Best Climbing Gym near Seattle, Washington

I went to this gym over the weekend with a friend who was a member. The staff there were unprofessional. The front desk person was upset I didn’t fill out a waiver before coming. It was a spur of the moment idea and I figured they had forms for me to fill out there, which they did. After we filled out the paperwork needed we asked the team if that’s all that was needed. We were ignored, we asked a second time and they rolled their eyes and said no… and went over proper fall guidelines etc. Filling out a form and going over safety measures is expected, but the poor attitude from the staff is not. I’ve been a member at Vertical world, and momentum here in the Seattle area, and numerous other gyms in different cities. I haven’t had this experience at any other gym. Overall the routes are fun, and there’s plenty of space. The gym itself is fine. But I would recommend going somewhere else that welcomes a more fun environment!

I love this place…but over $100 a month is not justified when they have this many members. You have to wait to use any space in the gym or a wall from 4pm on every day. Nearby gyms cost less and are more spacious. Quite literally the weights run out and you have to step over people to get to the other side of the gym. SBP, I highly recommend you better use your space. You have a lot of unused space throughout the gym. For example, the basement stairs area. People rarely use the light board. The kids area is not often used and it is nearly as large as the entire weights area. I think if you better layout your space you can better accommodate your members and make your gym even more awesome!

Great gym. Love the sets here. All the routes are always so fun and challenging. The range setting really encourages me to try routes I wouldn’t think to. No one at the front desk is very friendly here but it’s a great gym none the less. I’ve taken several classes and the instructors were all very helpful. Milo and some guy named Alex or maybe Derek I don’t remember. Very informative.

It's pretty stingy to not let members use their 2 free guest passes per month how they like. Now you can only bring one particular person once every 30 days. So you still get 2 passes but it's super regulated and I am unclear on the reason why other than what appears to be pure greed. Climbing there is fun though so if you don't mind that the whole pricing structure is set up to take advantage of the customer (making you pay them a whole month even if you're injured, busy, or ill and literally can't climb, yes you can get a doctors note but come on what is this, middle school?) then it is worth it. Just to clarify, if you happen to get injured on the 27th of a month you're already too late to cancel for the next month but if you are injured on the 26th then you only miss out on the last days of the month. Unless you have the extra time and pray that your doctor has an appointment right away and will write you a note. They claim this is to make it "easier" on their staff but they just made it harder on their staff trying to track non members using an SBP members free guess pass to attend the gym more than once per 30 days. So if it helps SBP it's okay for their staff to do some extra work, but if it helps the customers to not be paying during times they can't even use the gym then they claim it's too much work. Convenient...Also not being able to freeze a pre bought year of membership is another massive show that they do not care about their customers but don't need to. They make enough money to alienate long term members and be fine. Part of becoming a corporate money maker I guess. I don't even really have a problem with the massive price hikes since it's so popular, but I don't like how they have it set up so that they are getting money from people who aren't even able to use their gym if they are injured, ill, or some other emergency comes up. But I think the gyms themselves are really fun and so is the climbing. The staff has always been friendly. And with 4 gyms in Seattle you can never complain about the amount of new routes. This place would get an easy 5 stars if I felt their pricing was more fair to the customer.

Great environment and spacious facility. The routes were interesting and the waiting line was short.

Great layout especially for the space. Currently, you have to reserve a time slot ahead of time and once you get there they check your temperature (Edit: this is no longer the case). Lots of climbing space and storage cubbies especially with the limited capacity and requirement to reserve 1 1/2 hour time slots ahead of your visit. There is are a good variety of excellent problems as expected for SBP. If this wasn't a satellite of the main Fremont gym it could be seen as a bit overpriced at $18 for a day visit, but hopefully once things are able to be opened fully it is easy to go between this satellite and the main gym.

This is a great spot for more problems if the main Fremont Seattle Bouldering Project is crowded, or if you need to switch it up—it’s just around the corner. I’ve found it to be less crowded in general here, and if you go during the day on weekdays, you can sometimes get it to yourself. It’s so great to have 3 different SBP locations now. This one is just climbing—no workout equipment or workout areas.

Keeps going downhill. The setting pretty bad unless you like all comp style. (All the good setters don’t want to work for a big chain). Holds are all greasy because it’s so busy and they don’t reset enough. They changed their guest pass policy so you can’t bring the same friend twice. Super lame.

Upper Walls has a different layout than the other Seattle Bouldering Project gyms. This facility is located a walk up the road from Fremont and only offers bouldering. There are no workout areas or boards. However, the arrangement here has seating in the center of the room and is great for resting. Would recommend going to Poplar or Fremont but if those gyms are busy than give this one a climb!

No crowds, and very entertaining and challenging routes. It is such a great deal for the members. This is an awesome boulder gym to have in the neighborhood on it's own. I get a good workout every time here.

