Austin Rock Gym

You’ve seen all the other reviews on here, so I won’t highlight the same issues.
The customer service here is atrocious. Erica, who apparently does the accounting and billing, simply does not respond. I emailed about a billing issue and did not receive a response after 2 weeks. I had to call the location and have the front desk employee text her to respond to me, because there is no direct phone number to Erica. Her response is that they only check emails right before the end of the month to process cancellations. However if you email anything, you get an automated reply indicating they will answer you within 72 hours. If you email at the beginning of the month, you’d likely be waiting a few weeks, and somehow this is an acceptable standard at Austin Rock Gym.
Erica provided me with her cell phone after exchanging some emails, but it doesn’t matter, because she literally never answers it or returns messages. I would love to have that level of job security, which apparently she has since she’s married to the owner.

We just had my daughter’s 10^th birthday party here. When I walked in 15 minutes before the guests were due, I wasn’t sure. Two guys, one on the phone, the other figuring things out on his first day of work. The party «room» consisted of two long folding tables and beat-​up chairs. Still, I have nothing but kudos. The two guys were soon joined by a third and they each spent the next two hours fully engaged with 10 fourth grade girls, all of whom climbed, scaled up with ropes and really learned a lot about a new sport. They were carefully supervised and instructed without being smothered. The party table/​space was no frills but worked just fine. I highly recommend this place, suggesting only that you respond with a confirming phone call to party reservations made online just so how it all works is clear.

I don’t think it’s a very good gym for many reasons. More troublesome, they refuse to cancel my membership. I have paid an extra 3 months for a gym I am no longer attending and they refuse to return my emails or my money and now I think I’m going to have to cancel my card.

Literally the shoddiest climbing gym I’ve ever been to, and I’ve been to a lot of them. It’s run on a super low budget, so the mats are incredibly old and lumpy, the entire place is really dirty, the holds are slick, and they basically don’t run the heat during the winter or the A/​C during the summer.
BTW, people have been banned for writing bad reviews, which probably keeps some people from writing bad reviews. When you look at this place’s two star average rating, consider that this rating is probably artificially inflated because some people don’t want to write a negative review for fear of being banned from the only climbing gym in town.
On the plus side, the staff are chill and friendly, and the people you meet here are awesome. Well, at least until a competitor opens, at which point this place will become a ghost town.

Three stars because they FINALLY replaced the ankle demolishing, lung suffocating, trip wire obstacle course of bad crash mats and they put a real floor in! The remodel looks great. The price is still high for what you get. If you come in and out of town you have no other option but to pay 65 for a month or 65 for a 5punch card. Doing the math makes that still almost the daily rate to buy a punch card. Make two week memberships!!! Make a week/​two specials for people who are not here months at a time and fist timers etc. Offer something else besides nothing when you charge 65 a month! I will say they haven’t raised their rate since forever but that’s cause there was no room to raise the rate it was already too expensive for no amenities at all. Put a yoga room/​workout space or something to justify your membership prices. Route setting is great and new remodel is great. If you go all the time the price can be worth it.

Had a great experience! Paul was our instructor. He was very patient and encouraging. The people at this gym are great. They have a passion for climbing and are available to answer any questions. Don’t agree with the reviews about it being dirty. Found it to be cleaner than a 24 hour fitness.

Not even going to sugar coat this. Here’s the short of it:
FILTHY. It’s safe to assume the floors/​matts haven’t been cleaned… EVER. The holds are probably as old as the gym and I don’t think they are cleaned regularly or AT ALL.
MEDIOCRE ROUTES. I’m from Massachusetts where there are about 10 gyms. My boyfriend has been climbing for 10+ yrs and has traveled the country to climb. He thinks NARG is one of the worst gyms he’s come in contact with. Awkward routes are the norm at NARG. Poorly set boulder problems that rarely get reset. What’s with the color system for routes? Just write the damn grade on the start hold, like most respectable gyms do. .that’s if the route even still has all the tape. Most routes are missing tape. Awesome slippery, polished holds. Great training for Green Belt. What a joke.
Despicably dirty facility and non-​existent pro shop…
DO NOT waste your time or money going here. I feel violated paying the $ 15 for the day pass. Wait for Austin Bouldering Project or Crux to open (this year at some point). This gym is obviously going to go out of business when the new gyms open. I have no respect for this gym, because even if they feel they can’t compete with the possibility of new facilities opening, that is not true. Boston is a smaller city with less people than Austin, and they have 7 healthy gyms.
Go to the Main Event if you must climb inside. Cheaper, and fun top roping. The bouldering is odd, however.

