Reviews of Vertical Endeavors - Bloomington (Park)

John Zanussi

great facility but often very busy with kids every where. would be great if they could separate the kids into a specific area similar to how MBP does

Samantha Bruce

My friend and I were up visiting for the day and had the worst experience we had ever had at a climbing gym. While most of the staff were friendly and welcoming, we had a terrible experience doing our "belay test". My friend and I are both experienced climbers and were both actually on the climbing board at our school. We spend a lot of our time teaching others to climb and belay. We were given the "orientation" which was really just a tour and then told to go ahead and climb. We didn't vocalize our double checks, even though they were done, and apparently our staff member didn't like that. He decided not to pass us, take away our ATC (which we paid for) and then neglected to give us the chalk bag (which we also paid for). We actually didn't get the chalk bag until we went up to the counter an hour later and complained. And even then that same staff member just glared at us while we waited patiently for his help. When we went through the same test (a friend who arrived later), that staff member was super friendly and made sure to explain what he needed to see and reminded our friend when he forgot something. When we told him about our experience, he told us to come in next time and do it, which was frustrating since it was an hour and a half drive for both my friends. Needless to say, for the price we paid, there will definitely not be a next time.

Sarah Croteau

I like this location a lot more than the Minneapolis VE. The bouldering sections are definitely more interesting. The staff were all friendly and I had no issues with the belay test before climbing. There are lots of creative routes to try for all skill levels. The workout area is good too! Had a good time at this gym.

B H

Visited ~ 50+ times. Not a great place for bouldering. The place is way too crowded with children running all over the bouldering area. I have to constantly look for unattended children on the mats before dropping down when the entire area is designated for 16+ unless supervised by adults. Staff, while mostly great, doesn't do a good job of enforcing this. On top of this, I've had the poorly fastened jugs spin loose on me twice causing unexpected falls. Giving this place a 3 star review as I'm sure it's still great for top rope, just not much else. For those who don't care, be prepared to weara a wristband to let staff know you don't have belay certification. All in all, I would recommend TCB any day over this if you just want a bouldering gym.

Chris Ellis

The best routes out of all the Vertical endeavors in my opinion.

Zachary James Davis

This is our favorite location! Live in Roberts WI but try to make it to Bloomington at least twice a month and the others once!

Steve Fabian

I'm so glad they have a facility in Bloomington now!

Kyle Smeby

Impressive facility, equipment and staff.

Ryan O'Neill

Great gym, routes updated regularly.

Claire R

Nice enough facilities but we walked in on a busy day. Even though we had climbed here before we were still required to go through an orientation and it was over 45 minutes before we were climbing. We didn't have a lot of time and ended up having less than an hour of climbing time even though we were in the facility nearly two hours.

I S

Poor facility. I've been climbing at VE for ten years and a friend was denied his belay cert because he did not vocalize his checks twice, despite clearly vocalizing and securing harness. Forced to auto-belay around mobs of children and Instagramers all day who spend more time taking up the rope than actually climbing the route. All other VE facilities have never given a problem. Maybe if we had paid for the course we could have had a decent gym day. Visit any other locations, VE Bloomington was a massive disappointment.

Brian Viengthong

My family visited this location on grand opening. Never had been to a Vertical Endeavors but have heard great things about it. This place was packed, but has different climbing options. I was impressed to find my 2 year old climb the wall that was 5.4. Great option for family or date night.

navneet kumar

Loved it!!!

Peter Mcguinness

My Kids and I love it here. Ranging from 7-18yrs they all have a great time finding new and challenging ways to climb. I get a rush of fun too every route I take. The fitness equipment is a great addition for warm-up or cool down lifting and stretching. I haven't been to other facilities yet but the staff sets a very high bar in customer service and helpfulness.

Corey Wolff

Great new facility.

Jane Berg

Customer service is lacking. I would definitely recommend the Minneapolis location.

JP Brakemeier

The guy working there said I had flabs with no abs

David Ostergaard

Lot of fun, pretty inexpensive, and a good variety and difficulty of places to climb.

Tyler Anderson

No complaints. It's a climbing gym... Something for everyone here.