So glad for another climbing gym on the north side! Climbing is getting ever more popular and the gyms are pretty crowded during prime hours after work on weekdays. This is the fourth bouldering project in Seattle and very conveniently located near both bus and light rail. The gym is large, modern, and what you would expect from the new wave of gyms. There are two floors of climbing with the main floor having a small section of climbing and a workout area and the second floor holding much more climbing. A few things keep me from being able to give this place five stars. Namely the lack of training boards which I feel every serious climbing gym should have these days and the workout area feels very small and not well thought out. There was a pull up bar but it's been removed and there are only a few hang boards (and not even the popular ones) which are mounted quite high and require a stool for most people. There also doesn't seem to be much support for off the wall training with a lack of weights and belts for weighted hands, no rice buckets, and zero no hang devices. The plastic PVC pipes for warming up are also really short and don't offer much resistance the way the wood ones do at their other locations. The walls are also really close to each other and it can feel hazardous to climb or even stand between some of them when people are on them. Overall I think the gym is a fine addition and conveniently located for public transit but not a gym serious climbers looking to train will be able to frequent. Parking nearby is also very hard and I would not recommend driving.

I’m so excited for this to be near UW! Was a little bit hot inside but I love the old bank vault aesthetic and it is super large. They turned the bank vault into a sauna which is interesting. Edit: I have been going semi regularity and they have fixed their hvac system!

I'm happy for all the college kids that now have a convenient place to climb, but in my opinion if you're over the age of 21 this isn't the best gym for you. I was very stressed the whole time with large groups of college kids goofing off, being loud, hogging the walls, and climbing way too close to others. I think this gym could strongly benefit from more staff supervision, like having someone regularly walk through the building to make sure people are actually being safe

Beautiful and modern bouldering gym. I like the routes more here than at Fremont - they feel a bit more technically challenging. (I recommend Fremont or Poplar if you are a total beginner.) Free street parking is a 5-10 mins walk away, but it can be challenging to find in the evening hours.

really great bouldering gym in an old bank building. from street level it doesn’t look like much, but the lower and upper levels host a bunch of additional climbing walls and amenities. staff are nice and quick at assiting people even when it’s busy.

Had an amazing time at the Seattle Bouldering Comp! My favorite part was learning the climbs with the other competitors on the fly. People are really open to helping others and encouraging you to try. The staff is friendly and the community is amazing. This is the best climbing gym by far!

I brought our 10 year old for some climbing. We were treated great by the staff & the person who was belaying for us (forgot their name) was a total pro- he gave just the right amount of feedback & encouragement to help my child succeed & feel great. We will be back for sure.

Stopped here for a climbing session. This is my first time at this branch hence all the problems were new. I climb at the V3-V5 range so worked on a bunch of problems. The problems were pretty good and the staff was super nice and helpful. Did not check their gym so cannot say but they don't have much slabs. Not a big fan of slabs but sharing information.

The walls and terrains in Edgeworks Seattle are very beautiful and interesting that always come with different kinds of funny routes. It’s so fascinating to me that I can spend 30 mins traveling time to go there to enjoy the climbing.

The club is dishonest. It hosted a community climbing event today 11/23/24 and the judge of a successful top was appealed. Which was upheld. The only evidence the judge had of the appeal was video I had taken of the climber. It had earlier judged the sand climb that was topped - with a much lesser hold time, yet that judge’s personal assessment was to overrule the appeal of that climb. So it used video for one appeal and not of another to determine a result. A result that put the (youth) climber out of the top five finalists. So much for its ‘fun, community event’. Its judges were compromised l, its process is flawed, it had no rule book to follow and it cost a youth climber a spot to compete to win the event. Don’t use this club, it cannot be trusted - it’s a bloated, clueless corporation that puts itself first and runs dishonest events!

I had an amazing experience at Vertical World Seattle! The staff is incredibly patient, knowledgeable, and passionate about climbing. They really look out for everyone, making sure we feel safe and supported throughout the workout. Whether you're a beginner or experienced, their friendly approach and willingness to help stand out. The atmosphere is welcoming, and you can tell the whole team genuinely cares about your progress and safety. I highly recommend this gym for anyone interested in climbing!

Bouldering section is fun, but the top rope and sport climbing areas are where this place shines. Staff were chill and helped answer all my questions. They do require you certify on top rope belay and sport climbing to do them, respectively.

Excellent place to climb, boulder, top rope, auto belay and lead!! Very friendly staff, clean facilities with clear rules and guidelines for climbers!!

The staff, the routes, the yoga teachers are all excellent! The routes in the gym are very diverse for all skill levels and use a variety of techniques to complete them. They also have a complete weight training gym. If you’re on the fence on signing up at Vertical World and think you’d enjoy climbing, I’d say go for it!

It seems like a cool gym, but you have to pass a belay test to even use the auto belay. The boulders are also set a bit hard with most being for more experienced climbers. Not much of as mix for more beginner routes overall.