Possibly the worst gym I’ve ever encountered. They’ll screw you over wih their contract by charging you fees after you cancel it. I had close to 200 dollars in fees whenever I injured myself and decided to cancel my account for a few months while it healed. I got a confirmation letter for the cancellation and guess what? In fine print there was a clause that stated the cancellation will end after a month. So I ended up having to owe 200 dollars for three months that we both know I didn’t and couldn’t have used since I haven’t paid. I talked to the owner in an email he vowed to call me, never did. The management is very penny pinching, something you would expect from a large corporate gym such as Golds, not a locally owned business. Zero understanding and very unethical financial practices with «gotcha!» contract. Prrtty much the opposite of what you would expect from the laid back and friendly culture of the climbing community.
The walls and holds are atrocious, the prices compare to state of the art gyms with sauna and 80 foot high walls but offer the least out of any gym I’ve ever seen, everything is outdated, and is the result of a 16 year monopoly over indoor climbing in Austin. Go to the two new climbing gyms opening in Austin, this place will be out of business soon. Atrocious establishment. Not competitve to any climbing gym in the country.

NARG Review:
This is a bouldering gym with 3 toprope routes used mainly for belay certification. I started out at SARG (which I’ll get to in a sec) toprope climbing and fell in love. Let me go ahead and tell you I have only been climbing for about a month now. NARG is MUCH cleaner and smells much better than SARG in my opinion. Most likely because they have crash pads for flooring rather than carpet. Staff doesn’t interact here. Other climbers are always so awesome and helpful. Even as a newbie I have not once felt judged by anyone. That’s just not how the climbing community is. Kids: we have been there once when the gym seemed to be a daycare and it was hell. These little kids were running around everywhere, under climbers on horizontal holds, with no supervision or attemp to control them by their parents or staff. You’d think staff would be more concerned as that’s a huge liability issue but whatever. Kids weren’t even climbing so I’m not sure what that was about.
SARG:
I prefer SARG only because I can top rope there and that’s what I prefer to do. The smell is HORRIBLE so beware. Staff is friendly and climbers again are always awesome, helpful, and looking out for each other. This gym is mostly toprope and lead climbing with a small bouldering section. You must be belay certified before you can belay anyone here (I mean that only makes since). If you have friends that already climb, have them teach you how to belay and then get a staff member at the gym to watch you and you’ll be good to go. The belay class is a waste of money and time from what I’ve heard. You must also be lead climb and lead belay certified to do that as well. I’ve never rented gear because I bout my own from the start (you’ll spend as much on gear as you will on rental fees here if you go a few times… Plus it grosses me out considering they maintain nothing in the gym, I can only imagine the last time those shoes were cleaned or harnesses tested). Speaking of maintainance: as others have stated, there is none. Side note: check the schedule before going and make sure the climbing teams are not there. They go Tu and Th from 6 – 9 I think. Take up most of the routes and climb them over and over again. They are extremely rude.
For Beginners:
As a beginner, I was not told at first that bouldering was more difficult than toprope climbing: by this I mean it takes a lot more effort in a shorter amount of time as the problems are much more complex. However, I have also learned that bouldering is a great way to build up you strength and work on technique, in turn making you a better top rope climber. I’d recommend going to SARG to start out as you’ll be able to build up some confidence and then go to NARG when you’re ready to give it a try. No one is judging you: I’ve seen several people say they felt the entire gym was watching them the entire time. Believe me, people are more excited for you because your are trying it out than anything! If you’re a girl with a nice butt, guys will be guys; believe me they aren’t judging you honey.
Price:
It’s stupid expensive especially for what you get. Only gyms in Austin at the moment though so we don’t have much of a choice. $ 65 a month. Plus equipment fees if you don’t have your own. However, things are about to change…
The Future:
Austin Bouldering Project: brand new gym opening here in Austin relatively soon. It. Looks. Awesome. Personally I think they will take every person into bouldering away from ARG.
Crux Climbing: a little further out before they will be opening but they are an established gym through the the country and this gym too is not only huge but looks amazing as well. I believe this will be the new toprope and lead climbing gym for indoor Austing climbers.
ARG is our only option right now so we have to deal with it. Personally I think they will go under once these two new gyms open. Esp if they are priced right. Hoping they go in together for some sort of joint membership deal!

Agree completely with Mandy H. It appears the owner is either completely clueless or completely apathetic. In either case it’s far too expensive for what you get. Can’t wait for new climbing gyms to open in Austin!

