Hangar 18

okay seriously. right now i’m locked into 33 bucks a month. how anyone in my situation could rate this less than five stars is crazy. to the critics i urge you to take a step back, maybe visit Sender One or another new, state of the art gym. obviously the big gyms are better overall for lots of reasons, but they also cost 80 buck a month with around a 40 dollar initiation fee… okay thats greedy in my opinion. so the big gym ends up being 550 – 600 dollar more expensive than hangar 18. im not saying i wouldn;t join a bigger gym if it were closer to where i live… the full fitness center and huge walls are tempting, i bet even people that work for hangar 18 will tell you that. but for what they are, i think hangar 18 does a hell of a job. i recently tried a couple of the yoga and fitness classes they offer to members free. both instructors — brianna and ivan were really friendly and professional and held great workouts. they also seem to have a solid system for putting up new routes and since i go alot i always have the option of going to long beach or another branch to get on all new climbs.
i guess my point is that it is unfair to compare hangar 18 to these big modern gyms, especially if you join at the right time when the price is low. take the 600 bucks you save and buy a rack or a crashpad or whatever.

Found this deal on groupon and decided to check this palce out.
They give you a 60 min intro course on very basics before climbing. It was super fun! and will be back again!
Inside the hangar sound kinda funky but other than that had a blast

Not the greatest facility really, but the staff is great. Their little training session for newbies is the best in this area and I’ve climbed at all of the gyms around. They have the cheapest memberships and the other climbers are usually friendly. You can join the meetups there to meet other people too.

I came here for a slightly more exciting bonding hang with my little brother who was visiting from Georgia. The two of us haven’t climbed anything together since getting stuck up in the oak trees by my grandmother’s house when we were kids. I found the staff to be welcoming. Andre in particular was very thorough and patient with explaining all the safety rules and giving us the encouragement to make it to the top (in spite of our collective fear of heights.) I highly recommend this location for a play date.

If a climbing gym and a crackhouse had a baby, it would be Hangar 18. I was down from SF and figured I’d check it out. Filthy, ancient holds (some have actually been SPRAY-​PAINTED) that seem like they haven’t been changed-​out in years. It’s great they keep the hold colors consistent through the problems but they are covered in so many layers of chalk and rubber you actually can’t tell what color they are once you are up and climbing.
The bathroom reminds me some I’ve been in on Sunset. If they just added a condom machine and I’d swear I was at a strip club. Awful.
I don’t know if MadRock owns this place but it’s the only brand they sell or rent.
I guess the only thing that saves this place from one star is that there are some interesting problems, and they are graded properly. But, seriously, this place is so bad that it makes me want to open a real gym like Planet Granite or MetroRock and give Angelenos a place to climb.

I knew I forgot something… well my friend and I got a groupon to come here about 3 weeks ago and it was so fun. The space was nice, Elizabeth was sooo nice and there was a nice dog in the front. I was a little scared because heights arent really my thing but we had a blast. Im def coming back

I’ve been starting to boulder and it’s absolutely fantastic. I can feel myself getting stronger and more fit. Note that I’m the worst at exercising, cardio, weight lifting and even stepping into a gym. Rock climbing makes getting healthy fun. You can go with friends, map out your course, use strategies to get better, and challenge yourself at your own pace.
It’s a great place to meet new people too. I’ve definitely bumped into old faces and met new people through rock climbing.
My first few experiences have been nothing short of awesome. The man at the register was friendly and helpful. He gave me a full day pass for free once and even though my friend who has an annual membership already used her guest pass on someone else for the month, the man at the register let me use it too.
The only things I think can improve about this place is:
1) It can get crowded at peak hours (after 5 p.m. and weekends) as this place isn’t that big.
2) No water. There’s a vending machine, but it’d be great if they had a water fountain of some sort. The first time, 3 of my friends and I went and none of us brought water. It was terrible. We were thirsty after just one climb.
3) Utilize the seating area on top of one of the middle rock. I feel like it can be re-​designed to make it more inviting/​a good place to relax.
No complaints. I think the pricing is reasonable, compared to many other rock climbing locations. I also like how there are multiple locations where you can go to if you have a pass.

