The Climbing Wall

Really, really, really liked this place. Unfortunately only went bouldering so I can’t rate the top roping.
I’ll start with the reasons why I couldn’t give it a full 5 stars: a lot of the holds are pretty greasy. Rather than using color coordinated holds, they’re marked off by tape patterns — but a lot of the routes have been there for a while so the tape is peeling off for half of them and/​or 5 different routes overlap every hold so it’s pretty confusing often times. Lastly, the floor is fairly stiff, kinda like a gymnastics tumbling floor and there’s not enough crash padding to cover the whole floor. Lastly, the walls themselves are wood, rather than traditional bouldering walls that you can smear on.
That seems like a lot to improve on… so why still such a high rating? Simply put, route creativity. All sorts of walls: straight, overhangs of all angles and curves, 360 degree traversing routes, cracks, one through a low tunnel, chimneys, etc. there are some REALLY clever routes that really make you think how to do them. I loved the routes here and wish I had more than a day in Pittsburgh to come back.
Price wise, a little cheaper than other bouldering gyms I’ve been to. $ 14 for a typical admission, with reduced rates on returns for some people (like students). They have a «ladies night» that men can also get in to if they were a sports bra as a top. Mildly sexist, but hey, it’s all in good fun and the discount is extended to us so *shrug*
But anyway, loved this place. Would come back without hesitation.

I bought the Groupon with a friend and we were both pleasantly surprised. Friendly, informative staff, even the clientele are friendly and insightful, almost light going to a friendly gym.

Great spot. It’s pretty cheap for a day pass, and shoe rentals are also reasonable (I’m not a seasoned climber, just fun to do once in awhile). The employees are friendly and explain everything really well to first-​timers.
They change up the patterns seasonally, so it’s been different every time I’ve gone. It’s definitely an awesome place to go on a rainy day and sneak in a good workout without realizing it (until the next day, ouch).
The only drawback, which isn’t the establishment’s fault, is sometimes the more serious groups of climbers will monopolize entire walls at a time. Not cool, man. But that happens everywhere; some people are just assholes.

Admittedly, I am spoiled as I’ve been in Denver for the past 6 years where we have many climbing gyms to choose from. So my opinion is a little biased.
If you are into bouldering, The Climbing Wall is awesome. There is a HUGE bouldering room with tons of problems.
Bouldering, though, is not my jam. I love climbing. The climbing space is much smaller than bouldering and, compared to the gyms in Colorado, much shorter routes (5 – 8 moves to the top, 15 – 30 ft). There are ~30−40 routes that are changed regularly; rating of these routes are Easy+/- (5.5−5.7), Mod+/- (5.8−5.9), and Hard+/- (5.10+).
Can’t be too disappointed, though, because I was actually pleasantly surprised there was even a climbing gym here!

Lots of options for climbing. Employees and fellow climbers are all friendly.

I’m mostly reiterating what other have said but with a few additions.
General
— Bad ventilation. With Pittsburgh humidity, it gets hot.
— Wooden walls, so there’s not a lot of grip for smearing
= Price for a day pass is reasonable, but fees for little things like a belay device and chalk add up instead of holding an id for collateral.
Bouldering area
+ Decent number of routes and variety
— Stiff trampoline floor. Movable pads are big and effective but they aren’t everywhere
Top rope area
–The top rope area is a different section of the building and even has different hours from the bouldering area, which is weird.
— Ratings are labeled as Easy, Moderate, and Hard with +/​-​. Why not put real YDS ratings?
— For whatever reason, the ropes are just draped over a pole without any loops, so you don’t get much friction while lowering. Therefore, they require the belayer to anchor into the floor for each top rope. Not a big deal, I just haven’t seen that requirement in a gym before.
— Nonsensical rules. I got in trouble for helping my partner go over the safety checks. I passed the belay test, but I was explicitly told not to teach my partner how to perform the safety checks as a climber so I could belay him. I was told this was for insurance purposes as they don’t want anyone but the employees teaching. I waited for the employee to look away so I could safely set up a top rope. Discouraging learning seems like a bad idea to me.
Maybe I’m just spoiled by the great climbing gyms in San Francisco where I live but there are enough easily remedied flaws that led me to such a low rating.

First of all, The Climbing Wall ha very helpful and knowledgeable staff who are eager to teach newcomers like myself. Some rock gyms I have been to are very elitist in that you feel like you’re the one left out of some inner club, not this place. They are all about getting you interested and involved with climbing and the climbing community.
The walls them self are great with the perfect range of easy to challenging walls. They also change routes frequent enough to never get bored.
Pricing is also very good (especially if you are a student).

Wanted to leave an updated review for this place. My first review was too critical. This is a gym in Pittsburgh and you need to set your expectations accordingly. This gym cant go toe to toe with world class gyms like planet granite in sf or Seattle bouldering project in Washington, but given the size of the climbing community at Pittsburgh, this gym is pretty damn good. You can tell they are trying. They have made renovations to improve the gym and improved their setting quality and frequency. All in all, well done and keep up the good work.