I was very disappointed with this gym for their lack of organizational skills, lack of responsiveness, and general lack of customer service. My husband and I signed up for their Climbing 101 class, which sounded really fun. I had asked how many people would be in the class and they specifically told me a maximum of 8. However, there were 9 people in the class so there was insufficient equipment and the instructor was barely able to talk to, much less assist each person in the course. Because they had lied about the number of people, I asked if we could get a free day pass, but they told me no. Finally, despite specifically telling us at the beginning of the class that if we needed to reschedule a class, it would be no problem, it took them two weeks to respond to my request to reschedule a class. I had called and emailed, but they told me that I had «lost» their response email.
My husband and I also came another time to climb at the gym outside of the course. They charged us for shoes and the passes, but then we found out that they were out of his size in shoes. Instead of not charging us, they charged us anyways for a pair of incorrectly-​sized, broken (!) shoes. The person at the desk even called the owner to ask if they still needed to charge the $ 5 for the shoes, and he said yes! I couldn’t believe that $ 5 would be worth it for the owner to give shoes that were very uncomfortable and potentially dangerous due to to broken buckle.
To summarize: DON’T GO HERE! It’s overpriced, their customer service is astonishingly bad, and the owner is unhelpful. I can’t believe that they are still in business. Go to Main Event instead.

I was very disappointed to come to city like Austin and find a gym of this quality.
Staff could have been more helpful about membership options. Just kind of sat there. I went in eager to become a member, but I ended up only paying for a day pass.
It was dirty. I sat down to rest once, and I was completely covered in chalk. The colors of… everything make this place seem gloomy and dirty.
Color system for the routes seemed inconsistent. Why write in «v4» next to a green tape if green is supposed to be v2? Do away with the color system, Just place a big ol’ «V 4 «under the start hold.
Didn’t seem to be many routes. I mean, overall, if you counted I am sure there were plenty, but walls seemed very blank.
Finally, why is it so expensive? The climbing gyms in Dallas were bigger, provided workout equipment as well as workout areas, couches with refreshments, and were MUCH cleaner, and they costed less for a monthly membership. What’s up with the $ 25 startup fee? If I’m going to commit to paying you monthly, I don’t want to feel penalized for it.

Wish there was less chalk around, but the gym is fun and the community is great!

Good People, God Fun.
Space: They remodeled last year and the place looks completely different and its awesome. They went to more of a free climb type model, which is great, because it looks like they did it for people like me who do not care about climbing with a rope at all. Climbing with a rope always took a long time to be taught, and in reality, just wasn’t worth it for most people.
Safe: Way staffer than it use to be. No reason to roll your ankle with you have 3 foot of foam underneath you now, with no weird drop offs or anything like that.
Staff: They are always nice! Some times, they even help you a bit while climbing.
Professional: Yes they are professional. But I mean come on, they don’t need crazy high ceilings, they don’t need big vast places, they don’t need extra expensive stuff… its the only one in Austin. They have NO competition and they keep it up pretty well even though they wouldn’t have to do anything to get more customers or to keep them happy.

GODAWFUL.
(1) SAFETY PROBLEMS. I was visiting from out of town. Was handed harness and shoes without a belay test! Padding is torn up carpets. High impact, easy to twist ankles. Some holds were loose.
(2) DINGY AND DIRTY. Almost no natural lighting. Poor artificial lighting. Dust clouds in air. Felt like one could get mesothelioma from standing around.
(3) POORLY EQUIPPED FACILITY. Gets to maybe 25′ at its highest. Only 12 – 20 top rope spots. Bouldering cave is fairly large. «Weight room» = ascend rickety plastic spiral staircase to weight bench from 1980s garage sale, Nautilus machine, Olympic barbell but few Olympic weights, no squat rack, some dumbbells, some yoga mats, some pullup spots, and hardly any other equipment.
All this, for $ 25/​person ($ 15 day pass + $ 12 equipment rental)?
Note: My home gym is Mission Cliffs in San Francisco. I’m going to kiss it once I get home because I feel so lucky to have a well-​equipped and safe place to climb indoors.

