Sanctuary Climbing & Fitness — Local services in Seaside

Wow, blown away by this gym. This is a must visit for anyone passing through. Professional staff, fantastic setting, diversity of features (including an insane light up and weight activated spray wall), immensely clean, and seemingly a great local community.

Background: I’m a V7-8 climber at most gyms and travel for work hitting gyms everywhere I go.

I kid you not, best gym of the last 6 I’ve visited. These negative reviews should be disregarded and I’ll tell you why. Liquid chalk is lame, right? However, they literally have FREE liquid chalk dispensers. Boom. Setting is stiff, yes, ok their grading is more similar to outside (I was V6 at this gym, which is what I climb outside). But, I mean this gym isn’t for birthday parties, it’s a climbing gym. Just reset your “grade” if you’re a gym climber. Setting? Great. I loved that the setters didn’t push the cruxes too high, finishes were safe, starts were unique, holds had good diversity, everything was very clear, and they had a nice array of volumes. I was on V4-6s with dynos, heels, sit starts, big static moves, hard matches, crimps, etc.

The staff were so friendly and cleaning constantly. Owner should note who was working 530-730pm 3/14 and give props. Place was spotless.

You can tell the owner’s top priority is a good climbing gym. Someone mentioned the pads were stiff? Try the highest end pads you can possible buy. Wonderful! If you’re looking for ways to upgrade, a shower would be beneficial for those traveling.

This place is fantastic and I applaud the efforts to make this gym what it...

Points deducted for (1) liquid chalk ONLY rule (2) super greasy holds (3) color scheme of routes not always easily discernible from each other. (4) not beginner-friendly, so hard to hang with your friends who are new to bouldering.

I’d rather be able to use chalk than have a “very clean gym.” I’d think chalk on the ground is expected at an indoor climbing gym.

Sometimes, you have to realize that the slightly different/duller color is part of the newer shinier-colored route. Or that there are three different “natural” [marble/wood]-colored routes all within the same space.

The ropes for top-roping options is nice, but they can be annoying because they’re definitely in the way when not being used.

Please read all the 2 and 3 star reviews! I strongly agree with all the critical reviews regarding grading route setting and difficulty, especially this:

“The main issue in my opinion is the setting. A lot of the problems I got on weren't the best lines and didn't flow well, and it seemed like the way they make problems hard is either with bad top out holds, and/or really bad feet. And I don't mean bad feet in a way that helps you work on your footwork, I mean like just bad feet in really awkward placement, really far feet, or no feet all together.”

And I get that this gym aims to reflect outdoor bouldering more, but that’s also the reason I rate it as a lesser gym; it’s not what I want in an indoor gym.

All that said, the staff is nice, the environment is nice. And some of the routes are...

I want to like this gym, but there are a handful of things that keep it from being great. Read on for more details.

Pricing is outrageous. Obviously day passes and gear rentals have their use, but if you want to frequent this gym it’s going to cost you even if you have your own gear. Students w/ ID pay the least at $50/mo. Kids and all others pay $60+ plus an “initiation fee” of $65. If this seems a little complex, just look at the flyer. I have frequented many indoor climbing gyms and let me tell you: this is not a good deal.

Besides the costs, there are a few other things you should know. Nothing in this gym is more than 18 feet/5.4 meters tall. There are a handful of auto-belays and top-roping spots but it’s hardly worth the time to tie in when 95% of the gym is for bouldering. Time will tell how frequently routes are changed. The routes themselves are good so far. Interesting use of holds.

This gym is going to be so incredibly crowded with unsupervised children running around under climbers unless kids are at least designated their own sort of area. This is a safety issue and will keep any serious climbers from training here if not addressed somehow.

Lastly, this is a liquid-chalk only gym. Sock balls and liquid chalk only, no loose chalk allowed. Liquid chalk dispensers are stationed around the gym to use. Staff are friendly and there’s a...