We spent a weekend in Madison and decided to try this rock climbing gym. It was fun and we enjoyed it.However, the price is bit high -$20 day pass ( we had our own climbing shoes). Also, the grade system makes it harder to find your level.

I have mixed feelings about the Boulders gyms.I do agree with many of the other reviewers that their pricing is not as competitive as they think it is. If it truly is necessary for the downtown location, then it was indeed a bad choice of real estate considering the pricing restrictions it imposes and the wall height restrictions as well.Some other reviews have also mentioned issues with the setting. I cant quite describe what it is, but it does feel a bit less interesting than in many other gyms Ive been to. Maybe this was just the few sets Ive seen in my few visits, but I feel like the harder climbs (highest 2 circuits) tend to be hard because they use miserable holds rather than hard because they require interesting movement.The staff have all been welcoming and friendly. The setting frequency seems decent (in contrast to a few other reviews). I visit every month-month and a half and I believe the downtown had been completely turned over in that time.A few other comments I have:At the downtown location, the placement of the Kilter board right along the edge of the mats is just idiotic and dangerous -- you shouldnt need a spotter for an indoor board session.At the east location, they have bouldering above lead climbing mats (that seem like theyre probably older than me). These really arent meant to absorb any meaningful fall and I would be pretty hesitant to do any sort of committing/horizontal move above them.Not really a positive or a negative, but the grades are probably the most stout of any Ive seen in the US.

If youre new, its definitely a fun experience to try out at least once. Their walls are pretty neat, not to mention that theres a lot of overall wall in general to climb. The shoes are free so no worries about bringing your own or worrying about another fee.Now for the bad part:Their rotations are a little slow in my opinion and the walls are a bit lower than where I went before so the routes can feel a bit short.For pricing, unfortunately, without much competition (being one of two gyms in Madison), they charge a pretty unreasonable amount at $85 a month. They offer two gyms but its not like you can use both at the same time, not to mention the East side gym isnt worth going to (more on that later). If only they had a Downtown-only membership that was cheaper. :(The staff are friendly but they really dont listen if you need something changed with your membership. I asked to cancel and renew my membership, in person, and was only able to do so after calling or reminding them the next time I went. There was also a one-off time where they canceled my reservation for a walk-in so double check youre on the reservation list before driving 40 minutes.Since this gyms membership gives access to the East side gym too, Ill give my two cents there too. Dont go, the mats will rattle your brain pretty good if you fall even 10 feet. The walls are cool there too, but its not worth risking it with their current mats. If you wanted to try rope climbing, harnesses are $2-3 for a rental even with their absurd membership fee.

Very great place to go climbing. Busy most evenings, but super fun. Day pass is 25, 20 for pass, 5 for shoes. Membership is 80 a month.They rotate out routes a fair amount, there is always something new. Try to find a friend to bring you with, as its a bit overwhelming at first, but its a very welcoming space and is very beginner friendly.This is also a super inclusive space, dont let the word gym scare you. Everyone is here to have fun and work out.

Decent setting and ok wall space. Expensive for what you get, gets crazy crowded and borderline unusable anytime past 4 on a weekday.Could be a 5 star gym if the crowd problem was addressed and it was a more reasonable price. Lack of competition in area means it probably wont change anytime soon however.

A pretty good climbing gym. They use a weird scale though and it was pretty difficult to learn and understand. Lots of overhanging and difficult routes. Not a ton of slab problems but a few. Overall a clean place with lots of traffic and lots of bouldering.

It was super fun to go for a day. Front desk was super friendly. Def recommend to anyone looking to spice their fitness routine up. Only downside is that it is a bit pricy ~$25 for a day pass and shoe rentals

An awesome place to hang with friends. The staff and everyone there were very welcoming especially to new climbers.

This place is so good! I had a great time. It was my first time doing boulder climbing.I definitely recommend this to others. Good pricing too.

Great gym, nice variety of walls and grades. Parking is on the street, but only metered until 6.

Brought my daughter and her best friend here from around the Eau Claire area. I was rather disappointed in the lack of customer service. Waited just to pay for a pass, no quick tour of the place, or helpful hints. My family has been to smaller places like this and had over the top service. The lack of lower level climbing sections was rather disappointing.