I’m a member of hanger since April 2015. I usually go to climbing after work (after 5pm) and of course, there’s always many people climbing around that time. But it’s not too bad.
Try to avoid weekend or Fridays because there’s a higher chance for someone to have a kids birthday party at the place.
You can rent shoes, a harness and a blay. There’s also autoblay to climb with. If you’re a member, you get a free guest pass every month. It’s always fun to climb with people.
If you’re a climber and want to buy climbing shoes, bring a list of shoes you want to buy. They will order the size you asked, one size down and up. And you can try them all three and decide which one you want to take. They will only charge for one you want. If you’re a member, you get 10% discount and 20% additional discount if it’s first time (not so sure about the additional discount).

I’m entirely new to the rock climbing world and has only been to this rock climbing gym. However, in the time that I’ve been here, I have needed the newb course in belaying, and a refresher course after not going for a month+. Our first instructor was indifference and was just happy to be over with the lesson. Our second instructor though, Andre, was AWESOME! Although we were just piggybacking off of another lesson since it was meant to be a refresher for us, it became apparent for all of us that we really did forget everything. He was thorough and patience (despite the busy-​ness at that time).
After our lesson, my sister was belaying for me, and when it was time for me to rappel down, I didn’t feel confident in her abilities since her hands didn’t seem to be in the right positions. I stayed on the wall for a bit waiting for her to figure it out, when Andre came to the rescue! A+ for attentiveness!
As for the facilities, I personally am satisfied. There are rock climbing with, I think, 3 or 4 auto-​belay systems in place, bouldering, and a small area with weight machines (although these guys look dated and very sad). It does get crowded at times, but there are also times in which it’s quite empty (my favorite time to be there).

This is the third Hangar 18 location I’ve been to, and quite possibly the worst one yet. I came to this location on a Friday night with a group of three people. The place seemed small and very crowded. There is a wide variety of bouldering routes, but there seems to be no organization. Many of the holds are slippery making it difficult to complete a simple V1 or V0 route.
In addition, it seems as though the setters were very careless when setting some of these routes. I saw a lot of routes using red holds placed right next to routes using pink/​red holds. It gets difficult to differentiate between where a route starts and where it ends. Also, the difficulty rating did not seem accurate. There were V1s that were easier than V0s and some V0s that had no sense of direction.
The facility itself was somewhat clean. But it definitely needs more love and attention. They have a shower and bathrooms that double as changing rooms for the women (not sure if I can say the same for the men). They also have a small fitness area with questionable equipment. Overall I don’t get the feeling that this is a safe environment, and I’m sure there are many other climbing/​bouldering gyms in LA that are much better than this one.

A few acquaintances have told me they prefer this location over the one in Signal Hill. Although I had never been to the one in Signal Hill and unable to compare, I do really like this location. There is a lot of space and plenty of walls for both climbing and bouldering (shorter routes/​walls without the rope). I’ve never done bouldering prior to this visit. It’s daunting at first, but so much fun!
Staff is super cool. One of the employees had her beautiful German Shepherd free to roam around and look cute. There was a guy with a high ponytail working at the front, who nicknamed me Chandelier because he couldn’t pronounce my name correctly. I appreciated that. They played classic rock all day (Lynard Skynard, Led Zepplin, Queen, etc.), which put out really chill vibes.
I came with my friend who has a membership. I came as his guest. As a guest, entrance, shoes, and harness come free.

Correction on pricing:
Intro package: $ 30 for adults, $ 25 for kids
Day pass: $ 16 for adults, $ 11 for kids

When we first walked in I was taken back by the strong odor of sweat and feet. It reminded me of Bikram hot yoga in dtla… Of course much lighter and tolerable. About 30 mins into it I forgot all about the funk and I was enjoying myself climbing the easier yellow gums on the wall.
Staff was friendly and there is huge parking area so that was a plus from a person living in an area where finding parking may be easier than finding gold.
Only down fall is as a beginner I have to go with someone that can belay me or pay for an instructor. There are free climbing walls but the over all area is small and it gets packed (went on a Monday night).
The prices are on there website. There will be entrance fee, equipment rental fee, and shoe rental fee. I strongly advise you to check their website first.
Overall I had so much fun I ended up joining the monthly club. Its really a great workout for my back and arms since beginners tend to pull up and not push up.

3.5 rating
I came here with a group of about 5 – 7 of us. I had so much fun. This was my first time rock climbing and I was a little scared when I started. The staff was really nice on teaching you how to rock climb. We met some people there that go all the time and they were giving us tips on climbing. I had a lot of fun and would definitely come back!

