Phoenix Rock Gym — Attraction in Tempe

PROCEED WITH CAUTION WHEN ENTERING THIS GYM. If you read no further than these first couple of sentences, just know this: around $350 in cash was stolen from my wallet, while at PRG. At this point in time, cameras are installed and show every part of the gym EXCEPT where everyone’s belongings are. Neither the staff nor the owner seemed particularly concerned about our situation nor for another situation that they admitted had occurred to someone else the prior weekend. I don't want the gym to suffer, but I do not want others to experience the same loss I did. Be careful with your valuables here.

Apologies for the lengthiness of this review, but it should be thorough so that you can reach your own conclusions.

On Saturday, August 11th 2018, I along with my husband and brother in law arrived at PRG around 11:00am. We all paid cash for our day passes and proceeded to climb as usual (we’ve been going to PRG for around 7ish years).

About an hour and a half or so into our climbing session, I made my way to the front to purchase a Gatorade. However, when I opened my wallet to pay, there was absolutely no cash. All credit cards, ID and even a gift card were left untouched. The total missing was around $350. When brought instantly to her attention (she was diagonally in front of me), the female manager at the front desk did not show very much expression, but told me to just take the Gatorade. When I asked if they had cameras, she informed me that there were cameras everywhere EXCEPT the area where people’s belongings are left out. I was shown that this in fact is true.

After relaying this information about the cameras, the manager asked a male employee (one of the two that had been at the front desk when first arrived) if he had seen anything suspicious. He simply looked at her, looked at me, and then shifted his eyes away in multiple directions without a word said.

We packed up everything to leave immediately, but before we did, my husband requested to see the cameras, and also asked if anything like this had happened before. The manager fumbled over her words saying she wasn’t sure if it had, but then said she thought it might have. She just seemed confused and did not give a definitive answer to the question. Before we left, she said that she would let me know if she found a wad of cash, but neither my name nor my contact information was ever requested.

We left distraught but ended up returning about an hour later. We expressed our feelings regarding multiple suspicious and concerning aspects of the theft with the same female manager. When questioned if she’d even spoken to the owner, she said that she did in fact notify him and that another incident had occurred the previous weekend and she had not communicated it to the owner until that day. She said that they were too busy and she forgot. I was personally taken aback by the fact that she had not only admitted this, but that she had earlier said she wasn’t even sure if this kind of problem had happened before. We then asked to speak to the owner. She obliged and called him.

Upon speaking with the man, he only said that he would look at the footage at the specific times we gave to see if anything looked strange. I’m not certain that would reveal anything since he and we knew that the very spot necessary to be seen for definitive evidence was out of view. He additionally revealed that multiple car break-ins had occurred that he was aware of and nothing had been done in regards to security. We were left with him warning us to not write a review or call the police. In addition to this, unnerving comments were made that this type of crime had not occurred enough to warrant action on their end.

A police report was indeed filed, because a crime of any nature should not go...

This was an amazing climbing gym with so many diverse climbing options. Two floors of bouldering caves, a crack to climb, rope climbs, tons of varieties of routes, literally something for everyone. I brought my family members who ranged from brand new climbers to some that were more knowledgeable and everyone had a fantastic climb.

Only complaint I had and only reason for minus one star was because I had a very unpleasant experience with the older female staff member. I was visiting family in Arizona to evacuate the hurricane in Florida and left all my climbing gear behind so was just renting gear. I had already climbed at the phoenix rock gym once before and had completed a couple of the easier routes in the upstairs bouldering cave including one with a dyno. When I went to rent gear at my second visit, the female staff member was the one dehind the desk and heard me tell my family I was just going to be bouldering. She said the downstairs bouldering area was closed for rerouting for a competition they were hosting. I said no problem, what about the upstairs? She hesitated and reluctantly said that yes, it was open, but then told me it was only for 'experienced' climbers. I was shocked by the implied assumptions and told her I frequent climbing gyms where I am from and I had bouldered in that area the day before and completed a climb. She didn't seem convinced and proceeded to quiz me on what level routes I was able to complete. By that point, I was absolutely frustrated by the treatment because it felt like we were arguing about my ability and she didn't even know me. I had a membership which is the only criteria I could see for using the second floor bouldering cave, my family was waiting around me with their equipment ready to get started, I had the equipment in my hands and only wanted to put it on and go climb, and she was holding me up with all the insensitive statements and questioning. I was so angry I just started agreeing with her so she would stop talking to me and went to put on my equipment and discuss with my family what had just happened. They were shocked by her treatment of me too but thought maybe she didn't realize how hurtful and rude her comments were. It made me feel like she didn't want me there and I didn't understand why, and it made me uneasy and frustrated every other time I saw she was working the desk and that I had to interact with her.

All other staff members I interacted with were extremely kind and seemed excited to be there, happy to help, and passionate about climbing. Really enjoyed my time climbing there during...

On Dec 26th 2024 I took my sister, and my 2 nieces to this rock gym for some fun. My 10 yoa niece Emily had so much fun she did her Xmas essay about it. Thank you for the great experience!! 5 stars!

Best Place Ever!

Have you ever been rock climbing? Well, if you have you would know how it feels to be climbing like a spider climbing up the wall. My favorite place in the entire world is the Phoenix Rock Gym. It is a place in Arizona full of rock walls that with varying difficulties for you to climb. They also have a special area where you climb not super high without ropes.  It is a great place to start learning to rock climb.

I like to climb up walls that are very challenging for me.  Walls where the rocks are spread far apart in all different sizes that are bumpy and that have big triangle shapes sticking out of them. Also, the walls that I talked about that you can climb without ropes are called bouldering. It is for people 14 years old and above there are mats underneath the walls in case people fall while climbing. Some walls are pretty flat that people climb with ropes in the beginning.

The first time I started to climb up the rock wall at the Phoeniz Rock Gym, I was scared that I was going to fall.  But after a while, I started to feel more comfortable.  I had so much fun! It was so amazing to challenge myself and take my time climbing. I had so much fun climbing up and bouncing down the rock wall on the way down. By the time I went home I climbed 8 different rock walls. Some of the walls I climbed up twice

To sum it all up, the Phoenix Rock Gym is truly an amazing place. I could climb there all day long. It is for all rock climbers whether they are a beginner or a professional. It is my favorite place in the whole...