Bouldering Project - Gowanus

Sort of a joke to be honest. Came at noon on a Wednesday. A quarter of the gym was off limits for climbing due to a comp and the other half was taken over by route setting. Then there were about about 50 children running around playing games that included jumping from yoga block to yoga block on the mats. About 1/4 or less of the actual surface area of the gym available for climbing. And there were about 15 kids running around there as well. I would not describe this as a “climbing gym.” But more as a playground. I’m not against children in the gym but there should be a bit of control, not just a free for all. Great place is you have kids tho! But not for people trying to climb. I did not climb a single boulder. The only reason it’s getting 2 stars is because the guy at the front desk was super nice and understood when I asked for a refund.

I was a little skeptical about the yoga program here since I don’t climb, but the classes are really great. And challenging. The teachers I’ve had so far have been excellent. Shout out to Andrew, Gioia, Ashley, Britt, and Erin. No doubt the rest of the instructors will be as good—I just haven’t worked my way through them all. The studio is bright and clean and the equipment is in great condition. The front desk folks are lovely. Overall, It’s a young-ish crowd but everyone seems to be welcoming and friendly. Plus, the membership fees are a great deal, especially if you go often.

Took Angelina’s Hot Yoga class a few months back and I’m still going through withdrawals. I need to either move to New York or continue on my endless search to find another instructor that comes close to her. She is fun, knowledgeable, empowering, and her playlists always rock. Thank you for that experience I will never forget.

Boston Bouldering Project Member who was visiting Brooklyn this past weekend to check out what another location was like. First impression was a little bummed to find out that most of the photos on the page are out of date, as the facility has been updated, and it changed over to JUST bouldering, no long offering top rope or auto belay climbs. I'm happy to boulder regardless. Just want to climb. Personally, I found a lot of routes in this gym at my skill level a bit boring and 1 dimensional. There was one or two routes I thought were pretty fun to do, but overall, I ripped through more half of the climbs at my level I did in mostly flashes. Maybe just caught it in an easier set. Community and people I ran into there were very nice, staff was friendly, new changes to the space were very modern and clean. Gym area was super fresh. Overall, I'd say it's just ok. If you want a quick climb and workout, this will get you the fix, but I'm glad my membership isn't at this location, because I would be underwhelmed.

Very bad layout. There is not a lot of space to stand or sit besides in front of some slab islands. If a lot of people are working on problems together, the wall behind them is unusable as it’s unsafe to climb with that many people below them. Blows my mind that they had the chance to have a good layout after a similarly sketchy area at bkb.. and they ended up making that kind of canyon-feeling throughout large swaths of the gym. The gym felt like a very large space with not that much to actually climb. Setting was pretty fun though. There is also nowhere to store anything so everyone had to leave their bags around the perimeter of the mats. Locker room has only three small benches to use while changing and very few lockers. These did not seem safe to use either. (I think there was a problem with them when I was leaving..) People were wearing their climbing shoes in the bathroom. Maybe with less people it will be a better climbing experience.