City Climb Gym — Local services in New Haven

Honestly hate to give any place a bad review but I had a terrible experience at this gym. I've been climbing for 10 years indoors/outdoors and in that time I've been to a couple dozen+ gyms all over the country. I was passing through New Haven visiting friends and needed to get a workout in and stopped at City Climb.

This place gave the impression of being really poorly managed and was not up to basic standards. When I arrived there was no one at the desk, but three people bouldering. I waited for 5 minutes until one of them wandered over, as if I'd interrupted his sesh. I gave him a $20 for a $15 day pass and he didn't have enough change in the register. He gave me 4 ones and said "that's going to have to be good enough", not even in a joking tone. What!?* He had to go into his own wallet to give me another dollar in quarters.

The gym is FILTHY dirty. I'm used to dirtbagginess but this was next level. The holds were disgusting. The mats were disgusting and beaten to almost uselessness. Do they clean or replace anything here??? Where is the care?

The vibe was whatever. I was there at 3 pm on a Monday so not exactly peak crowd/vibes time.

The gym is small and the setting was not amazing. But smallness is not a big deal if you have good customer service and a tight run ship. This place seemed to have neither. If you're a college student with no car or something, sure go here, you can make it work. But if you have options I'd look elsewhere.

*It wasn't about the dollar, it's the principle. Like, c'mon,...

30yo Italian engineer on a business trip to US - I've been climbing since childhood (lead+multi-pitch, I'm not a gym rat but in wintertime I got to see quite a few gyms all over Europe). This gym in my opinion has some really good vibes and allows entry-level up to moderately experienced climbers for weeks of fun. No need for V8 in such context. The holds are grippy and routes are feeling 'natural', in the sense of replicating several motion schemes that you would acquire during years on the rock. Tape/grading system and rules almost identical to Europe (very few sit starts so that's a plus for me 🤣), so 'seamless' experience. I even had the chance to overhear a lesson and I've found the instructor extremely competent-he was explaining voice signals to a first-time belayer in a very effective and rigorous way (wish we had that for a few folks back home!). I was extremely pleased with the staff, they even suggested a few local crags and gave me directions and topos. So far one of the very best experiences overseas, a very open and welcoming environment (I've seen gyms in which the locals wouldn't even speak to you🥲). Thanks a lot for the good climbing session and keep up the good work 👍...

I’ve been meaning to write this review since July, and I’m excited to finally share my experience! My friends and I planned a trip to New Haven specifically for rock climbing, and our adventure took an unexpected turn. We first visited Rock Spot, only to find out they only offered bouldering at that location, which wasn’t quite what we were looking for. Thankfully, we decided to check out City Climb, and I’m so glad we did!

As inexperienced climbers, we were just hot and confused, but the staff welcomed us with open arms. Our instructor was incredibly kind and made our experience not just fun, but also educational. Rather than just showing us the rock wall and leaving us to figure it out, she took the time to really teach us about rock climbing techniques and safety.

To our surprise, we later learned that our amazing guide was Erin, one of the owners! Erin, if you see this, thank you from the bottom of our hearts you are kicking butt. You made our day unforgettable. We left as not just satisfied climbers, but as new friends. Cheers from Danbury—Nazz, Tim, and Mikael! ALSO THANKS FOR THE...