty is on a poster at the front of the gym.

then they put the color on some tape and the tape on the starting holds. Sometimes they have to color the tape the right color to match the difficulty and that never matches the holds.

This type of stuff might cause frustration for a newbie but for I don't think it'll be a big deal if you've already climbed a few times

It's not very clean but I mean due to the nature of it and the nature of the sport it's not really expected to be clean. There are other places in vegas that are immaculate though.

The staff is super friendly and there's a lot of camaraderie between climbers. It can be very intimidating for a newbie though I think. And the routes are higher difficulty than they appear

One of the great things about this place is if you're not a climber just a watcher who hangs out with their climber there are seats at every single area so you can be sitting down in a bench close to your climber and record or cheerlead etc.

however good luck finding an available seat which brings me to my biggest issue with the place

It's a lot more crowded than the other and I mean A. LOT. MORE. CROWDED.

at no point where we not almost shoulder to shoulder with somebody. there was an entire section of the gym that was standing room only.

Based on the confusion of the routes and how packed it was I would say start somewhere else and only go here once you are comfortable as a climber then you won't have to deal with any...

Had a negative experience my first go around, went back 8 months later and had a much different experience.

First time going was negative overall, the routes were sandbagged to the point it was just not fun for a beginner, even on the VB (less than a V0) climbs, and the mats were rock hard making the ?16? Foot climbs super sketchy.

Today I went back and actually had a really nice time. The few people I met were really nice, the mats weren't as hard, and the grading wasn't as sandbagged. The routes were also really fun and cool!

In fact, I was gonna convert my day pass to a month pass!

Until I heard there was a $29 dollar sign up fee, and they auto bill you every month..

Every other climbing gym I've been to, you pay the 60-100 bucks and that's that for the month. Pay when your thing runs out.

I don't really like that business practice and as great of a time as I had, I don't want to support that? I think i'll wait until they have a special to drop the fee and keep my membership elsewhere until then.

Old review under this vvv

Cool routes but the community did not feel friendly at all compared to other climbing gyms I've been too.

The landing pads are super stiff which isn't great for their top out boulders being as high as they are.. 15ft

Also, and I will say I'm newer to the sport but the grading seems a bit pretentious.. a v1 that's overhang with crimps?? I don't mind a challenge or an ego check- my goal is personal improvement rather than be pro or hit a certain 'grade' but I feel like they make their grades hard compared to other gyms and even local outdoor climbs.

I made a joking comment to someone and their response was "it's a REFUGE V2- keeps the posers out" they meant it as a joke but it didn't quite land .. overall cool place but felt a bit pretentious compared to past experiences with other climbing gyms.

I'll keep my membership at other gyms but probably stop by every once in awhile for a challenge if when I feel like hitting some...

I feel bad giving this place a 1 star because its not a terrible gym- theres just a lot of issues..

For refrence:

I have been climbing for about a year, at other gyms and moved to this side of town so I I came on a saturday to check it out.

I didnt love it, didnt hate it. I liked the settings but the layout was uncomfortable because there is no place to sit and chill between attempts where you arent in someone elses landing spot for a good amount of the gym. In addition to that, the culture felt.. off? Kind of frat boyish which is not the culture I was used to at other gyms previously.

I decided to get a 1 month membership to see if I liked it and got talked into a 3 month membership since they charge you a substantial fee for only getting 1 month-

I can see why..

I've since come 5-10 times and maybe twice was it worth going- simply because it's so busy. Regardless of if I go an hour before close, or as soon as I get off work, It's so packed that It's not a comfortable environment.

I've actually brought other climbers here and we left early because of the layout and amount of people.

I know every climbing gym is going to have a different feel and culture but this one feels not as friendly and more competitive than other gyms I've been to. If that is your thing- rad!

Overall, it's not for me, but now I'm stuck in a 3 month contract.

Since signing up here, I have paid for memberships at another gym, and rather than drive the 7 minutes to refuge, I drive the 30 to other options 3-5 times a week.

If this sounds like it might be for you- awesome.. but it isn't for me, and the 3 people I have brought here all felt...