Michael Tate

Great climbing gym with a very positive atmosphere. Both other climbers and staff are very friendly and the general vibe is that everybody wants you to do you best and have fun. Nobody really spits unwanted Beta, but if you're having trouble with a route or bouldering project, you can count on a staff member or more experienced climber asking you if you want some advice (Beta). And if you are a more experienced climber, they have some pretty spicy lead routes with great features we just can't find outside in Minnesota. The routes are usually mentally and physically challenging and most importantly, usually pretty fun.

Maggie Stone

I took my friend here and we waited for 30 minutes for my friend to get an orientation. Considering she just paid all this money to climb, it was pretty frustrating waiting this long. When we went to ask how much longer was the wait (around 15 minutes in), we were given a brief answer from an employee of “really soon.” The employee looked like he couldn’t care less and seemed to only want us to sit back down. I’ve had bad experiences with the staff at VE Bloomington before, so I guess this just reinforced my opinion of the staff here. The walls are great for climbing here, I just wish the staff wasn’t so rude.

Ty Matthews

The third VE location in the Twin Cities. As tall as the Minneapolis location but with more such routes. Not as big as I was expecting based on the hype, but the facilities are awesome. Still some issues with being a brand new climbing gym; the rubber pieces are very slick and leave some residue on your shoes. As a result, the first few holds on almost every route are covered with a slippery black gunk. Very hard to get a clean foothold on most routes. Locker rooms are nice and there are lots of storage cubbies spread around the facility. Some areas are still under construction, so there's more yet to come.

Lucas Eichmeyer

We had my son's 9th birthday party here and they did a wonderful job! The kids had fun and learned a lot great facility and even better staff. Big thankyou to Alex and Jordan!

Charles Gearin

Great variety of challenges!

Buck Mueller

I would give them 0 stars, but thats not an option. I had to wait an hour and half to go through orientation and a lead belay test. Overall, unacceptable service. The routes were completely soft. I once climbed at the gym off of HWY 52 in Rochester and find their grades to be spot on compared to outdoor climbing. Their customer service is much better and their route setters know what they are doing.

Zhanna Solgalova

I love vertical endeavors! Best workout ever

Trent Arnold-Nieters

Best one.

Darla H.

First time doing this, but it was so fun! I'm terrified of heights so it was quite scary at first, I didn't get to the top of the wall but I think eventually I will!! The Staff was very friendly too.

Jalen Wilson23

I’ve never bean there but i herd it’s lit with that white powder stiff

Melanie Wessels

Finally!! I've been waiting for a climbing gym that compares to Movement in Denver and this is it! Huge, tall climbs, lots of bouldering and a friendly staff! Check it out!

Tor Swanson

Great staff, great facility. Routes and problems get changed on the regular, lots of autos if you are climbing alone or with kids, good variety on the TR and lead routes too.

Kim Moren

I have a membership to VE and I now go to the Bloomington location several times a week. Such a fun way to get a good workout!

Matthew Wolf

Tall walls. Great lay out. Big parking lot.

vern miller

Very good work out!

Trung Vu

Staff with condescending attitude.

cole hoins

I visited this location today with almost 70 middle schoolers from the summer program I work for. The staff were awesome!! They made it fun while still making safety the number one priority! The students had a blast! Many of them want to return with their parents! Thank you so much Vertical Endeavors staff!!

David English

Best VE Gym in the twin cities.

Henry J

Great climbing, great staff, and an absolutely fantastic workout for your old formies!

Rachel Thompson

Awesome!

Aby Denneson

GREAT!! Awesome staff and fun routes!

Parinaz Kassemi

I have always enjoyed my time coming to this gym. I felt like it was a really great facility with so many routes available, but unfortunately will no longer be returning after a displeasing experience I had with one of the staff members, Brett. I have not been into the location for quite a while, so naturally, I needed to go through the belay certification again for safety purposes. This is of course understandable, and as a regular climber, I felt confident that it was just a small obstacle I had to get through before being able to climb for the day. Unfortunately, Brett did not think that I should pass my belay test for various reasons. He felt that although “it’s obvious that you are a regular climber,” he had concerns. The various reasons were that: my belay device was flipped into an uncomfortable way which “isn’t a safety issue, but is unnecessary” and the rope that I tied was too far into the rope, which again, is not a safety issue. So, I began to ask myself, if a clearly experienced climber is getting their belay certification revoked and it’s not for safety issues, what could it be for? MONEY issues perhaps? Vertical Endeavors unfortunately has such a monopoly on Minneapolis, that they can perform whatever kind of unethical practices they like. What’s most infuriating is that you already have to pay for the day before they decide whether or not you can belay for the day. It also seems like Brett may get a bit of satisfaction having the power to be able to deny an experienced climber the opportunity to belay for the day, but unfortunately Brett, the reality of the situation is that the customer is the one with the power, not you. I will no longer be visiting this gym, and I advise everyone to instead check out Minneapolis Bouldering Project, if you’d like to pursue some rock climbing. Although it’s not the same as top rope, the community is wonderful, and the staff is much more passionate about the activity instead of the amount of money that is going into their pocket.

