Rock Spot Climbing

This place is awesome. I am so happy to see fun stuff like this being created for adults to enjoy. As someone who never grew out of wanting to play in playgrounds, it is perfect and I love that they regularly update and change the climbing routes.
I have pretty good endurance, but I’m not super ‘fit’. I wanted to try indoor rock climbing for a while, but worried I wouldn’t be able to do it, or it would be full of Olympians and I’d feel too awkward to have a good time. Happily, the routes are very doable as long as you are in reasonably good shape (even if you have no prior experience like me!), and while the patrons tend toward the young and the fit everyone I met there was very nice. I didn’t get any stares, and the staff was helpful in getting me set up.
Most of all I just had SO much fun. I’m so glad I finally tried it and I will definitely be going again!

The good: Tons of bouldering. Wide open spaces. Cool slide after you top out. When I was here, there was a nice little top-​roping class exhibit. The staff are SUPER friendly and energetic, I loved that! ⁵⁄₅
The bad: There’s almost no top-​roping at all. In terms of wall-​climbing space, this place has probably ¹⁄₃ to ½ of what Brooklyn Boulders Somerville or MetroRock have. The ratings are set pretty high. ²⁄₅
I think this place would be great for climbers who focus on bouldering, like me. But definitely not for top-​ropers. Overall the experience was fairly pleasing, and it’s always fun to check out a new gym.

In general, I think this is a super fun place to climb. I’d give it 5 stars for bouldering and 3 for top-​rope climbing if I could rate them separately.
Compared to other climbing gyms, I find the routes here much more creative. They aren’t just «muscle your way to the top» routes, although there are a handful of those. I find that I have to think a lot more about how I’m going to tackle something and I like that.
The grading seems mostly accurate and consistent, which is more than I can say for some of the other places around Boston. (I shall not name names…) The staff is helpful and friendly, which, again, is more than I can say for some other places.
It’s small, which isn’t so much of an issue for bouldering, but the top-​rope climbing really suffers. They do have a handful of fun routes in spite of that, but not much in the way of really challenging climbs. If you can make a 5.10, you’ll quickly run out of options. One thing I’d like to see changed is more top-​rope routes and fewer auto-​belay routes. Adding a couple of more challenging (5.11 and up) top-​rope climbs would be nice, too.
Other than that, I’m pretty happy there and the price is reasonable.

Pros:
1. Amazing (bouldering) routes. Very interesting and creative.
2. Very good price for a Boston area gym.
3. While it’s not actually conveniently located for me (biking across roads without bike lanes is scary), it’s supposed to be quite close to the T, which makes it much better than many of the Boston area gyms.
4. The group of people who climb here are way friendlier than any other gyms in Boston. I was astounded.
Cons:
1. The top ropes, while probably there primarily for kid’s birthday parties, are super short. I’d honestly prefer they just do everything as bouldering, since there’s a lot of cool features and such in the top rope area.
2. Pads are QUITE hard… and I’ve been climbing for over a decade, okay. These pads are so hard that I actually think that falling repeatedly on them is kind of painful.
3. Prepaid memberships cannot be frozen. I was hit by a car, but as I am recovering, my membership is being totally wasted. A competitor gym where I also hold a prepaid membership was willing to freeze my membership (with a doctor’s note).
Conclusion: if you want to boulder, this is really the place for you. The only reason I wouldn’t use this as a primary gym is the lack of good toprope/​lead options. The only thing that really prevents me from giving 5 stars is the lack of a freezing/​transferring option. Even that, I would have been okay with except that competitor gym was so very nice about it, and rock spot … wasn’t.
EDITED TO ADD: in light of the comment below, I’m going to reiterate that I have prepaid memberships at both gyms.

