Wild Walls Climbing Gym — Attraction in Spokane

We left the gym scraped up and feeling defeated. We had only stayed for 40 minutes. We wanted to stay until closing. The struggle was too much. $51.23 day passes waisted.

I took my 11-year-old daughter to this gym for rock climbing, but we were very disappointed. The staff were unhelpful and more interested in their phones. They reluctantly showed us how to use the harnesses and shoes, which were dirty and smelled bad. The climbing walls were poorly designed, making it extremely difficult for my daughter to climb even the bottom part. Overall, it was a frustrating experience.

Details When we arrived, the staff were all on their cell phones. When we had questions, they would just point to locations and were reluctant to really show us anything. They tried to encourage us to buy classes and pushed us to use the free walls more than the climbing walls, including the independent ones, which seemed to scream, "I don't want to show you anything."

Eventually, we got one of the staff to show us how to put on the harness, find the shoes, and use the independent climbers' ropes. There were only four. The rest were partnered ropes, which require certification and training to use.

The harnesses and shoes were dirty. You could smell the athlete's fungus radiating from each shoe. I suggest wearing thick, disposable socks as it is clear these don't get cleaned. The harnesses were dirty too, with some still wet from the sweat of others.

Squished between partnered and independent ropes, we tried to climb. It was difficult. There was barely any way for us to climb up. As soon as I got about 10 feet up (which isn't very high), the wall became extremely difficult with tiny pegs the rest of the way up. Looking down, I saw my daughter continuously struggling to get up even the bottom part of the wall. I watched her fail each time, as the bottom was only pegs and had nothing substantial for her to grab. What scared me the most were the other climbers. They were going in and out of my pathway as well as climbing over my rope. After that I was done. There was no staff around checking in on anyone else. They were all huddled behind the register. Very disappointed on how this place is run. And disappointed on how these walls are placed. There are no clear identifiers of what is easy and what is hard. I have been to many other climbing places before and this place just isn't good for small kids. Definitely for ages 15 and up if that. Sorry wild Walls I will not be coming back. Ignoring encouraging anyone else to come here...

I really hate to be so negative but this is by far the worst gym I’ve been to in many years. First, the parking feels a little sketchy and we didn’t want to leave any valuables in the car. The isn’t the bright and open design you might be familiar with from gyms in other big cities. The facility is very dirty and I swear they haven’t purchased new holds or cleaned the existing ones since the late 90’s. Holds on every route I did up to 12c felt very grimy and slick. Seriously, buy some new holds and a power washer.

Many of the top ropes that are set up are steep enough to require directionals and have routes directly behind them so if the directional isn’t already clipped and you fall there is very often a risk of swinging like a wrecking ball into the people behind you. Requires a fairly tentative belayer.

We didn’t really enjoy the top ropes so we decided to boulder. This is the only star I can award for the gym. Grades felt on par with other gyms around the country and I actually got on a few fun ones. BUT the glaring negative here is that the pads are dated, old, and unsafe. It feels like you’re climbing over an old lumpy down pillow. There might be even padding under you, there might be none. Impossible to tell. We were already disliking the gym when my girlfriend then bailed off the top of a boulder and snapped her ankle super badly on the poor padding resulting in a trip to urgent care. The padding badly needs an upgrade.

Ultimately the gym fills its role, but when previous reviewers mention how the dirtiness of the gym adds to its “authentic” or “classic” feel, that’s a sign to me that it needs some major upgrades or to have more competition from another large gym in ...

This place is toxic. I've come here off and on for the past decade and I swear to god the majority of the staff here is just about the absolute rudest, most unprofessional set of people I've ever had the displeasure of being in the same room as.

This is more of a social clique than a professional environment where safety and improving at the sport should be the priority. They also have a bunch of kids from gonzago that have internships who have no right working in any professional capacity here.

My last visit here, I was belaying someone who was 3 stories up and a bunch of girls from GU decided it was a good idea to stand literally right behind me and start laughing, having a really loud conversation and making fun of the dude I was holding on to. I swear if I didn't have someone's life in my hands I would've given those degenerates a piece of my mind.

I do want to say that there are some great people here, the rock climbing community is just awesome, so if you do come here you'll surely run into some great people, including a couple of the staff members that I developed a great rapport with.

All in all, I can't believe this place is still in business. Thank god that other climbing gyms are popping up in the area, now I never have to step foot in this blight of a gym ever...