Vertical Endeavors

I do rock climbing here with Courage Kenny’s Sports and Recreation department, so I work more with their volunteers, and don’t really know the staff who work at VE. However, the ones I’ve interacted with at the front desk have been very nice, friendly, and helpful, whether I’m checking in or have questions about equipment, belay certification, etc. I’ve heard that a couple people are good at doing belay certification for adaptive climbers (I use a wheelchair), though haven’t yet gotten certified myself

The biggest problem with VE is that, if you use a wheelchair, you cannot independently access any of the climbing walls, whether bouldering or top rope climbing) because they use chopped up rubber as the ground material in front of walls to provide a gentler landing, instead of gym mats like I’ve encountered at other climbing gyms. I have to have a volunteer pull me backwards through the rubber chips to check out a wall or get to a route, so I need someone strong enough to pull me backwards to even get to a wall to climb, which limits who I can work with among Courage Kenny’s volunteers, or anyone else in general. Plus they generally have to go scouting ahead for routes that I can climb, to minimize having to pull me around a large gym checking out all the routes till we find in I want to try. There are mats that can be rolled out across the rubber chips, though they are often in use for other individuals so I have yet to try them. But I’m not sure if they belong to VE or Courage Kenny; if they don’t belong to VE then that definitely limits the ability to independently access climbing walls, because VE can’t just go and roll out the mats for access to the walls, regardless of if I’m there with a friend to climb or just showing up to do autobelay routes, if I go on a day other than with Courage Kenny.

Other than that, there is generally plenty of accessible parking, especially at night when the office building that shares the parking lot is closed. There’s a gender neutral single stall bathroom right by the entrance, with grab bars and an accessible roll-under sink. The trash cans (bathroom and elsewhere), however, are the “step on pedal to open lid,” kind, so I have to try to get weight on it, use a paper towel to open it, or ask someone else to open it. They also use scented air freshener spray (the canned kind) in the bathroom, which can be strong and may cause issues if certain scents and fragrances trigger health issues. There are also multi-stall men’s and women’s bathrooms, but I haven’t been in one to know if it’s accessible.

The yoga room has soft squishy mats in the floor that make it difficult to push a wheelchair across, but other than that and the rubber, the rest of the floor is tiled and easy to roll across. There is a ramp up to the biggest room with high routes, a “natural” rock wall, a variety of overhangs, etc. I don’t have a problem doing up and down the ramp, though it seems steeper than recommended by the ADA.

The smaller room with top rope climbing has mostly shorter routes (30 ft), but does have several 60 foot routes, including one that goes up into a sort of tower room way up high; there’s usually an easy route and harder routes up it so everyone can try it. There are other 60 ft routes there as well that vary in difficulty, but aren’t generally as difficult as the routes in the big room because most are straight up, maybe with one overhang, instead of multiple overhangs, the wall sloping out and/or in, etc. Also in this room, Courage Kenny sets up a special adaptive rock climbing piece of equipment that allows one to sit and use only their arms to ascend straight up, allowing people who have higher levels of paralysis to climb and get way up high in the gym, like everyone else.

VE changes up the routes every few months, so there’s time to practice a route that you want to conquer, but also gives things fresh and new enough so you don’t get bored with routes.

Aside from the rubber situation, I really like climbing at this location and am always happy to go back there.

Been going to this place for years, the good vibes never change! The staff is always friendly and very helpful ✨ I have brought over many friends that still keep going with me, it’s an ever growing group of rock climbers. Very good atmosphere, great crowd and overall an amazing experience. I’ve noticed the place has always stayed clean and safety is priority at this place. It’s easy to make new friends here and in general connect with others. Having a stranger encourage you is a next level bond 😄 Worth it!

Best climbing gym in MN with lots to offer in terms of routes (auto belays, top rope, lead, and bouldering). Great place to bring your teenage cousins from out of town (out of country actually 🇫🇮).

This place is very clean and well kept. The employees are very nice and helpful. I brought my teenage children and we all had a great time.

Brought our 3 teenagers here for a family day—it was amazing. Great staff, quick orientation, flexibility in time (we climbed, went to lunch and came back for more.) Facility was super clean and in a safe neighborhood. HIGHLY recommend for fun family day out!

This is definitely the best gym within an 80 mile radius of Rochester, but it’s just so hard to compare Midwest gyms with the gyms out West. The setting is decent, aside from being extremely tall and not a lot of diversity of style. The facility itself is quite nice and clean, and they have some interesting, well-designed walls.

I would consider giving this place 5 stars if they would do something about their atrocious orientation video that’s 10 minutes long, and if your browser freezes, the video starts over. If two people are filling out a waiver, you have to watch it twice. Between the glitches and the redundancy, it took my partner and I 30 minutes to get through that nonsense. Videos like that should be reserved for people who are new to climbing. Take a note from gyms out west and give people options: for beginners, give them a thorough intro, but don’t torture experienced climbers with things they don’t need to know. Time is a person’s most valuable commodity and I hate wasting it.

This is a great gym, and I decided to join on a monthly membership after just 3 visits. The $80 rate is extremely reasonable.

They have a good variety of auto-belay routes for starters who don’t have a belay partner (like me!)

I appreciate that they have a training area with treadmills, a set of dumbbells, squat racks, and hang boards for strength.

Weekday evenings are best for adults who want to train and it is not so busy. Weekend mornings and afternoons are extremely busy and there are a lot of kids at those times.

This site supported a National Guard event. The staff was helpful in orientation and informing those who are visiting for the first time. Diverse walls for many skill levels and some diverse experiences