Brooklyn Boulders Somerville

If I reviewed this place two years ago, I’d have given it four or five stars.
The climbing is pretty good, especially top rope, but bouldering can be better, especially on the second floor. Not enough problems for kids.
I like the open space and all the extras. I usually come here with my daughter and when she gets tired of climbing she plays ping pong, video games in the TV room, or having fun in the yoga room with her friends (when it’s empty). They also organize events and the location is great.
My main issue with this place is the price. They keep raising prices and I pretty much stopped coming here because of that. There are gyms in the area that cost half the price. In the past they had some good deals but nothing recently. It’s especially expensive for people like me who cannot visit the gym more than once a week.
I understand it’s expensive to run such a big gym in the city, but they can be more creative and think on ways, like cheaper day passes for certain days/​hours.

I’m conflicted about this place. I’m new to climbing, and learned to climb here, so from that perspective, the facility is excellent. Additionally, the people are really nice. I connected with a personal trainer (Sterling) and got a lot out of my sessions from him both from the standpoint of climbing and overall fitness. Here’s what I have an issue with, the men’s locker room facility is absolutely disgusting. I belonged to the Charlestown YMCA prior to this, and it is far and away much nicer in the locker room/​shower department. Let that sink in. I’m a professional in my 30’s, I like to workout/​climb before work, and then get dressed for work. This is like a high school gymnasium locker room for a class of 100 people, tiny, circa 1985, with a petri dish of a shower stall. Really tough stuff. They have signs indicating a renovation is pending, but I was a member for 6 months and never saw anything… additionally, the signs discussing the mysterious renovation are semi-​permanently installed so I don’t have much hope. For $ 115/​month, I don’t feel like I can demand an Equinox experience (which I would pay for if it were available) but at least the local Y removes the mold from behind the shampoo dispensers. It’s the little things…

Website doesn’t give you a clear pricing for day only passes and they only have 6 auto belay machines but it hits the spot to satisfy a rock-​climbing crave.

I went climbing for the first time in a while today with a friend. The staff at Brooklyn Boulders were extremely accommodating, surprisingly so one could say. They not only showed us the ropes — literally — but even hid my stuffy suit in the staff room while I let loose in more athletic attire. The routes are artistically planned and the atmosphere is open and welcoming. I would highly recommend this spot for the avid climber or the person trying something new.

I cannot speak to the climbing, but I took an acroyoga class here with some friends! It was really fun and the two instructors were great! The reason I can’t give it five stars is because it’s pricey ($ 20 if you’re a student, or $ 25 if you’re not), AND it was super crowded. It was so crowded to the point where we definitely couldn’t do certain things because of the limited space. I get that they want to allow as many people has possible take the class, but they need to move the max from 33 to more like 25. It would give students the room to actually breathe and move! I also wish it was more affordable, but because of the price, there’s no way I’ll be able to go very often. Overall though it was a positive experience!

Most one or two star reviews cover what I experienced/​observed at BKB Somerville but I’ll share anyway:
— route setting isn’t creative or consistent. It feels like a lot of the harder problems just have holds further apart from each other but the climbing is mostly very mechanical, not a whole lot of room for fun/​problem-​solving movements.
— smooth walls/​no smearing. Not sure what they were thinking when they designed the gym walls by making them smooth. That begs for busted shin/​knees when people try to smear and their feet slip.
— mandatory facility tour. When you first sign up or try out the gym, you have to take a mandatory facility tour. I get the point, they want to show new prospective members all the benefits they could take advantage of (after all, there’s a lot of room for non-​climbing activities). The least they could do is make that tour optional instead of wasting half an hour of everyone’s time with stuff they don’t care much about (you have to wait until everyone who just signed up is ready for the tour, and then the employee will show you around).
— punchcards with expiration dates. This to me was the biggest deal breaker of all. The point of having a punchcard is so one doesn’t feel pressured to go to a gym just to get his money’s worth within a certain amount of time (such as a membership). Add an expiration date to a punchcard and that’s exactly what you get. Add in the fact that they have some of the highest membership rates and picking other gyms in the Boston area becomes an easy decision (i.e. for about $ 25 *less* per month, you get access to three Central Rock gyms in the area, each with very unique setting/​facilities).
— Catered to the ‘lifestyle’ climber. A lot of the people who were here seemed to not be climbing at all, oddly enough. There was even a dude who was practicing skateboard tricks in between climbs in front of the bouldering area. WTF? If you go to a climbing gym, climb the wall. Don’t go there to pose and try to impress or pickup females. Put a shirt on. Stop being so loud and obnoxious.
— Crowded bicycle parking. If you bike here, pray to the cycling gods that you’ll be able to lock your two-​wheeled friend in the cluster f that is the bicycle parking area. And when you do find a spot, continue praying so that no one locks their lock onto your bicycle, which isn’t rare.
After my punchcard expired (with 2 punches left, bye bye $ 40) I never came back to this place. It’s a shame, BKB Somerville had a lot of potential to be a world class gym but it fails to deliver the essentials of what every climbing gym should have by sacrificing space to mobile work/​office areas, video game room, ping pong room… the list goes on. One of the major reasons why this gym gets so crowded is because it’s in a heavily populated intersection of neighborhoods so people will naturally flock to wherever the closest gym is.
If you live in the area and are thinking of giving rock/​plastic climbing a go or if you’re a novice climber in general, by all means try BKB. At the very least you’ll get to feel what climbing is like and hopefully learn some of the basics.
The not so bad:
Aeronaut brewery is right next door.

