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| - Having lived in many different parts of the country, I have to say, this is probably one of my least favorite climbing gyms.
A few things:
1. It's short. And I know, everybody tells me that it's about the bouldering. But the bouldering cave is still probably the worst/smallest bouldering cave I've seen.
2. It's really dirty. It's gross to walk barefoot anywhere, and let's be honest, at a climbing gym, there are times you need to walk barefoot. The holds could use a cleaning too.
3. It's small. There really aren't that many routes/problems. Furthermore, because of the design of the bouldering cave, anybody on a problem blocks people on all the problems remotely near them. This is somewhat unavoidable in any gym, but this is by far the worst design I have seen for this.
4. All the bouldering is overhanging with very few exceptions. This is fine, but there is a lot of techniques, and cool problems that could be worked on/created not upside down. Plus, when I was recouping a shoulder injury, that basically meant no bouldering at boulders for me.
5. $$$$ Dear god. $14 for a day at a dark, dingy, small gym. Ugh. That price is comparable to the best gyms I have climbed at. And being a student gets you a discount. Barely.
6. So freaking busy. Unless you go in the middle of the day, it's way too packed. Makes me grumpy for having spent $14 to stand around waiting to get on the wall.
7. The staff is very "meh." And further, while there, my friend sprained his thumb really bad. They do not have any ice packs or ice in the building. It's not as if we were looking for medical care. Just ice. What climbing gym doesn't have ice?
So why not one star? Because it is climbable.
Basically, because boulders is the only option in Madison, I have essentially stopped climbing since I moved here. Climbing is now something that only happens when I can get away to Devil's Lake or Governor Dodge for the day. Bummer.
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