Do you like standing shoulder-​to-​shoulder with several sweaty twenty-​something guys? Do you enjoy the smell of feet and the languid gaze of indifferent employees? Then Hanger 18 is for you!
I want to love this gym, especially for the price. But the truth is that it’s PACKED on the weeknights and it’s a pain in the ass to constantly check to make sure some idiot isn’t wandering around underneath you while you’re climbing.
With that being said, the regulars here are super friendly. The routes are interesting (although not changed very frequently) and I was really into going for a few months. But after getting more into running and wanting to try some weight training, I think I’ll be canceling my membership and switching to a regular gym.

I can’t say my very first impression of this place wasn’t that great. The moment I stepped in the door I got a good whiff of the scent of sweat, and really badly. I don’t know if it’s always like that or just that day but it was quite unpleasant. It could be cause there were just so many dudes inside that day. My friend that is a regular said he thinks a frat came for the day.
Nonetheless, it was still fun learning to properly knot and pull the rope for your partner and climbing and trying to Boulder haha definitely need to work on my upper body strength.
For newbies like me I think it’s better to have your friend teach you everything and just borrow their equipment. For entrance and shoes rental I think it was all $ 20. Don’t forget your water!

If you’re someone with a pretty average to below average fitness level, this will most likely be a very challenging experience for you as it was for me! I enjoyed trying rockclimbing for the first time with my sister and her veteran rockclimbing friends. Although I don’t know much about rock climbing I can tell this facility boasts a lot of popularity with their surrounding area and they seem to be well-​stocked for all the materials that you would need.
There are free climbing walls as well as the ones that use the harness. This place was completely packed on a Thursday night, and I found myself weaving between people for the majority of our visit there.
It’s definitely harder than it looks and I give a lot of credit to those ninja warriors out there. I believe it’s $ 15 a day if you don’t have a pass and somewhere like $ 50 for a month pass with discounts for various students and jobs.
Cool place to check out if you’re interested in trying out rock climbing or wanted it to become a more long-​term fitness hobby.

Great walls of L.A.
Love this place! It’s a great place for beginners and advanced climbers, there are auto-​belays and bouldering, and all sorts of goodness. Get ready for a solid workout and spending the day there!

This place is bigger than the Long Beach gym and has a better variety of walls for top rope climbing as well as bouldering. Plus, more auto belays as well, which I’m a fan of. The few times I’ve been here have all been around noonish on Saturdays, which meant weekend crowds. While it can get pretty hectic when it’s crowded, everyone has always been really chill, and I’ve never had a problem finding something to do. One of the great things about getting a monthly membership at Hangar 18 has been unlimited access to all of their gyms. I can’t comment on what they’re like for newcomers since I’ve always come here with my own gear and working knowledge of climbing and haven’t needed lessons or whatever. As with the Long Beach location, it doesn’t seem like they require a belay test, so be sure you know what you’re doing before you start to climb.
STEPH JUDGEMENT: Great facilities, can get really crowded at peak times.

I’ve been climbing off and on since I was in high school but I never was able to do it consistently until now! It’s a lot of fun for me and helps me get over my fear of heights too. Of course there’s nothing better than the feeling of getting the to top of the wall and looking down to see how far up you are. It’s scary but since I like climbing I get over it for the most part.
This is my go to gym for multiple reasons:
Affordability — Membership includes rental equipment and is $ 46 a month
Variety — The top rope and bouldering has a lot of options with different difficult levels
Proximity — Last on my list but it’s close to me so I come here a lot!
This is the easiest rock gym I’ve been to where you can get a quick belay lesson and get climbing quickly. The people that work here are efficient and friendly enough, but don’t expect to have in depth conversations. It’s usually pretty busy and they have to keep helping customers as they file in. The belay device they use has it’s own anti-​locking mechanism which makes it less intimidating to belay here. It makes this gym more family friendly and crowded with more beginners and occasional climbers.
There’s a platform built up on top of the bouldering areas that they use for birthday parties. If there isn’t one going on then it’s pretty fun to go up there to rest and just check out the place. The other bouldering area in back you can climb onto also and walk around.
Yep the gym is stinky and it’s seriously a funk that you’ll find at every rock gym. Everything always is covered in a fine layer of chalk because every climber uses it so much. I wouldn’t mind if they cleaned up a bit more but I deal. At least here they keep the large garage style door open and fresh air wafts in. Usually it’s warm inside but it can be pretty chilly on cold mornings with that huge door open.
All in all I have a pretty good time here and get a good workout. It gets pretty crowded in here though and it can be pretty crazy. Since there’s more families and beginners here you’ll also see a lot of people climbing where they shouldn’t be or not paying attention and walking under a climber. Just gotta be more careful coming here during busy times!