I think they were not prepared for the number of people that would purchase the Groupon and show up on a Sunday. It was so unorganized, they didn’t have enough equipment, and they expected people to wait around for 45 minutes so they could find someone to do a tour of the facility.
It was fun once I eventually got in there, and it’s a very cool space. They just might need a few more employees.

Background: 25, joined in December as a total rock climbing noob and totally out of shape… Have held off on writing a review until I really got to experience both the climbing/​workout facilities AND a couple of the community events.
Facilities: Stunning facility and only getting better. This isn’t just a rock climbing gym! It’s a full service workspace, hangout/​meetup space, and yoga studio too. Naturally bright, absolutely huge, well-​vented facility with co-​working space, multiple lounges each with their own flavor, and an open workout space. BKB has begun massive renovations on the bathrooms and I believe they completely re-​doing the second floor. I have never been a member of a facility I actually WANT to spend time at when I’m not working out. This is that gym. I’m really excited about the re-​design. I would disagree with people who say that it’s really crowded; I always find space to climb and never have to wait long to use an auto-​belay if I’m alone.
People: Fantastic people, from the managers to the front desk to the many awesome people I’ve met while climbing. I was very intimidated to start climbing, having no idea what I was doing and not knowing other climbers. BKB has been a real social experience for me; I’ve met wonderful members who have encouraged me to push myself and as a result I feel that I’m a more confident and healthy person. I’ve never once felt judged or like I didn’t belong (a feeling I’ve felt in almost every other gym I’ve been to).
Events: Regularly blow my socks off with awesome events. BADBADNOTGOOD/​CouchTripping was so amazing the other week! Awesome concerts, free beer, meet-​ups of all types are the norm. I joined wanting to get stronger and lose weight, but I’ve gotten this whole benefit of a new social life that I didn’t even consider at first.
All in all, I have to say that BKB and it’s community has truly changed my life for the better. I’m 25 pounds lighter, I have an exhilarating new hobby, and I have some awesome new people to share it with. Thanks BKB, joining was the best thing I’ve done for myself in years!

After moving to the Somerville area from California, I was recommended BKBS by a friend. I was psyched to find what was supposed to be an awesome climbing gym not too far from my new home. I’m by no means an expert climber, but I have climbed recreationally, both indoors and outdoors, for several years now. I’ve been to really amazing gyms and pretty-​good-​but-​not-​great gyms, and felt perfectly content and often elated.
But I had never been to what I would characterize as a *bad* climbing gym until I went to BKBS.
Let’s start with the «good» aspects of BKBS. It’s gigantic; the bouldering walls on the ground floor are high, even though there’s no topping out. For those slightly more height-​conscious, there are more standard bouldering walls upstairs. There are two weight rooms — neither of which is very big or well-​organized, though — and a «training» room. A large part of BKBS is taken up by what isn’t actually workout space but rather «lifestyle» space, including a teen room, some sort of lounge area with a ping pong table, and a coworking space. So if you work remotely or are a student, it’s nice to be able to get a workout in and then be able to sit down and do work. If you hit a mental block, let off some energy by doing a bouldering problem. They also offer a lot of fitness classes, and have parkour equipment, which seems like it could be fun.
Unfortunately, nearly all of the other aspects encountered at BKBS have been terrible. The first thing I had to do as a new member was take a facility tour. I get it: you’re shiny and all straight lines and white and chrome. Don’t tout this as a «safety lesson» when it is clearly a self-​congratulatory pat on the back about how achingly cool and awesome and artsy the space is. It shouldn’t take me an hour after walking into a gym before I can begin climbing or working out.
As for the actual climbing there? The walls are completely smooth and don’t permit smearing. The routes completely lack any form of creativity. There are no interesting or complex boulder problems, and grading is very inconsistent. It’s as if every single route setter at this gym had the same idea: «Let’s make every problem really hard to start, and place all the holds really far apart so people think they’re getting cool and difficult boulder problems.» And why is nearly every wall overhung? God forbid I want to work on my footwork and balance, either; there are very few technically difficult climbs.
And safety? Not even a thing. My foot slipped on a spinning hold, and I fell and hurt my shoulder. That should never happen at a climbing gym, and should definitely never happen more than once or twice. But from reading the other reviews, I can see it has been a recurring theme. I reported it to a staff member, and there seemed to be absolutely no motivation to fix the problem. Further, why force ropers to use grigris? In a gym setting, with inexperienced climbers, they encourage laziness and complacency with regards to safety.
Finally, I had a completely terrible experience when canceling my membership. I called towards the beginning of January, and was told that it was taken care of. I called again towards the end of January to confirm that my membership was canceled. This time, the person on the phone told me I would have to email them, and that my request wouldn’t be processed for two weeks. Granted, I probably should have known that they have this policy, but I also should have been told when I called THE FIRST TIME. Now, BKB won’t refund my membership fee for February, even though I haven’t been back since January.
I joined a yoga studio closer to home instead, and have been much better for it. The last two letters of BKBS really sum of my feelings towards the gym.

