MetroRock Vermont — Local services in Essex

Great place to climb! My boyfriend and I are members at the Boston location but we were in Burlington this past weekend so we came to try out this gym and see the differences in routes & overall atmosphere. We had a great time! Only thing I didn't like was that there were no red mats to fall on, only the floor. I've seen a few other reviews & pictures of the bouldering area here and it seems to have all the mats like our usual gym in Boston does. Not 100% sure if they were just in the process of getting new mats or not when we visited but I did hurt my ankle & leg from a fall because there were no mats and I just fell straight onto the floor. Nothing too bad just a light sprain/soreness but it does affect your ability to climb when you're worried about reaching for a hold because you're unsure of the fall & if you'll get hurt. As always I know bouldering can be a risky sport like most are, I was just a bit disappointed in the lack of mats available. I only saw one and that seemed to be in use in the kids area. I've been climbing for awhile now so I was mostly okay with falling without the mats, but I feel like kids and people who are new to bouldering might have some issues with that as well and may get injured more than I did. Other than that, I loved my time here and the experience was great and I would definitely go back! --

Just as an edit to the response from metro rock, thanks so much for your response! I'm totally okay, I plan on going back to the one in Everett on Wednesday. My ankle and leg are just a little sore from the fall. Nothing too bad. I understand about the mats and the new flooring, I just wasn't used to it completely yet so it threw me off and I was curious. Anyways, for anyone thinking of trying any of the metro rock gyms, I highly recommend it. They are great and the staff is always friendly and...

looked nice inside but was kicked out when my 2 year old cousin refused to put her mask on. how can you expect a young child to keep their mask on if they can barely walk?

WALLS

boulders-well designed boulders, enjoyable and challenging, however i did not find any that i went on to be particularly creative or fun.

climbs-i only went on two, but they were both equipped with auto-belay and were challenging and enjoyable. they do NOT provide belaying/climbing equipment for free.

there is even a section that i assume is for children or such that looks like an obstacle course going over all of the walls. it looks like fun but i did not check it out personally.

-good walls and boulder, bring your own gear.

STAFF

the staff that i talked to were nice, however they did force me and my family out when my two and one year old cousins refused to wear a mask. as previously stated, i believe that this is ridiculous but still, the staff were friendly and helpful when i was climbing.

-nice staff but infants must wear masks

BATHROOMS

the bathrooms were very clean and tidy, showers of course were unavailable, but the bathrooms were in great condition.

-great bathrooms

EDIT: i have changed this review from one star to three stars because i received good customer service regarding this incident. in light of this, i was granted entry to the gym and the gym really is not bad at all.

still, though, they stand by their decision to force a 2 and 1 year old to...

I’m in town for a work trip and happened upon this gym while at the Lowes next door - and I’m very glad I did. I’ve been in twice already; once as a solo climber and once for a one-on-one instruction session to focus on my technique. The prices for a day pass (and rentals, though I brought my own gear) are reasonable and comparable to pretty much every gym I’ve hit around the country - and I travel A LOT for work. They have several auto-belays set up around the gym, with three or so on their tall wall next to a bunch of routes of varying skill level, along with another handful on their shorter wall with some easier routes that were good for doing laps. I can honestly say that they have some really great routes up right now for both auto and top rope - there were several options of a variety of levels under each rope and within that, every route I tried under a given rating tested a different skill set in a different way, which kept things from getting boring. My one-on-one time was also great — Julia is personable and knowledgeable and did a great job of pointing out weak areas in my technique and also complimenting what worked. I’d definitely take advantage again if I’m in the area. Thanks for...