Rock Spot Climbing

We recently discovered this place because our three-year old daughter loves to climb. Once a month they offer a toddler time, which we have been attending for a couple months. Our family has no climbing experience but everyone (including staff) are very welcoming. Don't feel intimidated and check it out!

Incredibly expensive... It was accessible to lower-income families and individuals at around $30 a month. Now a monthly membership is almost $100. Its clear rock spot caters to only affluent clientele, such as students with mom and dad's cards. It doesn't seem like the gym is struggling, given new locations popping up. Considering the community that these gyms are located in, it certainly doesn't serve these communities. It's deplorable because the climbing community has always been an inclusive one.

Been climbing here for about a year. Priced about the same as other gyms in the area, and has a good number of autobelays for solo climbing. I would say they grade a little hard, but hey, that's forcing me to go a little harder. The space is smaller than other gyms I've been to, but it feels like thats been considered in the way it's set up, so there are a good number of routes. Because of my work hours, I'm nearly always there at the same time of kids classes or team practices, but there's enough room for everyone. This has been my first summer here, though, and be aware that summer camps for kids run just about every day during the summer, so sections will be blocked off for the kids. Staff seems great, and in particular, pretty good with kids.

After my initial review, a representative from Rockspot reached out to me and offered to reinstate the passes that we had initially purchased. I wasn't feeling enthused about returning after our last trip, but rather than being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn, I figured (after much encouragement) that we could make the most of what we'd already spent and use up the passes we had left.

We ended up using one of our day passes with a belay lesson ($15 for just the lesson) to allow us to open up more of the gym to climb. For me, it'd been quite a while since I belayed and my friend had never done it before so it made the most sense for us. Our instructor, San, was so unbelievably patient and kind with us that the singular experience restored my faith in Rock Spot. Not sure when he works (we came during the weekend), but if you're able to get a lesson with him- definitely opt for it. After completing the class, they offer a special introductory 1 month membership w/gear rental for only $25 (+ two guest passes)-- which we both decided to go for. Since then/my last review, we've gone back at least once a week and it's been a great time.

My experiences with the staff has been good aside from the previous experience-- super nice and friendly. If it's your first time they'll give you an introduction to the gym and a walkthrough of the bouldering walls and autobelay devices, of which there are quite a few. The people who climb here consistently are also really pleasant-- definitely a sense of community especially for those bouldering consistently. Not rare to see a group observing and supporting each other as people try difficult problems. Also have yoga upstairs on occasion. Good for a fun evening with friends and family friendly.

Some of my previous criticisms still stand, which prevent me from giving five stars. The space can be quite crowded at times-- I find that the peak times, understandably, are the hours immediately following work- 5pm-8pm or so during the weekdays where it gets to a bit overwhelming. During this time, there's also sometimes the adult climbing league which brings in quite a few groups to climb. Come after 8pm, ideally 9pm, if you want to climb more peacefully. Rentals remain pretty worn, though every so often, I'll luck out with a newer pair of shoes.

All in all, I'm happy to write an updated review of Rock Spot because of the quality of the belay lesson, the friendliness of the staff, and the general chill atmosphere of the climbing gym.

I went there on Sunday morning with my wife and my son (3.5yr old). The stuff were very friendly and patiently gave us a guide. We are all beginners and used to climb just in Lincoln YMCA, where there are only one easy climb and lot of children wait in a line. We were happy to see there were a lot of auto belays, and most of all, lots of beginner climb routes. Usually a route is mix with different difficulties, differentiated with colors of hold. My son can climb on several holds too and he liked bouldering. My wife and I don't have regular exercise but we were able to climb to top on 3-4 beginner routes. Obviously we used too much of our hands so our hand tired up easily.

Even though the place got busy but it was quite easy to find a beginner route to climb. Also there were lots of good climber there so I can watch them climb and learn. We had a great time there and will definitely come back.

I had a Rock Spot membership for over a year and only canceled it because I'm too busy to climb. Lots of regulars, friendly staff, open late, clean.

Day passes are on the pricey side, but they do offer specials.

I just went today with my wife and we had a great time. Very clean and the staff was awesome. We will definitely be back. The auto belay was easy, fun, and there were lots of options.

Although indoors, Rock Spot is definitely one of the better places that I've visited. Depending on which day you visit, Rock Spot offers a selection of auto-belay stations, a decent selection of bouldering, and your normal rock climb stations. The shop itself is also quite encompassing, although it happen to have every size of shoe except for size #43, which happened to be my shoe of choice. Now, I'm not a crazy rock climber, but the staff are very friendly and helpful, and ultimately convinced me to get me to buy a 3-month membership with a pair of climbing shoes and harness.

If you end up getting the membership, you can save up to 20% for a purchase of $150 or more, which is a pair of shoes and harness. Furthermore, you can invite new members to climb with you for free, once a week, so pretty newbie friendly. Overall, I enjoyed my time and hope to get better throughout the year.

We came in search of something to do with the kiddo on a cold rainy day in RI. And yes, for all you locals, 50 degrees is COLD to my southern Louisiana bones!

The website stated again and again that they cater to all ages and experience levels, but even so -- I was intimidated at the thought of even going in the place. I've never done this before, my kid is only four, we really didn't have appropriate clothing since we were on a little vacation of sorts. The GPS in the rental car didn't get quite far enough down the road, but after some driving and a turnaround after passing up the hard-to-spot driveway, we pulled into the rather full parking lot. I told intimidation to take a hike and in we went, in all our jeans-and-thermal-shirts glory.

And man, am I ever glad we did.

The staff was super friendly; I never once felt like I was being judged or looked down upon while they were explaining our options. They had plenty of tiny-tiny gear for the littles, and were very patient in trying to find a pair of shoes that fit me as well. The day pass fand gear rental was $15 for the kiddo and $24 for me. We also paid $20 to have a staff member show us the ropes (pun not intended, but definitely welcomed, haha) for an hour, which was definitely worth the money for someone who has absolutely zero clue. Our guy (ugh, no name, I'm horrible with this stuff!) was really patient, explained everything to us thoroughly, and didn't even get irritated with the kiddo and his love of just letting go of the wall halfway up. It's fun, you know? *laughing*

There were plenty of courses (is that what they're even called) for beginners, although a few of the places were a little far apart for my little guy. I did overhear them telling a staff member while setting up another course (?!?) to make sure it would be good for kids as well, so at least it's something they're conscious of. There were plenty of kids in there (though definitely older than mine), which was surprising and awesome all at the same time. The whole place seemed really open and welcoming and just.... not pretentious, I guess, even though there were obviously some pretty serious climbers in there.

And the best part? We had a BLAST. This stuff is way easier than it looks, and with some good coaching (and cheerleading!) from our guy (*headdesk*), my kiddo made it all the way to the top of one of the courses. He got an awesome confidence boost, and so did his momma. My only regret is that we didn't find this place sooner!

My first impression of this gym was that it was incredibly small. I thought I'd be done with trying new bouldering routes after about 15 minutes. The size is a bit deceiving, however, as the routes are placed very well. There are a lot more than you'd expect given the size. The membership price also reflects the size of the gym. For 55$ a month, it's definitely one of the cheaper rock climbing gym memberships I've seen. You also get access to the other Rock Spot locations for this price, unless you visit them more than this location, which is fair.

Like the Boston gym, they have graded the bouldering based on voting. There are three grades to each routes and people are welcome to vote on what they think the difficulty should be. This is a really fun aspect, and I enjoyed debating with myself as I tried routes what their "real" grade was. Other than that the gym is pretty standard, but still small. It's definitely the smallest climbing gym I've been to, but at least they reflect that in the price!