| Tue | 06:00 am -11:00 pm |
| Wed | 06:00 am -11:00 pm |
| Thu | 06:00 am -11:00 pm |
| Fri | 06:00 am -11:00 pm |
| Sat | 10:00 am -08:00 pm |
| Sun | 10:00 am -08:00 pm |
They were very clean with modern equipment, super friendly staff and top notch services. Highly recommend!!
Bouldering area is smaller then the other locations in the city. But still great. The workout area is excellent. Tons of space and variety of equipment. Lots to use.
Has a huge indoor rope wall area
The only location with a parking lot
Easy location just off highway and near a lot of stores and restaurants in Avondale
The staff is incredibly friendly and helpful
Facility is very clean and the memberships are a very reasonable price
The gym is very welcoming to beginners and experienced climbers alike!
The yoga and fitness classes are also plentiful well run and included in the admission!
They also have tons of events each month from meetups to movies and more
Worth a stop by!
My daughter (5) and I visited on Sunday. The staff could not have been any nicer. They welcomed us and let my daughter and I watch the climbers. After about 15 minutes she got tired of watching and wanted to join in. The lady at the front desk was great. Talked with my daughter and got her excited to start. We finished the waiver and meet Stephanie who walked us through orientation. Once all the rules were out of the way we went to the bouldering area upstairs. Stephanie taught my daughter how to fall. She's been practicing ever since. Then the fun began. She loved the bouldering area. One of the other climbers was very encouraging. When he left she asked if he was spiderman. Unfortunately, we had a prior engagement and had to leave. We've tried all sorts of activities and I've never seen her so excited. The only down side is she's now climbing on everything.
This is not a place you take your little one and drop off and look at your phone, get involved with them. Seeing how excited she was with each new height made it a great experience for both.
We've already signed up climbing next week and one of the kids programs in March.
Thank you to everyone there for being so welcoming and encouraging for a little girl. She's already talking about climbing to the top. You and your staff may have sparked a fire in her. Now it's off to new heights.
I loved the gym. Just one staff member named lisa made it unpleasant. She was telling me my belay technique was wrong even though petzl has it recommended as they way to do it. Told me exactly "no one in the world does it like that"
If you're going to work at a rock climbing gyms it should be known the different belay techniques.
The next thing was her not refunding one of my friends when she specifically said she could. He got food poisoning and couldn't climb. He didn't climb at all and you could see how sick he was.
Lisa made my visit very disappointed. I've been climbing for 6 years indoors and outdoors.
The rest of the staff was really amazing and very welcoming. Just the one person was super confrontational. I was just trying to explain different techniques and equipment.
I love, love, love this facility. Been climbing at First Ascent gyms for 2.5 years and sprung for the membership a couple months ago. Staff is friendly, routes are fresh, gym is gigantic and people are lovely. Everything you'd want in a climbing gym.
Huge top-rope and lead routes. I really appreciate how most routes have the lead-option. The upstairs bouldering area is compact, but packs in quite a lot of routes given the space.
I've been climbing here since they opened. Bright, welcoming, and they refresh routes regularly.
They also have some excellent yoga teachers, and the classes are included with your membership.
Love this place.
I've been climbing here since they opened. Bright, welcoming, and they refresh routes regularly.
They also have some excellent yoga teachers, and the classes are included with your membership.
Love this place.
Staff was very friendly and helpful! I believe Lisa gave us the tour and belay test. She was very knowledgable and helpful. Walls are tall and habe very good routes for all skill levels. This has been by far the best indoor climbing gym I have been to and will return!
Staff was very friendly and helpful! I believe Lisa gave us the tour and belay test. She was very knowledgable and helpful. Walls are tall and habe very good routes for all skill levels. This has been by far the best indoor climbing gym I have been to and will return!
While spending some time in Chicago on business I decided to try out a climbing gym away from home. I paid a visit to First Ascent and was delighted. The place is huge, the walls are tall, the routes are fun, and the staff was friendly. Lockers were free, WiFi was available, the orientation was straight-forward and the price was right.
My only criticism is that the top-ropes were over-engineered: heavy, large-diameter ropes were routed one and a half times around the anchors, making for massive amounts of friction. This is great for safety, but for experienced climbers it makes for annoying belays.
If you're in the area, check it out. Great place.
While spending some time in Chicago on business I decided to try out a climbing gym away from home. I paid a visit to First Ascent and was delighted. The place is huge, the walls are tall, the routes are fun, and the staff was friendly. Lockers were free, WiFi was available, the orientation was straight-forward and the price was right.
My only criticism is that the top-ropes were over-engineered: heavy, large-diameter ropes were routed one and a half times around the anchors, making for massive amounts of friction. This is great for safety, but for experienced climbers it makes for annoying belays.