This gym is so disappointing, I expect so much better from such an outdoorsy city. I learned to climb at ARG south. I bought a month membership and picked it up, then I moved to Houston where I quickly improved. After about 5 months, I felt relatively experienced. Then I returned to ARG north and was appalled and couldn’t believe I had ever been able to send anything there.
The holds are so polished you can see your reflection in them, feet will not stay on the wall, sometimes even juggy hand holds slip, so frustrating. It seems like this was maybe once a really nice facility but it hasn’t been maintained. The holds are dirty af and older than me, the routes have never been reset. I’m used to new routes every two weeks and brand new holds on the wall every set. Maybe I’m spoiled but at the very least, power wash the ones you do have when they’re off the wall.
There is no a/​c, just loud fans that down out the crappy music. The water fountain is hotter than room temperature, it’s like they’re heating it. Every time I’ve ever been the staff has changed but the routes haven’t. No one that works there climbs and they hardly know how to ring up a bag of chalk. I can’t believe there isn’t an alternative in this great city, where I’m from, there are 3 amazing choices.
I really hope the residents of Austin wake up and expect something better. This gym either needs new management our a stiff competitor because at least one consumer is fed up and I am shocked that the rest of the market isn’t demanding more. You’re missing out on an awesome climbing gym experience, Austin!

Strange to give one star to a business I’ve been to over a hundred times in the last 5 years and have spent a discomfiting amount of money on, but it really comes down to this: climbing is awesome and, until later this year, this is the only climbing gym company in town. Here’s a list:
Pros: The only climbing gym in Austin. No need to count the SARG — it’s run by the same company and is in an unbelievably dilapidated state.
Cons (deep breath):
Holds are dirty and smooth — most are probably at least 5+ years old. One two-​handed flake was so old and brittle that it snapped in half under my (165 lb) weight.
The gym itself is really vile. They actually do have both exhaust fans and air conditioning, but it’s rare that they actually run either. It smells like moldy gym shorts, and sometimes the still heat that collects is almost too much — like they’re going for some kind of Bikram climbing.
Routes are rarely re-​taped, so every route more than a week old has unlabeled holds that are «on.» A related con: this gives the know-​it-​all, Alex Honnold wannabes something else to brag about: «oh, yo bro — that greasy sloper is actually on, dude»
No limitations on children. Some parents treat the gym like a daycare, permitting their unsupervised children to run underneath climbers, and also to monopolize walls with their horseplay. I’ve never seen a staff member even attempt to limit any of this behavior. One climber even brings his baby with all his toys to the gym, and lets him roll around on the mat yelling for hours.
Too expensive. This comes from being a monopoly — when I lived in Seattle I climbed at the Stone Garden in Ballard, which was badass, two stories, and was cheaper, because they had to compete with the other companies in town.
Hours are very limited. I’ve driven to the gym before and been turned away because they were opening two hours later since it was a holiday. Opens at 10 on Saturday but noon on Sunday. Closes early on Sunday for some sort of bizarre dancing training. If you arrive when a competition is happening you will be turned away.
The location is terrible. This section of north Lamar has some of the worst traffic in town. It has taken me more than 30 minutes to drive to the gym from my place near downtown, at non-​peak traffic times.
Well that’s a lot of stuff to complain about. Basically this place has been run for years with a who-cares-we’re-the-only-gym-in-town sort of attitude, which is what has led to the sad state of affairs that it’s in now. Later this year there are TWO new climbing companies opening gyms in Austin, both of them near downtown. One will be open 24 hours a day with keycard entry. One is being run by an already successful climbing company from Seattle. I think that’s probably going to spell the end of Austin Rock Gym as a going concern.

I travel for business and often workout at the closest rock gym. Over the last 5 years I have climbed at probably 15 different gyms, and this is by far the worst.
I’ll start with the «pros.» The other patrons were friendly, as was the staff.
Here are the «cons.» The place is filthy. It is by far the dirtiest gym I have ever visited. The holds are incredibly old and dirty. I would be surprised if they had ever been washed. The routes were below average, and there were not very many routes, especially given the size of the gym. Tape was falling off many of the routes, and gym members had to point out holds that should have had tape on them.
Overall, the gym simply sucks. I feel bad for the climbers in Austin if this is the best indoor climbing to which they have access.

I climb at this gym at least 2 times a week. Austin Rock Gym is the best indoor climbing facility I have ever been to.
They recently upgraded the floor and made some renovations that opened up the gym, creating more climbing space.
They have a slap wall for top roping, a huge structure they call «The Big Pig» for highball bouldering, an awesome cave and plenty of other walls with interesting angles that help create very challenging climbs for all levels of climbers.
The «ARG» staff is a cool bunch of kids who are all good climbers and very knowledgeable. Paul is always available to provide beta (tips) on how to climb particular routes.
Also, if you are a parent, you should consider signing your child up for one of their climbing classes. I see the kids there everyday taking part in these classes, and it looks like a great time.