Talk about putting the «bro» in BROoklyn Boulders!
Single ladies, you may hear about the ~10:1 male-​female ratio and think, «Wow, that sounds like a great place to meet a guy!» …and it is – if you dig quasi-​hipster, neckbeard-​ed bros who skipped middle school’s «don’t leer» lesson.
At BKBS, for the low, low price of $ 115 per month, you can be creeped on by men – men who will try to chat you up when you are clearly there with another man. Or while you’re lifting with headphones on. Men who will coincidentally happen to follow you around the whole gym. Or who will stare at you while you lift weights (heaven help you if you squat). Or run. Or do yoga. Or basically do anything WHV (while having a vagina).
Bros will sit below you and watch you climb (don’t worry, girl, they’re looking at your technique, not your ass!). And speaking of asses… As an extra bonus, you can have your ass videoed and your picture taken by a creepy AF dude while you climb, and when you get a staff member involved, be told, «Uhhhh, what do you want me to do? People can take pictures.»
On the positive side, BKBS doesn’t require men to wear shirts. Seeing fellas running around shirtless serves as a free, built-​in douchebag detector for us ladies! Shirtless? Douchebag! Thanks, BROoklyn Boulders, I knew I could count on you for a membership perk!
However, the Finnish sauna is nice (definitely because it’s gender-​segregated), some of the staff seems to know what they’re doing, and if you go at odd-​hours you can get the place almost to yourself. ²⁄₁₀

Compared to other rock gyms, this place is very spacious, modern, and beautiful. The walls are made from smooth wood, giving it a very clean setting, as opposed to rock. However this also draws some complains that you can’t really use good smearing techniques (where you press your feet against the walls for balance). I never found it an issue.
Their hand holds are always new, they have insanely tall top-​roping courses, and their bouldering is second-​to-​none.
Hands down, if you love to boulder, COME HERE! I think in terms of variety and amount, this place has more bouldering options than other gyms. Possibly could be improved if they have a larger overhang wall like MetroRock, but still, head and shoulders above in terms of variety and number.
Their only weak point is that their top-​roping doesn’t change very often. It’s my belief that top-​roping should be changed more often than bouldering, because the assistance helps people conquer those routes faster than boulder problems.
However, this place is amazing. They often have companies come and show off their nutrition products and often you get free food. And the people who work here are everywhere, and climb with you. I’ve become friends with quite a few employees, which is awesome!

After a couple years of climbing I have a different outlook on BKB.
Overall its still a nice gym but the top-​rope routes don’t get reset enough. Sometimes I’ve seen routes that have been there for 3 – 5 months. The walls in general just aren’t as interesting as other gyms I’ve climbed at. Not as many features.
The weight room is a bit of a joke (though the climbing workout room is on point!). Weights are strewn about, equipment goes missing or taken during classes, there is only one squat rack. Its just frustrating at times.
The staff is friendly but seems clueless about how the place is run. At times they don’t know the answer to basic questions. I don’t fault the people who work there for this, its a problem that comes from the top. People working the front desk should be able to answer membership questions, or at least know who to refer you to.
Overall it seems like BKB is more focused on how to build their «savage games» and other marketing add ons and less focused on running a really solid climbing gym. If that’s what you are looking for then definitely check BKB out, but you might find a better value elsewhere.
Disclaimer: I still go to BKB a lot and really enjoy it. But I am paying mostly for the convenience of it being down the street from me rather than it being the best gym in the area.