Tom Dudgeon

Soooo great

Nick Nelson

Awesome place to climb indoors. Big walls which reset about every two weeks. Nice bouldering area as well too. When you don't want to climb outside, this is the place to go.

Cumar Hilowle

Great service to staff

Penny Kaiser

What a great experience! I went there for the first time on my birthday. Staff were great and the place was awesome.

Jared Sawatzky

Love climbing here. Not an experienced climber but everyone is very helpful in explaining methods and tactics for overcoming each route

Raina

Lots of 60 ft walls and lots of options for bouldering, autobelay, toprope and lead climbing! In other words, lots of fun types of climbing. Friendly staff and natural daylight too, no dungeon feel here.

Greg Eakins

This is easily the best climbing gym I've ever seen. They have dozens of walls and routes to climb and top notch auto belay systems on not just the short walls, but some of the tall walls as well. The routes are fairly appropriately rated and range in difficulty from Barney to Spiderman. Some speed routes and identical routes help mix things up. They have a training area (which I feel most gyms leave out) where you can do some basic weight training and grip strength training. The staff was very nice and helpful in getting my novice behind oriented and ready to climb.

Jimmy Sherman

Most climbing gyms range in safety from sketchy to obnoxious. This one falls into the latter. I came here with a buddy of mine during a business trip and spent an hour in orientation and a belay test. My friend passes the belay test, then I go and fail because she didn’t like the way that caught him when he fell. No other explanation and she would not let me try again unless I came in the next day and paid again. She offered to let me take a belay class that day for an extra fee to get certified. It was clear at that point that the gym is more interested in the money making aspect then the climbing aspect. It’s a shame because it is a really nice gym but they really don’t care if you have climbed before and seem to be looking more into upselling people who don’t know any better. If you are looking for a gym to start out at this would be a good place to go since it seems very family friendly and extremely safe, but if you are an experienced climber just looking to climb for a day I would stay away.

Rick Besk

Great place, climbing for all abilities and the staff are very friendly & helpful. Yearly membership is a great deal

Matt Simonet

Friendly Gym, lot's of routes, frequently reset and great annual deals on membership

Donnie Risher

Glad to call this place my home gym.

Steve Linn

Staff friendly. Lead class was great. Better bouldering than Minneapolis Vertical Endeavors.

Jerika Dalton

Best place ever makes me feal so alive.

Tom Lutes

I volunteered today for the grand opening of VE's Bloomington location and I had a great time! The climbs are crazy tall, with some totally awesome lead and nat routes. Don't get me wrong, I think they've still got some tweaking to do; not all the walls were complete, some more work needs to be done in their workout area, and the fresh rubber chips in the main climbing area are too slick (like coat your shoes and make you slip off the wall -slick). But I hope everyone thought today's grand opening was a success and they all had a great time!

Mike Geyen

1st class facility, and staff

Nayanael Ontiveros

Fab place

Zachary Groves

The staff are really nice, helpful, and personable, especially Dana and Brett! I left my harness and atc here by accident and when I realized it I was already 250 miles away with no return to Minnesota on the schedule. When I called they were super helpful and ended up taking the time to ship it back to my house! So nice! In terms of climbing I was a bit injured but the training area was pretty good and the boulders seemed creative and steep so good for getting strong. Thanks for the great experience!

Sergio Silva

Love this place, friendly staff, great customers, fun place, it doesn't get much better than that.

Eric Peter

Awesome place to climb and workout.

Matt Eisenschenk

Fun climbing gym, best in twin cities...

