Avid climbers know it’s vital to keep in climbing shape all year long — but it can be hard to send it outdoors when everything is snow-covered. Fortunately, the increase in popularity of rock climbing means that indoor rock climbing walls are easy to find in most cities and towns across the US.
Today’s indoor rock climbing walls are anything but generic, providing varied activities, lessons, even shops and bars oriented toward the climbing community. Many host indoor competitions throughout the year, and may offer useful skills clinics pop up on topics ranging from leading multi-pitch routes to parkour and footwork. The very best gyms don’t have to be a multimillion-dollar enterprise, but they should give climbers the sense that they’re exploring an exciting new ascent, not scrambling around on hot pink molds.
These are seven of the best indoor rock climbing walls in the US, all of which have enough space to climb, boulder, and train to keep you in top-notch climbing shape for when summer rolls around.