This is probably one of the few bouldering spots in Boston I’ve been to that’s really pedestrian-​accessible for those who don’t want to have to drive (there’s MetroRock in Everett, and Brooklyn Boulders in Somerville), which is a major plus.
The drawback, on the other hand, is that it’s not nearly as big as MetroRock or Brooklyn Boulders. There just isn’t the same huge space, but that’s not to say you won’t get a workout here. The majority of the space is dedicated to bouldering, with a handful of belaying walls with a combo of auto-​belays and the belays that require a partner. You’ll see women and men alike, swinging around like Spiderman on a Costco pack of 5-​hour-​energy, ultra-​stealth, let me tell you.
I had only been bouldering once, and have probably negative upper body strength, if that’s possible, so was a bit intimidated at first, but finally made it up the bouldering wall to slide down the slide (yes, there’s a slide that’s a) your incentive and b) your reward for making it up that wall). I don’t think I had mustered the guts to go up until I saw a 10 year old do it. Ok… it was a 6 year old, but who’s counting.
While the location and space is great, I can’t say the same for the orientation I got. He basically made me go up 5 feet on the auto-​belay, jump down, and called it a day. Which left me not knowing how to do much else aside from putting on and taking off the auto-​belay. Flash forward 20 minutes later, and as I’m coming down, my foot gets caught on the partner-​belay rope next to me, I’m swinging upside down, and slamming into the wall. WOOPS, I guess he had forgotten to tell me to ensure your path up isn’t remotely to the left or right of the auto-​belay above you. Maybe that should’ve been intuitive, but also a critical point in orientation for someone who’s never belayed before, I’d think. So in my mind, a total fail in ensuring safety here. And I have the scar on my side and a pretty roughed up ankle to prove it.
There are also a ton of birthdays and kids here on the weekend, so there were a few times when kids would be running around as I belayed down, and I was afraid I’d knock them over as I landed. I’m all for kids having a blast and getting an intro to climbing at any age, but I just found it pretty annoying that I had to try to avoid knocking over children at the same time as trying to get a workout in. Weekdays are probably a lot more peaceful, so just an FYI if you’re planning a weekend climb.
Overall, a good rock climbing gym, but not without a few drawbacks that will most likely having me heading to other gyms instead.

Super fun and indeed good for all skills and ages! I really enjoyed the numerous climbing options with the self-​belay. There are also good bouldering routes for beginners on the wall directly opposite of the self-​belay walls.
The facilities are clean and there is plenty of space so you never feel crowded out by others. The equipment and gear is also kept in great condition.
Location is convenient — about a 5 minutes walk from Broadway.
Perfect spot for a rock climbing outing!

Really fun gym for bouldering. Walls are featured and routes change faces and enter/​exit caves mid way. This is a totally different from experience from gyms with flat walls (especially BKB with its high gloss walls).
Route setting is creative and fun (so far — only been twice) and grading feels fine.

Mostly a bouldering facility with a few short toprope routes. Well-​provisioned for the solo climber who wants to visit during lunch, but middling as an evening pair climb. I’d come back again if circumstances prevented me from climbing Central or Metro.
+ Routes are challenging and thoughtfully placed
+ Rockwerx-​designed walls with arches, corners, and ledges
+ Conveniently located near the red line and downtown
+ Reasonable day pass prices
+ Twisty slide to exit the bouldering top-​out area
— Mandatory floor anchoring, regardless of the weight disparity between belayer and climber
— Low ceilings amplify the sound of unruly packs of children. and there are many.
— Holds are new and chew up your hands. I’d expect this to improve eventually.
— Very few 5.10 and above routes. Mostly catering to the birthday party crowd with 5.5 and 5.6 ladder climbs.
— Lots of auto-​belay anchors, so there are even fewer routes available for partner belay
— My partner didn’t like that the ropes are single-​wrapped — wanted more friction
— Understaffed: desk workers ignored us for a while on entry. took a long time to get a belay test.
MIG: you are an evil, evil route setter
Bonus/​danger: really good donut shop between the gym and the (T). Obviate any fitness benefits from climbing immediately thereafter!

Lots of great bouldering with lots of roofs! The walls are really tall but the pads are good. The setting is very good and pretty well filled in up to V8, quite sparse above that. It’s really nice to get so many roofs problems at low grade, it’s usually quite rare to get those! They also have a few top ropes and auto belays, but I haven’t climbed on those.
The gym is right next to the Broadway T stop on the red line, just a few stops away from downtown, which is very convenient as well.
On a side note, they actually have a lot of gear for sale as well, with a good selection of shoes, harnesses, chalk bags, ropes, rope bags, and a few carabiners and slings as well.
In summary, a great new bouldering gym just a few minutes away from downtown! Awesome! Can’t wait to climb there some more!