Hangar 18 South Bay — Attraction in Hawthorne

My son used to be a very shy scrawny little boy who hated exercise. He wouldn’t play sports, I forced him into taking karate since he wouldn’t go near any kind of team sports because he wasn’t confident and hated the feeling of responsibility if he made a bad play. After years of karate and I appreciated every second of that class, he was still weaker than the other boys and although he was even teaching the kid’s classes, he didn’t feel like it was a good fit for him, he felt the stress to keep up with the class and be truly good enough to be a black belt, he needed to train harder but his heart was not there. He started climbing at Hangar 18 when he went through a hard period of his young life when something traumatic happened to him. He found himself being challenged by bouldering and could feel he was getting stronger as he held himself up on the walls. He has been climbing for 2 years now and he is SO strong he can almost do a one armed pull up, he’s ripped, confident, and most of all, he is very happy. He started driving at 17 and has been going regularly since he could drive, and he is so focused and has clear goals to be a great climber. This is purely against himself, there is no sparring, no combat, nothing at all like karate and this is such a great fit for him and his personality. I’m so happy that he is so mentally, physically and emotionally healthy, I don’t ever have to worry about him not getting his exercise, except he does need to get his heart rate up and do some cardio… but this is great!!! His friends join sometimes and he takes his little sister they climb together and challenge each other. The workers here are all very serious about their jobs and if you ever go for a class or take minors they make sure you have proper waivers, training and are strict which is great, safety first! I don’t want there to be any accidents so I feel good that they are pretty strict. But you can tell that they also are having fun, they like their jobs. The atmosphere is very friendly but like I said they are strict and they need to be. They don’t do birthday parties they don’t have any frills- just straight forward rock climbing. I love that they don’t take up space for little kids parties. More serious about...

Great, cheap gym, but it's cheap for a reason. You get what you pay for.

Pros: They rotate the problems regularly. Lots of parking and good location. The kilter and campus boards are nice. Clean facilities.

Cons: Crowded. The space is way too small to allow people to Boulder and top rope at the same time, or even to get a decent rotation onto the boulders. The top ropers fall onto the bouldering crash pads since the belay area is too small and too close to the bouldering areas. The belay areas are usually filled with people resting from bouldering anyways. It's hard to get a good workout in when you gotta wait so long to get on the wall. Going after work is an exercise in extreme patience. People have very little spacial awareness and will walk or stand under you while to you climb. This is worse when there's a little kids birthday party or something. Very dangerous and I see this often. Not enough cubbies and lockers during peak hours. People just leave their stuff all over the floor. This could easily be fixed by adding lockers and cubbies. This gym needs to plan for their peak times better. The weight/training area is an afterthought. One bench with a few weights doesn't quite cut it for the number of people using this gym. The monthly price hike starts to make other nicer gyms in the area more attractive. When the price was less than $40/mo it was a no-brainer, not so much anymore considering the other cons...

Hangar 18 was my first gym that I ever climbed at 6 years ago. Since then I’ve visited countless others in England, Israel, Canada, and all over the states. I could be climbing at any of the touchstones that have triple gym size and more facilities. But the reason why hangar 18 will forever be my favorite climbing gym is the community and staff. The small gym size forces people to be close to one another and breeds this beautiful close knit group of climbers that supports one another, teaches each other, and most importantly wants to be friends to everyone.

The staff is so absolutely stellar and kind. They greet me with a smile and genuine conversation every time I come in. David the manager is wonderful and personable. Erika is just the sweetest and kindest person to ever be. Sean will have you rolling on the ground laughing before the day is over. Manny will always force you to be happy even if your day was the worst. Kim has the sweetest smile every time you walk in. Coco is like a breath of fresh air whenever I see her. And Luke is so professional and studious but somehow hilarious with everything he does. Hangar is my happy place and I’ve made friends here that will last a life time. It’s not just a gym to me, it’s a big wonderful family.

Also the setting is sick and makes you strong as hell. No gym prepares you for climbing outdoors like this one. Sean,...