Auckland Climbing Gym — Local services in Waitematā

Two words: old school… and I love it!

This place has a real throwback vibe, and honestly I’m a big fan of a gym that’s committed to setting problems with that outdoor-style. It’s also the only climbing gym actually in central Auckland, which is a huge plus.

The training area is surprisingly well equipped with not one, but three barbells (more than most gyms), a good selection of free-weights, plus a cable machine. Probably one of the best equipped climbing gyms in the city on that front.

Where I think it could really step up is with a proper MoonBoard. Right now there’s this odd wall with no actual Moon branded holds (see photo), and it just feels like a missed opportunity. If they added a 40 degree MoonBoard (2016, 2024, or even the mini), it would bring the gym up to par with the others around Auckland and make it a real contender.

One bit of constructive feedback regarding the setting: while I appreciate the outdoor-style approach to setting, I’ve found that sometimes the problems lean too heavily into being awkward and uncomfortable. Having climbed outside quite a bit on different rock types, the best problems usually aren’t the awkward ones - they’re the ones that are technical, creative, or physically challenging in a fun way. Here, some of the sets honestly feel more like 1-star awkwardness (and a bit injury-promoting) rather than quality challenges. That said, there are definitely some 3-star problems in the mix too.

The steep wall on the left when you walk in is rad, though the angle break is a bit strange - and when I visited, it only had two problems on it, which was a bit disappointing. Oh, and heads up: the pads are hard. Definitely wouldn’t want to take a sketchy fall there.

All up, it’s got a lot of charm, a central location, and a solid training area. With a few upgrades and tweaks to the setting style, it could easily be one of the best...

The gym is old-school style and offers technical bouldering, not beginner friendly. They give first-timers instructions on how to fall, which is great, but then the routes are very technical starting from the lowest grades and maybe not so rewarding after all. The holds are also rather worn and would require a good cleaning. The lack of proper lighting and the dirtiness of the holds makes it hard to differentiate between hold colours when you're on the wall. Route-setting in the gym was quite hard to read, although it might be due to us not being able to see/differentiate the hold colours and the Top / last hold not being marked. One wall had new-looking pads underneath that felt too stiff to break your fall properly. The manager was very friendly and the social vibe in the gym was great. The functional training gym that operates in the same space blasts music very loudly during their classes, making for a noisy, restless atmosphere. Maybe it was just a big culture shock for us, but with some small improvements ACG would be an awesome bouldering gym. (Climbing couple, both 6C-level, experience from 15+ different gyms all...

I Visited this gym in its first week of opening so everything was new and clean.

It’s more appropriate for adults than some of the other gyms around Auckland.

It’s a pretty small climbing gym but they make good use of their space.

All the holds were new with a lot of texture. The gym was very clean which i love. It had more of a trad style with lots of crimpy holds. I felt like I could get into a good flow and had a good work out by the end. I also felt like some of the climbs encouraged good technique (eg flagging, toe hooks). It doesn’t have many competition style climbs, only a few of the problems i did had a crux

They could probably use a few more neutral holds to help you down climb, they were too far apart on some parts of the wall.

The price was reasonable and I love the flexibility they currently offer (you can buy 1 session, pay for a week, a month, etc) I didn’t really use the spray wall or training area but they do have one. It’s also linked to a fitness gym so lots of other equipment is available.

Overall I enjoyed my time there and I would probably go again next time I...