If I’ve never climbed before, can I just drop in and start climbing on my own? With the exception of the waiver form, there is no restriction for someone to just come in and climb. But in order to climb on the ropes someone will need to have a belayer who has passed our Belay Test or you can take our “Intro to Climbing” class first and you’ll build the necessary skills to pass our Belay Check and start climbing in the gym with...

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. With winter days at last getting longer, a literal light is now at the end of every child’s tunnel: summer – the season of adventure and play. For many kids, at the heart of summer is the unique experience of summer camp. Summer camp offers children an education in a type of learning you can’t get from books. It’s a crash course in creativity, problem solving, physical activity, teamwork, and social connection. I have instructed...

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Rock n Roll at the V-Club A story from the VW Archives, written by founder Rich Johnston. Circa 1989, just two years after the birth of the first climbing gym in America.   I was working the counter at the Vertical Club back in 1989 one day, and not much was going on.  It was a beautiful spring day and I was working on filing one of the few membership forms into an expanding folder that we kept under the desk.  This was the desk that was...

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