Pretty dazzling! Don’t be fooled — it’s not only a rock climbing gym; it’s a workspace, a yoga studio, a weightlifting and cardio gym, and a place to hang out and play table tennis or Super Smash Bros. The climbing is good so far, the bouldering (free climbing) is fun and challenging. I think the best part about the gym is the fellow clientele — people scaling the walls constantly, giving each other tips and tricks, it never feels competitive — it’s like the wall is the objective, and everyone works together to help each other climb to the very top. I haven’t done belaying courses so I can’t comment on them.
The only major con that comes to mind is the price. It’s not cheap, and I don’t see it becoming cheaper anytime soon. Keep in mind you will have to rent climbing shoes and/​or a harness if you don’t own them, adding to the cost. Overall, though, the gym is a lot of fun and it feels like it’s always improving. Check it out sometime, ask a friend who goes — they get guest passes every now and then!

first time going here after being at metro rock several times. While I enjoyed the spaciousness of the facility, the natural light, the great artwork and the room with the N64, the real trouble came during the first time tour they make you do. While taking the «introduction to BKB» and auto belay test (yea they make sure you know where to put the caribeaner on your harness) the guy told me the caribeaner went on the top loop (the second loop where the rope goes when you’re climbing). I looked at him and sort of went «hmm I don’t think so.» And he showed everyone else in the group and went «yea on this harness it’s different» knowing he was WRONG WRONG WRONG. This concerned me a bit because the tour was 5 people and I was the only one with experience (and I use experience very loosely here).
Another issue I had was the rental harnesses. Absolutely awful. There’s only one loop for everything. It just seemed realllllly unsafe. I was uncomfortable hooking my friend (first timer) up in that. The ones at metro rock are far superior.
Lastly: it seems no one but the staff at the front desk are interested in helping. I tried to flag down a staff member to take the belay certification test and it was met with some punchyness which was really unappreciated since I was already sort of anxious for it being my first time.
I’d say if appearance is important to you: BKB is way better than metro rock. But if everything else is important? including the friendliness of the staff, friendliness of the members, parking, etc. metro rock might be a better gym for you.

I feel weird not giving this place at least 4 stars. Maybe I was too excited to check it out, as the soon-​to-​be opening BKBQB seems like a scaled down version of a concept that I thought was fully realized at BKB Somerville.
I will say the sheer spaciousness and natural lighting of the facility makes for a pretty gorgeous environment to climb in. The high walls are pretty impressive, there are as many if not more tall (60 ft) walls as I’m used to at the Cliffs in New York. A handful of auto belays on the 40 ft walls, and even one on the tall wall.
There were actually people working in the collaborative work space. There was a nice training room, weight room, yoga space, lounge area, generous amount of bike locking space. A parkour training area! No training stone was left unturned here.
When I got on the bouldering routes, however, they seemed to lack the creativity, technicality, and fun factor (obviously highly subjective) of BKBOG. The bouldering walls were also a bit sparsely set, especially on the upstairs level. So many more routes could have been set. Not to crowd the wall, but I felt as though I was quickly running out of routes to try — an issue I never run into at BKBOG.
There were about 6 auto belays on the 40 ft wall, which sounds like a lot until you get to them and realize each auto belay averages two routes, but I only found one — a 5.9 — that was the right amount of challenging without being too difficult.
A pro was that everyone I interacted with who worked there was nice and respectful. I did have a 10 – 15 minute orientation to the space and a quick auto belay test.
The potential is there, and I like that they want to make this a space about more than rock climbing. However, I would want to see more focus on the routes themselves, based on my one visit here. This is, after all, a rock climbing gym.

New-​ish climbing gym, with a very Boston tech hipster vibe. Lots of various types of climbs and the setting isn’t bad. A bit on the pricey side; while I have been there numerous times, almost every time — the staff/​service has been rather unimpressive.
That said, lots of programs for the beginning to advanced climber, with some cardio machines and work space for those who like to e-​mail (or write their thesis) in between routes/​problems/​training sets. Another plus — there are auto-​belays if you don’t have a partner.

