ASCEND South Side — Attraction in Pittsburgh

Here are all the well earned, positive things about Ascend.

I absolutely used to love this gym, I became a member sometime in 2019 after just 1 day pass session and fell in love with it. Spent almost 2 hours (sometimes more) every time I went, which was frequent in the beginning. Their routes were awesome for beginner - experienced climbers alike, with all the room in between for skill progression and learning the sport general. The community of people were absolutely awesome, I made lots of friends and met new people just about every session.

So why the 2 stars?

During Covid, the gym understandably decided to close down temporarily, due to federal restrictions, and social distancing precautions. Most everyone I knew at the gym understood this and just anxiously waited for the chance to get to use the gym again, myself included. During that time, Ascend asked its members to continue to pay membership fees (if they could) in order to help carry the gym through a financially rough time. So, being a supportive member, I continued to pay my membership fee the entire time they were closed because why wouldn’t I? Right? This was my favorite gym, OF COURSE I’ll give my support. When the gym was finally able to open again, they decided to limit occupancy to 40 people per session and limit sessions to 2 hours to members and day pass purchasers alike. This was frustrating because the federal recommendation for gym occupancy was 50% and Ascend was very clearly adding their own restrictions on top of that. You needed to sign up usually about a week in advance for the busy sessions in the evening which were usually the only ones I could make. I was an on call employee that traveled for work, I never knew my schedule or the days I was going to be home and out of respect for the other members, I wouldn’t sign up for sessions that I didn’t know whether or not I could attend. So if you can imagine, I almost never got to use the gym enough to make my membership worth the money. 5 or 6 times I actually went to the gym anyway to be placed on the waitlist to fill a spot of someone who might not show up and twice I was just straight up told they weren’t going to let me climb. Actually the ONLY employee that even seemed willing to help me with a solution was Elaina. The only solution that we were able to come up with was to sign up for every session I might be able to make and just cancel if I couldn’t make it. Well like I said, out of respect for the other members I didn’t want to limit the availability of sessions for members that knew they would be able to attend. Sometime later, after mask restrictions were lifted and occupancy limits were eased up on ascend decided to continue with mask enforcement (somewhat aggressively) and high occupancy restrictions. I finally just got tired and felt like ascend was just looking at me as income so I decided to cancel my membership.

Recently I visited ascend after almost 2 years for a day session at their south side location, I needed new climbing shoes and decided purchase some there only to find out AFTER making the purchase that I was not allowed to climb there because it was a “safe space” night for a social group I was assumed to be no part of. I have not nor will I ever be intolerant of any social group so to be turned down at the door yet again by Ascend is more than frustrating, I feel it’s just plain ethically incorrect. This was my last straw. The point of any social INCLUSION event is not to EXCLUDE any supportive patron. I have never felt more excluded by any business and honestly just can’t stand the politics anymore. After attempting to rejoin the climbing community I realized I am not the only former ascend patron that has this point of view and decided to join a more neutral, inclusive gym.

Ascend, it’s not that I feel like your head isn’t in the right place, I just don’t agree with the way you go about it. It’s hurting more members than you realize.

Signed respectfully, A former member that supported you...

Been a member here on and off since 2018. I really like this gym.

There’s a real sense of community here that’s just not all that present at other gyms. People talk to each other, have fun, and (generally) don’t judge. I usually have a bunch of really nice interactions with staff and members every time I stop by, and that makes me want to keep coming back so I can be a part of that.

I just bought new shoes and have some abnormal feet, and the staff were really helpful in helping me find something that worked for me. Two in particular: Jason, and another guy with long blonde hair whose name I don’t remember unfortunately. You can tell the people they hire are truly passionate about climbing.

I have one gripe with this gym, and that’s that the route setting is just okay. It’s not bad, just not particularly amazing. I’ve been to many other gyms, and I find I get shut down on a technically challenging move MUCH more often at other gyms, even on lower grades. This is what I want from my gyms route setting: to teach me challenging movement. Sometimes it feels as though I only climb in the higher grades here because I can lock off pretty hard and have slightly above average technique, and not because I have a particularly high degree of skill. The gyms that come to mind that I like the most are Iron City Boulders and Climb Youngstown (Ben Cavicci is a phenomenal setter). I come off climbs there and feel like I really learned something. I don’t necessarily always feel the...

Second time here, routes have changed which was nice. As a new climber I enjoy the friendly and very helpful staff. Felt more like I was at an expensive restaurant the way they treat us. For example, the first time we came, we were told that shoe size is important, and today I decided to go a half size smaller. I started at 11s, and when I came back to change sizes, the moment I got them on the man helping me smiled and asked "Is that better?" Yes it is! Great service, great atmosphere, and polite customers. It's relatively cheap for how well kept and staffed it is. That'll keep me coming atleast once a week.

Now... I am on the shorter side, so some routes are out of my reach. That doesn't stop me from ascending the ones that my arms can handle. Then there's routes that look so cramped that I don't see how anyone could do them, just to watch someone come up to it and climb like it's second nature. The major problem I have is going in to Pittsburgh, especially coming all the way from South Franklin township. It's worth the drive and the price, just wish there were more locations.

Overall great place to go for climbing, with events and other fun activities throughout the year. Will be going as often as I can. If the V0-V3 routes change often enough maybe some day I'll be climbing the V10+ I'll ascend past my limits, get in shape, grow confidence, and make new friends over the coming years. All for 23 measly dollars for a...