Please note: this review applies only to bouldering section. For the price you pay ($ 12 admission; $ 4 shoes) and variety of routes you get, I think it’s a wonderful deal! But most importantly, I believe this is the most beginner friendly bouldering gym that I have ever been to! (I have visited about six other gyms, including Brooklyn Boulders and Earth Trek)
Part of the reason I started off bouldering instead of top roping is because the bouldering area has a wide variety of routes, where the top roping area is more limited (seems to be the opposite at all other rock climbing gyms). I enjoyed my time at the gym as a beginner because there were enough routes that I could do! And when I tried out some of the different rock climbing gyms a few months after I started, I was frustrated by the other ones due to the fact I could barely do anything on their bouldering wall.
In addition, I have noted that some of the other bouldering sections of the rock climbing gyms tend to have terrible markings! Sometimes I cannot tell how the routes go due to bad taping or I wouldn’t be able to identify the route level. For the most part, TCW has done a good job marking the routes and indicating the route level.
Another reason I really enjoy coming here is the fact they change the routes just often enough so you would not get bored. Yet it’s not too often so you could still have time to work on them for a while!
With that being said, please do not come here and expect this gym to be like all the other new brand gyms that charge you like $ 25 for one session. This is an older gym, thus there is no AC or color coded hand holds. You may have to spend a little extra time to determine the markings, but hey that’s also part of the challenge in my opinion. So overall, for the price you pay, I really do enjoy coming to TCW.
And don’t let me forget, the staff members are all very friendly as well! If you are terribly stuck on a route, you can ask the staff for help!

I had the pleasure of bringing a group of 15 young girls to the Climbing Wall recently. I had never climbed before, and neither had the girls, so I cannot comment much on the style or quality of the walls. But, the service we received was extraordinary and deserves 5 stars!
We had 3 belayers and another gentleman to keep the rotation going smoothly. We started by numbering off, to keep track of everyone. But, by the end of our time, the employees new each of the girls names! They were cheering every girl on and helping them to find the right holds. It was a very personal experience and the girls LOVED it!
I found the experience to be affordable, friendly, and safe. I was never concerned about the safety of any one. If you’re looking for a creative group activity or birthday party, I highly recommend The Climbing Wall!

There are some really good things to say about the climbing wall, but overall I was quite disappointed. I wanted to like this place, so I’ll start with the positive aspects.
First of all, the gym in pretty cheap. And the bouldering area is really quite good. To be honest, this should only be a bouldering gym. There were a lot of different volumes, nice routes, some top outs, and a good cave area. Even a small crack with a few problems set on it.
It seems like whoever is in charge of setting the boulder problems really has some talent. I might be back to bolder once in a blue moon. The other climbers here were pretty cool, so the place might have a good vibe/​community aspect.
Now the downsides. The staff wasn’t very helpful. The rules regarding the top rope area are nonsensical, and the only reasoning offered up was insurance. I wanted to belay for a friend, but he wasn’t allowed in the top rope area unless belay tested. Belay testing also cost $ 5, and I hate when gyms charge for a test. It’s poor form.
The ropes aren’t doubled up, and with the short wall it gives way too much pull. They require you to clip into daisy chains on the ground. I wanted to lead climb, but there was no one at the gym that could give a lead test. The TR routes were really hit or miss, a lot of them just confusing and not fun. They aren’t rated properly, just easy, medium, or hard.
The walls are painted plywood, so smearing is basically impossible. Further, I question if the holds have ever been cleaned. Some of them are so polished to the point that it’s dangerous.
There’s only once changing room, and overall the place isn’t very clean. I believe there is some potential here, but it seems to be mismanaged and on the whole, a missed opportunity.

I was home for the holidays and wanted to take some friends of mine climbing. They’ve never belayed and don’t have equipment so my hope was that we could go, I could test out of the belay class and we could top rope some easy climbs.
Dreams crushed. Only people that are belay certified can even be in the top rope room. I would’ve had to pay $ 5 to test out of the certification and even if my friends wanted to take a quick lesson on how to belay, its only at very specific times and you need to give advanced notice.
So we bouldered. The walls are old, made of smooth plywood and though the walls are a good variety, you eventually end up right on top of one another. You can only top out on one tiny section, everything else backs right up to another wall or and abyss. With someone who isn’t super comfortable down climbing or jumping from the top, I wasn’t always super excited to fall when there wasn’t a nice big cushion. Those were only on the overhanging walls.
The place was super busy on a Sunday afternoon and group after group rolled in. I understood why there were so many VB and VB+ routes (easier than V0’s).
Side note: cubbies are completely separate from the bouldering area and no food or drinks are allowed inside the bouldering area. Therefore your water stays in your cubby, plan carefully.
I expected better from Pittsburgh and heard that there is a new gym coming, so I’ll be waiting for that one before I try to climb again in da burgh.