Compared to other climbing gyms around Boston, this isn’t much to write home about.
Pros:
1 — It’s big in all directions. They have really long walls and many of them.
2 — It’s convenient for people in the Cambridge/​Somerville area.
Cons:
1 — It’s seriously overpriced. I don’t know who would actually bother paying for a membership and the prices for their classes are positively absurd.
2 — Routes are not accurately or consistently graded. Generally speaking, they’re a level above what you’d expect (eg: a BKB 5.10x would likely be a 5.11x elsewhere; a v3 is probably really a v4), but that’s not always the case. Sometimes you’ll find a v1 that’s harder than a v3, etc…
3 — Routes are mostly, though not always, unimaginative. They pretty much make them more difficult by using hand-​holds that are harder to hang onto. That’s about the extent of their creativity.
4 — They force you to use a grigri, which leads to a lot of lazy, inattentive belaying.
I will continue climbing there when I can get discounted 10-​packs, but only because it’s close to where my girlfriend lives and it’s easy for her to get there after work. I’ll also continue to do my «real» climbing elsewhere.

Alright. It’s time for a serious update. I got lucky, and found a discount for membership via a partnership with an organization where I’ve attended classes. So, I have now had a membership here for a long while. This is a very frustrating review to write, b/​c I do love their facilities, and their front desk staff is great, and I consider a couple of the class instructors there my friends at this point.
This is why you get 1 star: If you ever ever need any higher level assistance they will be the absolute worst. For the price that one pays to go to this gym, this is COMPLETELY unacceptable. The upper level management appears to be completely useless.
My very simple situation: I moved, however, I will be returning. I wanted to freeze my membership. According to their policy, this is totally fine. I will be paying them a reduced fee to not go to their gym (they get money for me to not attend! How awesome for them). I filled out the information to freeze my membership on their website 3 – 4 times. I called the front desk for help b/​c they kept charging me. I was redirected to email their member services people… and, no one responds. I have now had to dispute charges to my credit card from them from the last few months.
An annoying, but way less important fuck up: They offer one free personal training session with your membership. A friend and I once asked if we could do it together as a small group of two, rather than one on one. This also got trapped in email hell where no one ended up actually responding to us.
Seeing that I can manage my many emails every day, and no one pays me a gigantic monthly fee to do it, and I don’t have a staff. I expect more.
Welcome to my shit list brooklyn boulders. I wish you were not the ONLY place in the city that offered acro yoga classes for a price less than your first born.
Edit: Someone on their team reached out to me via Unilocal about this review, which was nice… except that I messaged them back to see what was up, and whether they could actually freeze my membership, and once again they failed to ever message me back. On the plus side, they seem to have cancelled my membership probably due to my credit card repeatedly rejecting their charges.

This place is super cool. Obviously there’s lots of space to rock climb, but they’ve also got open floor space where people do acroyoga, tightrope, and other things. The second floor has a gym with all the major equipment that you need (bench, squat rack, dumbbells, treadmills — with desks!), a study area with large tables, and a gymnastics area with rings.
It gets pretty crowded, and I wanted to try the bouldering wall but a lot of people are just waiting around and jump on the wall whenever an area opens up, so you have to act quickly and people are just watching you which adds some pressure.
They’ve got a small café as well where you can purchase energy bars and other snacks to munch on when you get tired. Great way to spend the day!

Street parking in this here parts of Somerville is rather limiting — time-​limiting — however Brooklyn Boulders has both a lot available a short walk away for those who drive four wheels on the floor, and indoor bike racks available for those more earthy-​crunchy, or just more active and healthy.
I had a voucher for a free day pass + gear, so I decided to come on down and to give it a go. Yes, even though I’m afraid of heights. Yes, even though I’ve so far gone through life having never broken a bone, and I didn’t really want my first bone to be broken here.
Yet, chickenhood only bends so far.
I came, I put on what my friend called a diaper (the straps around your waist and thighs that do the job at keeping you from falling and cracking that pretty face of yours), swapped out my comfy sneakers for a pair of rather tight and not the most comfortable shoes and went on a tour of the space before signing my life away by putting hand to waiver.
Their space is rather nice. If I didn’t have this fear of heights and this disinterest in rock climbing that only got confirmed from my visit, I could see an alternative me being happy to spend time here — playing ping pong, lifting poundage, taking yoga or other fitness classes, using a variety of other exercise equipment, relaxing in their sauna, taking advantage of their wi-​fi, and climbing their various walls.
Me, I learned to trust the auto belay which slowed down the speed of gravity on this body of mine and kept me whole and unbroken. I tried climbing up on 2 – 3 different paths, and while I didn’t make it all the way up, I still got higher than I wanted to look down from.
Lockers are available, but bring your own lock.