My five year old grand kids had so much fun it was a different type of party for kids they got along great with the big kids everybody respected the space, the kids felt like spider man climbing to the top was such fun watching them get to the top .
The place was as clean as you could expect for a rock climbing place chalk here and there techno music blaring. everybody can be a kid .
Staff was patient with the kids showing them the do and don’t of rock climbing rules and such never have I seen five year old pay so close attention about safety climbing.

Wow!

I used to climb all the time at SARG and then I got an apartment north and then switched between NARG and SARG. I can say my experience here has been underwhelming to say the least.
Staff — Extremely incompetent. I would suspect 90% of the front desk at NARG is high. They are completely out of it and and hardly figure out how to process a credit card. They staff is just awful, I think they got these people of the street.
Gym — Decent Shape. They made a lot of improvements to the NARG and the SARG has always been in better condition out of the two. NARG has only 3 top rope climbs that are all 5.7s. SARG has a lot more top rope and you can lead climb. They also have a nice bouldering wall.
Price — It is kind of pricey. It is $ 15 dollars for a one time climb or
$ 70 dollars for a membership. For this price I would expect a more competent/​helpful staff, but as stated above this is clearly not the case.
My suggestion is to head north to a place called Main Event. They have a great Rock Gym and the routes are all clearly marked (unlike ARG, where the tape is constantly falling off the routes). It is cheaper and they have a great Monday special for 10 dollars which gives you access to unlimited climbing and all access to bowling/​laser tag etc.
I would not recommend this gym to other climbers if they have the means to climb elsewhere.

When I moved to Austin, I decided to take up indoor rock climbing and randomly picked this place to try it.
The staff is friendly and the people there have so far been nice. The North and South gyms are drastically different so if location is an issue then be prepared.
The North gym is mostly bouldering. When I went, there were only 3 paths for top roping which was a little disappointing since I’m a beginner and really enjoy top roping.
The South gym has maybe 60% top rope, and 40% bouldering and a small gym area on top of the bouldering side (pretty neato.)
You need at least 2 people to do the top rope lessons and the North location has way more time slots open for taking said lessons.
All this being said, it’s a bit on the expensive side. $ 15 per visit without a membership and $ 70, nonrecurring, for a membership. It’s slightly cheaper if you have the payment set monthly.
Also the building was a bit hard to find with GPS. Google maps took me to the right area but down the wrong street in the commercial lot and the signs for what the building business name are not visible as you’re driving towards the building so you have to cross in front of it to actually notice it.

This is a review of the north location.
It’s not a bad daycare for the money. The workers are really nice. There tend to be a lot of teenagers on the walls interfering with kids having fun, but I don’t mind too much. The small, open layout makes it really easy for dozens of people to sit along the walls to chaperone guests. It also has a small cave that provides endless amusement for little Billy Jr to chase his friends. They add some kind of calcium carbonate to the ventilation in order to keep the area sanitary, and they don’t cut corners: the stuff is everywhere.
The worker also makes an effort to play a variety of music (no boring gym beats here!), ranging from Arethra Franklin and Coldplay records to dubstep and ambient post-​rock drone music. I did hear some old hip hop once or twice in the last year, but I’m glad other concerned parents nipped that in the bud.
On the downside, it does look like they started a renovation project that looks like it wasn’t finished. There are several empty areas with hard floors and nothing for kids to do. There is no dedicated carpool area where parents can idle their SUVs, which is problematic since parking can be a tough find if you go after work (they’re not open for morning drop offs).
Price: If you frequent the other location it’s justifiable, just don’t pay their day rates.
Overall: Kids love to run around now that all the climbing areas are condensed and moved aside, but it gets crowded and the aesthetics could use a some improving.

Let me put my cards on the table. I’m deep in the middle of a love/​hate relationship with this place. And like most relationships, it’s complicated. I really wrestled rating NARG.
NARG is almost exclusively bouldering, which I love. They also have a replica of The Feather from heuco tanks, which I love. The routes are well set and varied… everything from overhang pump fests to fingery technical climbing.
But here’s the thing, it’s a dump. Not only that, it’s an expensive dump. As a fellow entrepreneur, I get it, it’s difficult trying to base a business around a niche sport. But every time I walk in I get the distinct impression that the owner is trying to milk every last penny by avoiding maintenance.
The mats are clearly past their expiration date, it smells like hippies, most of the carpeting is jagged and uneven, and it’s lit like… well, a cave. The staff is inattentive, at best. Surely $ 65/​month buys me something better than this?
The kicker is that South ARG is leagues better. Shockingly better, in almost every way. Same owner, same mission, what gives?
Sorry North ARG, it’s not me, it’s you.