Cafe' At The Edge

Visited The Edge recently and to put it simply, I was unimpressed. The Edge has some great walls and boulders but the community felt cold, there seemed to be a lack of community. There training area was pathetically small, only offering a small selection of equipment. The staff seemed a little too laid back and uninterested in the safety of climbers. The employee doing my TR belay test, did not seem to care much about safety or well versed in the types of belay techniques. In his defense, he was young and under experienced in the realm of climbing. A few of the routes had rope running under itself (half knot), which I find as a safety hazard (rope on rope wear and tear). At the top of the routes the rope's sheath was more frayed than the rest of the rope. They use opposite and opposing double gate carabiners to tie in. I did not like this as it does nothing to teach new climbers essential skills to rock climbing elsewhere and outside. Perhaps if the employees were more involved with the place the figure of eight could be taught. The planning of the bouldering area seems to have lacked foresight in its planning as they now restrict sitting on the bouldering mat. This I believe is due to poor planning of the drop zone around the large over hang to cave bouldering. There are chairs set up outside of the matted area to watch and wait. Another slight inconvenience, the gym shares a building with a Christian youth center. While that is fine it does seem to be geared toward a younger crowd.

The equipment is cleaned very often so the chalk won't build up and the walls are changed often offering new challengers all the time! The staff is knowledgeable and very willing to help. You'll need to fill out some safely wavers if it's your first time here. They have all the equipment ready to rent but it costs around $4 for each piece of gear. They have a good variety of skilled walls so beginners and veterans have something to do. The gym was busy when I was there (Wed. 6:30pm) so it's you come at peak times you might have to wait for a wall. The atmosphere is great! Everyone is supportive and really friendly!!! The only negative I can think is the price. It's very expensive... Going once, with no gear, will cost you around $20. Plus the price is going up in 2019. They do have memberships but they also cost a fortune. Around $500 I think for a year but that'll give you unlimited access. They also offer monthly passes but again they're not cheap. Worth checking out but unless you're going to go three times a week, every week, don't get the membership. If it's your first time going be prepared for your arms to hurt. Go slow, take your time, and have fun!

This is a great climbing gym. There's a great community, and people are really friendly. The bouldering cave is always changing, they change routes on a weekly cycle of 4 sections, so every month pretty much the whole cave is different. They recently stopped putting grades on the routes, but lettering them and posting the grades on a cork board, and I actually love this, because i try out more routes that I'm not sure the grade of, and then am pleasantly surprised when i just flashed a v3. There's plenty of auto-belay routes too!