If you're in the area, check it out. Great place.
One of the most beautiful and well set gyms I've ever been to. Great staff and people too.
Routes could be replaced more often. I think they've switched to every 2 months but it's not highly regulated. They're prime on safety, though can be very condescending if you're doing something that's not mainstream (I've been climbing for 7 years and know that what they've brought up was just logistical). The beginner's tour is only given if you go to their Avondale location. If you sign up at one of their bouldering gyms, there is not an efficient way for them to know you're new to the Avondale location. Otherwise, friendly staff, mostly excellent routes, and good gym equipment. I'd say it's the most affordable, highest quality gym you can get in Chicago without a car.
Routes could be replaced more often. I think they've switched to every 2 months but it's not highly regulated. They're prime on safety, though can be very condescending if you're doing something that's not mainstream (I've been climbing for 7 years and know that what they've brought up was just logistical). The beginner's tour is only given if you go to their Avondale location. If you sign up at one of their bouldering gyms, there is not an efficient way for them to know you're new to the Avondale location. Otherwise, friendly staff, mostly excellent routes, and good gym equipment. I'd say it's the most affordable, highest quality gym you can get in Chicago without a car.
A great rock climbing gym! The bouldering area is well maintained as is the cross training area. The movable training walls in the back are awesome. The training classes and yoga offered are also really good. Saturday morning Core for Climbers and Woman Crush Wednesdays have been great additions to my workout.
A great rock climbing gym! The bouldering area is well maintained as is the cross training area. The movable training walls in the back are awesome. The training classes and yoga offered are also really good. Saturday morning Core for Climbers and Woman Crush Wednesdays have been great additions to my workout.
Best climbing gyms in Chicago. Membership gives you access to all locations. Great for lead climbing. Their training area is also pretty decked out. They have a large campus wall and a wall that you can adjust the incline for a tougher workout. And the community is outstanding.
Best climbing gyms in Chicago. Membership gives you access to all locations. Great for lead climbing. Their training area is also pretty decked out. They have a large campus wall and a wall that you can adjust the incline for a tougher workout. And the community is outstanding.
Great climbing gym in Chicago. Nice new facilities, friendly staff, giant wall with good routes. The bouldering section has gotten better as well. A little pricy, but definitely worth it.
It's a great, clean facility with a nice staff that'll answer questions if you have them. The people who come here are not judgey and will generally mind their own business if you are feeling self conscious about being a rookie! The autobelay drops you a LOT faster than you may anticipate!
My friend and I visited the Avondale location yesterday. There was a lady with short, reddish hair (Christie is her name, I believe) sitting at the front desk and as soon as we walked in she immediately looked at us as if we wandered on the wrong side of town. The expression on her face was incredibly blatant and rude. She looked confused - almost as if she didn't know blacks were allowed to rock climb.
I thought I was the only one who'd noticed and maybe my perception was off so I didn't say anything until my friend and I went over to the iPads to complete our forms and he asked if I'd noticed the look on her face as well. Her attitude came off as really racist and made us so uncomfortable that we contemplated leaving.
Once we completed our forms she was gone and there was a gentleman who gave us an orientation around the facility. He provided us with quality service and though we didn't stay long, we enjoyed the experience.
As we were leaving, the young lady (Christie) was back at the desk and she'd turned around and took a long sigh and rolled her eyes almost as if she were irritated that black people were in the facility.
I don't know if she's completely unaware that blacks are free or if she was having a bad day and we just so happen to land in her crossfire. I'm going to go with the former. Either way, I don't believe someone like that should be providing customer service to ANYONE.
I like First Ascent so far, my husband and I have been going for a couple weeks. We have done bouldering and I tried a few clip-ins. And so far that has been really fun! What I really don't like about it is that there is no gym daycare. We want to be able to go together (you can bring your kids with you) but it just doesn't work well at all. We don't want to have to alternate going nor do we want to pay for a babysitter each time we go so it looks like we will be canceling here soon. If they had even a couple hours a day, we would totally stay!
Routes are great but it seems most of the week they are changing them which requires a good 1/3 of the gym (where the top rope climbing is) to be roped off. Considering they only have about 7-8 auto belays in the gym, when this is happening and you go by yourself, you can climb about 2-3 routes, most of which are extremely easy. This makes using the facility to train on your own time not nearly worth the price of a membership. If you have a group and are looking for a fun way to spend some time it's perfect.
Routes are great but it seems most of the week they are changing them which requires a good 1/3 of the gym (where the top rope climbing is) to be roped off. Considering they only have about 7-8 auto belays in the gym, when this is happening and you go by yourself, you can climb about 2-3 routes, most of which are extremely easy. This makes using the facility to train on your own time not nearly worth the price of a membership. If you have a group and are looking for a fun way to spend some time it's perfect.