For 30 bucks a month, this is a pretty rad spot. I’ve climbed all over the US and Canada, but I’m happy to call this my home gym.

The ventilation in the bouldering area is terrible. Please install some chalk eaters. People are inhaling tons of chalk into their lungs and are going to get pneumoconiosis from climbing at your gym.

Worst climbing gym I have ever been to. Customer service was a joke. Wall appears as if a boy scout went ham with a few sheets of plywood back in the 80s and then did nothing since then. Holds are prehistoric and grimy. Setting is subpar. Insurance doesn’t allow for people who can’t belay to be belayed? Better off climbing the outside of the building for a good pump.

Pros:
— At least there’s a climbing gym in this area
— Walls get reset often
Cons:
— I’ve been coming here a couple times a week for the past few months now, and I have felt like some of the walls really need some padding besides the not-​so-​great spring board they have. The walls are pretty high and the height + lack of mats retract me from climbing certain routes, which is really disappointing because it ruins my climbing experience.
— I brought up the aforementioned lack of mats to the woman who works here, and she snapped at me: «Mats are only supposed to be under walls that are sloped.» I told her the wall I was talking about was sloped, and she replied curtly «If you don’t feel comfortable climbing those walls without a mat, then you shouldn’t even be climbing them.» I was in shock. Is this a way you should be addressing your climbers’ legitimate concerns? Even if it isn’t possible to have mats, she could have at least told me in a nicer way instead of talking to me as if I knew nothing.
— The gym closes at 11PM on Fridays. I usually go at night until they close, but the staff passive aggressively starts turning off the gym lights around 10:50PM. I get it, it’s a Friday night and you want to get outta here. But the business hours are until 11PM, so let me enjoy my last ten minutes of climbing because I am paying for my climbing membership and I want to get as much climbing as I can get out of my sessions at the gym.
— The holds are old and covered in rubber from the shoes. It would be nice if they could at least pressure wash them every once in a while.
— The fees are unreasonable for the customer experience we get here.

I’ve been climbing here for 2 years. Membership is definitely worth it if you’re planning on going frequently. I prefer to walk because parking is less than ideal and I live close by. The routes in the bouldering area are fun and challenging, and they’re reset at a good frequency. New holds and new mats have been purchased in the past year, so a lot of the comments I’m seeing on here are outdated.
This is definitely a better gym for bouldering than top roping. The top roping area is pretty small, but they work with what they’ve got. I’ve always found the staff to be friendly and knowledgeable.

The Climbing Wall is as advertised — a climbing wall. No extras (no retail, no showers) but a good spot to get your climb on when you’re in Pittsburgh.
Two entrances — one for top roping and the other for bouldering. I’ve only been bouldering and it’s a good crowd. Friendly staff will check you in (newbies: you have to pay for a walkthrough to go over the rules of the wall that takes around 5 min upfront) and then after you sign away your life liabilities. it’s you vs. the Wall!
Routes are VB (beginner) through around V6 with a lot of options at all ranges. A bunch are also unmarked so go with that if you’re into a challenge. The other climbers are very friendly and will help you out.
Cubbies for your stuff, small room for you to change, bathrooms, water fountains. Ample parking if you aren’t there at high time after work.
Wednesdays are Ladies Night: Half off entrance fee ($ 6) for women and men who show up wearing a sports bra or ladies tank top. Also a good night to visit and watch men in ladies tank tops. if that’s your jam.

As a new climber I found the whole process intimidating, but the staff at The Climbing Wall helped me get on the right path. Also, the regulars here seemed very nice and always willing to help out a newbie. It isn’t very expensive either, 10 or 12 bucks for a full day of bouldering is a very reasonable deal (I haven’t seen many places which were cheaper).
I’m sure a lot of people, including myself, wish this place was a little bigger, but for being in the city it’s not a bad size. It’s actually surprising how many routes they managed to plan out for the size of the place, there’s more than enough to keep the walls feeling fresh even after many climbs. The diversity of the routes is really great too, there’s plenty of routes for each skill level and climbing style.
The overall experience was wonderful: great staff, great people, and a great setup.
Tip: If you’re a beginner without your own equipment, the shoe rental is worth the extra 3 or 4 bucks.

I love the Climbing Wall. There are tons of routes which change fairly regularly in both the bouldering and top roping areas. There’s also a wide variety of difficulty levels in the gym ranging from ones everyone can do to those much more challenging. Bouldering routes are labeled from VB and V0 (easiest) all the way up to the insanely difficult V7 and V8, while the top roping routes are labeled from Easy to Hard.
Pricing is reasonable, especially on Wednesdays, which is ladies night – $ 6 to climb (after your first visit). Other days the price is $ 12 or $ 10 for students/​military plus the cost of equipment rentals. If you plan on going at least once a week (or more often like me) buying a membership is the way to go, and there are different specials each month.
Sometimes the gym can get crowded (especially on Wednesdays) but there’s lots of routes and it’s fun to take some time and meet other climbers.