Dustin Campion

Incredible place

Noah Patterson

Vertical Endeavors is a great gym! To be honest I have not been to many rock climbing gyms, but I always feel comfortable and safe here. They make sure they follow regulations. And my experience with the staff has always been helpful. They’ve helped me learn more about climbing equipment as I’m new and when they didn’t have shoes in my size they let me borrow some for free that day and told me where I could probably find some in my size (I have super small feet so that’s probably not a common issue). This place has many auto belays which is great if you can’t get a friend to join you.

Steve Rawlins

Soaring verticality

Paul Brichta

After climbing here for one year the best comparison I can make is this rock climbing gym is very much like the Comcast Xfinity of rock climbing gyms. The vibe I get from climbing here is simply awful. I feel like the gym is only trying to accommodate whatever will bring in the most money. The constant announcements to sign up for this or that are annoying and it seriously needs to stop. Instead, put up flyers or something else, I've never experienced this at another gym. I climb here because it is close to my home and it is my only option (much like Comcast Xfinity is to a lot of people). I've climbed at many climbing gyms across the country and this franchise by far the worst of them all. That being said, many of the regular climbers and most of the employees are very knowledgeable and super nice and fun to talk to. I have only the utmost respect for many of those people and workers because I know they are only trying to have fun climbing or hold down a job and make a living.

John Braland

So much fun. This place is amazing. Friendly staff and fun for the family.

Britt Trusgnich

Helpful staff and a lot of different climbing options.

Ayo Gazal

Kicked my butt, but y'all rock!

David Flores

Love it! Bright and spacious place. Plenty of auto-belays if you go alone, and plenty of top/lead routes if you go with friends! Friendly staff

Jon Wedell

This is an excellent gym and we enjoy visiting when we're in town. I am rating two stars because this gym requires us to take the orientation and top-rope/lead test every time we come which wastes up to an hour. If you haven't been in 120 days you will be subject to this policy. We often climb out of town in Chicago or Milwaukee and no other gym has such an onerous certification policy. At least 6 months between certifications would be more reasonable; I hope they change their policy. (We're regular climbers at our home gym.)

Kristen Johnson

I brought my eight-year-old son here for his first real introduction to climbing. The staff was incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. We both loved it; my son is totally "hooked" and can't wait to go back! Thanks, V.E.!!!

Amanda Lutes

Beautiful location. We volunteered for the opening, and it was a blast. However, I don't think we'll be back for a couple of months. The oil from the rubber on the ground made many of the holds incredibly slippery, and our climbing shoes continued to slip at our regular gym for a few days after we were there. We will be reticent to return until we start hearing updates about this. Once we hear, we're excited to return, and hopefully visit the Bloomington location more often!

Jake Meier

Great gym lots of over hanging walls but a good variety of lead and top ropes. There is a slab wall also, and a natural wall with hand and finger cracks... and I think some off widths but not sure haven't done much. There are also auto belays in a few areas

Andrew Reitz

Visually really appealing. Staff is fun and helpful. The pro shop has a decent selection and they can normally order stuff for you if they don't have what you need in stock. There are many spinners, be careful! Nothing like doing a dyno to a hold that spins on you. Some big old industrial fans would be an improvement. This place is warm especially as you climb higher.

Robert O'Brien

Wonderful staff who are expert climbers with a passion for safety and fun! The climbing routes are marked well with ratings to help you know how you're doing. If you need assistance or any gear their shop is always ready to help. Classes are available to grow your skill base as wanted.

Samuel Helberg

I've been going to this location on and off ever since it opened and I can say it has only gotten better. Some older Google reviews complain about the oily rubber. That has been taken care of - they were shipped the wrong stuff when they opened and the correct rubber is there now. They also finished building out the entire location, so there are now multiple auto-belay routes, belay routes, and lead belay routes. They regularly switch out the holds in the belay areas and the boulder rooms, so there are always new challenges before you can get bored. The weight room is smaller, but has just the right amount of weights, treadmills, practice holds, and so on. The staff is nothing but welcoming, friendly, and helpful. It does get crowded at times, but everyone there is friendly, patient, and accommodating. Perfect for a family outing or an exercise date!

