Red Barn Climbing Gym

Cool bouldering place. Very simple place but serves its purpose: bouldering. Lots of bouldering opportunities/​levels there!

Best climbing in Rochester! Great community, good route setting. Fun atmosphere. Even better now that the upstairs has heating in it.

This place has charmed its way into my heart. Before coming to RIT, I mainly top roped off and on for about a year with my bf — quite a feat for someone terrified of heights. One of the only reasons I kept going was because I was halfway decent at it. That being said, I’d only ever been to one gym (Planet Granite, San Francisco) and a small handful of outdoor spots.
The first time I walked in I was dismayed that only the bouldering section was open and that that the majority of the climbs were on plywood. Not having extensive experience, I was certain that my shoes wouldn’t be able to grip and that I’d slip and fall to my doom. During this first time, I also witnessed a girl fall and sprain her ankle badly enough that the school medics had to be called. I made a mental note about how professionally and quickly the gym handled the situation should I ever be so unlucky.
After climbing nearly twice a week since January, I love this gym. I love how it has no heat (nice and empty when it’s only 15 degrees outside!) and that I can’t find the difficulty labels for most of the problems (who doesn’t love a challenge?). A lot of the routes feel reachy to me, but that’s probably a function of me being short and climbing weird. It doesn’t smell as crazy as other gyms but we’ll see once it starts warming up.
The absolute best part is that it’s only $ 20 a quarter for students. Can’t beat that price! I’m looking forward when to when they open up the second floor — anyone need a belay partner? :D