I was home for the holidays and wanted to take some friends of mine climbing. They've never belayed and don't have equipment so my hope was that we could go, I could test out of the belay class and we could top rope some easy climbs.
Dreams crushed. Only people that are belay certified can even be in the top rope room. I would've had to pay $5 to test out of the certification and even if my friends wanted to take a quick lesson on how to belay, its only at very specific times and you need to give advanced notice.
So we bouldered. The walls are old, made of smooth plywood and though the walls are a good variety, you eventually end up right on top of one another. You can only top out on one tiny section, everything else backs right up to another wall or and abyss. With someone who isn't super comfortable down climbing or jumping from the top, I wasn't always super excited to fall when there wasn't a nice big cushion. Those were only on the overhanging walls.
The place was super busy on a Sunday afternoon and group after group rolled in. I understood why there were so many VB and VB+ routes (easier than V0's).
Side note: cubbies are completely separate from the bouldering area and no food or drinks are allowed inside the bouldering area. Therefore your water stays in your cubby, plan carefully.
I expected better from Pittsburgh and heard that there is a new gym coming, so I'll be waiting for that one before I try to climb again in da burgh.