Robert MacGregor

Until this new rating system goes away, my score will be low. They have decided that the Yosemite decimal system now rates walls with 10+ or - instead of a, b, c, or d. I am an experienced climber, but I am not an expert by any means. When I look at a route, I expect to be able to tell where it'll sit in my abilities. I can usually climb 10a's and some 10b's. Now, I have to just try climbing a 10- without knowing what to expect. This place is too expensive to have shortcuts in the rating system. And now, the original review... Let me start by saying this is my favorite gym I have been to in the country thus far. The facility they have built deserves a solid 5/5 for height, variety, and quality of equipment. I have been to so many places that would qualify as scrappy at best. They also have a great gym for complementing your workout. If you want to lead climb, overcome your fear of heights with the high walls, auto belay because you are by yourself, or boulder, there is no comparison that I have been to (yet). I have been to gyms in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Duluth, Grand Forks, Seattle, San Jose, Salt Lake City, to name a few, and all leave me missing VE Bloomington. I think part of the problem is people come to a climbing wall expecting a normal kind of customer service; a thing that seems to always be subpar in climbing gyms. They are staffed by people who just love climbing and thus you get a fairly laid-back atmosphere which can lack costumer service. It could be better, but I have definitely seen worse. This place in Eugene didn't even do an orientation and the guy who took my money barely seemed to even work there. Now for some negative. First off, these climbing gyms have gotten outrageously expensive. For my wife and I, we pay about 110/month; about what we pay for YMCA Twin Cities. But there, you get access to pools, child care, and all the classes you can fit into your schedule. The fact that VE charges on top of that to take belay lessons and such is way too Verizony. My main qualm is the overall rating system of routes. There is absolutely no standardization at VE. I am a 5.10a-b climber on a good day. But when I try numerous 5.9s or even 8s that I can't do, that is not right. My bigger concern is just how long it takes them to rate routes. Sometimes it is weeks after setting that they put a rating up for a route. I am not a pro climber; I shouldn't have to guess what a route is prior to climbing it. Just like I should know the weight on a dumbell before lifting it or the price on a car before test driving it. Having their staff or even volunteers test routes and come up with a fair rating should be the absolute first priority after they clean the walls and reset everything. By the way, they do this way too often for these competitions. It seems like once a quarter they are putting up signs saying they will be closing the bouldering area and parts of the main wall for these. And that often means that you won't have a decent variety of routes for weeks to a month. So there is my review. Hope people find it helpful.

Catherine Hurley

Friends with all the staff, LOVE going here, they're changing out the rubber which is a bonus and the staff loves to help you out if you need it. GREAT PLACE

Amy Ries

Great place to climb and boulder inside, friendly staff, plenty of parking, love the new rating system.

Blair Briggs

What a fun and unique way to stay active. Q friendly helpful staff, and a party room too.

John C

It was really sad to stop by VE with a couple of friends from out of the area. I grew up climbing at the first location in St. Paul over 20 years ago on one of their climbing teams. The gym was owned and operated by a group of real climbers who were part of the climbing community. I stopped into the Bloomington location with three friends. After waiting and waiting and finally going through their obnoxious orientation process, I decided to take their belay test (I volunteered out of the group in hopes Having only one of us go through the process would get us climbing sooner), unfortunately their manager made it clear from the beginning it was his goal to fail a climber with almost 25 years of mountaineering experience and by golly he managed to find a way! Instead of simply telling me that the method I used didn’t follow their strict gym requirements, he had to start talking about the user manual for my harness. I’m sure in the last 10 or 12 years since I bought that harness that plenty has changed. His condescending and arrogant attitude was unpleasant and left all of us wishing we had simply asked for our money back and left. The routes are ultra soft— a 5.11 on an auto belay felt more like a 5.7 after getting tugged up the wall. On the plus side, the facility is clean, the locker rooms are nice and it is convenient to locate. Bottom line: if you’re part of the climbing community, you could find a better gym. If you’re going there for a birthday or a bar mitzvah, I’m sure you’ll have a great time if the staff is in a good mood.

Robert

The climbing is great but the see staff (Josh, and the one the girls from Bloomington)both gave me a mean look and treated me like I'm a idiot, I am not going to return to that location.

CG Hagen

Great place, feels much bigger than St Paul

sean g

Best climbing gym around

Sascha Castriotta

Great climbing. Routs are not sandbaged. Tall routes.

Luke Smith

Best staff. Best holds. Best routes. Parking situation is easy peasy too

colin Downer-Carlson

Great bouldering great top rope great auto belays

Kurt Klussendorf

Of all climbing gyms in the city, Bloomington VE is the best. Lots of routes, tall routes, good variety. Okay number of self belay routes, I got to get me some friends!