Alex Sherman, Ryan V, & Andrew Hoerst pretty much summed it all up. I truly appreciate the staff members. Theyve always been nice, genuinely interested in the community, & welcoming but downtown always seems understaffed. At times people show up and just stand there for a good bit waiting to be helped. This seems like an issue with management and not a reflection on the actual staff members though.Other than that you get an overpriced gym that lacks the facilities evey other gym nation wide has at this price point.The part that gets me.... I feel that I genuinely align with the inclusive culture behind boulders & I just dont understand how they then thought to build the most expensive, boujee, and limited gym in downtown Madison, doubled the costs of the membership & thought... yeah thats inclusive..How did this gym help diversify our community and bring climbing to those who may be disadvantaged?Take a look at Memphis Rox in TN. Or The Overlook in westside ATL. Those are great examples of what a modern bouldering gym should be.Obviously Im still going to climb here because Boulders is the only climbing gyms in Madison.. but dont mistake a lack of alternatives for personal choice.

The staff are really kid and helpful, its surprisingly affordable for first timers. The climbing stuff they have going on is not too difficult, how ever I saw some advanced stuff that blew my mind for sure.

The wholly inappropriate, vulgar, profane, dissident and depressing music they play here is horrifying, appalling and quite distracting from the climbing, which is graded on the fruit loop system.Each color represents three different bouldering grades. While colorful, they all taste the same. There might as well not be grades at all, because if you progress three colors youre still climbing V0.Gyms are for training for the real world. The real world is not graded in colors for whiners who cant agree on grade. It is just graded. Get a grip.

Stopped in here while visiting Madison. A really large gym with tons of routes! The routes were really fun, but the grading system was disappointing. V2-V5 is a huge spread. I would have given 5 stars if routes just had a single grade instead of a range.

Operating at 15% capacity, I felt safe there, and was able to do some great climbs. The staff are great and supportive. Its a great community. Support this business!!!

So clean and new looking. Good vibes. The front desk person answered all my questions so nicely

Fantastic routes for all levels, and the climbing community is outstanding. Highly recommended to climb here for some fun bouldering.

Friendly staff. Great routes. Gorgeous holds. An awesome bouldering gym with diverse wall shapes.

Awesome little place. 100% bouldering so no need for ropes. Wide array of skill levels with hangboard and other fitness equipment available

Flippin sweet! Ive climbed at the East side boulders for around 5 years now and have had some qualms with the location, but it seems theyve addressed all of them.A) No birthday parties and kids running under you as you climbB) No teams so more space for regularsC) Good HVAC system so I can breathe betterD) Way more space so people arent bunched as muchE) Variety of climbing angles/stylesF) Really good training areaReally happy with how it turned out. I wish the parking situation was a little easier but its downtown so theres not much you can do about it. Its a good spot and Ill come here often.

Its super fun and there are so many fun options in different skill levels

First time at that location. Very well set up. Fun routes.

A solid bouldering gym. The downsides are related to the physical space design--not much height and can feel crowded when busier. Clearly a trade-off for location over space. The location is great, though parking could be a challenge at times. Also limited slab problem variety sometimes, but overall really nice facilities and good training equipment.

Having been climbing in gyms for 12 years across the US and abroad, I can honestly say Ive never been to a more poorly managed gym than Boulders. For the last 10 years the membership prices at Boulders have always been a bit pricey but after the opening of the second location its just getting ridiculous. The founder appreciation they show is letting us pay twice what we did two years ago for half of the setting staff.Family prices for two adults used to be $65, and now were paying $85 (or $65 for founding members) for a single person. If we were getting twice the value, sure, but Im not sure if you guys realize that you can only climb in one gym at a time. Having two gyms doesnt make the membership worth twice as much. In fact letting half of your setting staff go, and letting the route quality drop as much as it has makes it worth LESS.Im not sure what management changes happened, but the quality of literally everything has dropped. Fire whoever is in charge of lead ropes at your east side location, its insane. I cant count the number of times I come in and youre out of ropes with basically no one leading. Not to mention how insanely short they are. Just last week I came in and your staff told me they retired all the lead ropes and hadnt received the shipment of new ones. What short sighted incompetence are you guys allowing in a gym that has the potential to literally kill people?Opening the down town gym was a colossal mistake that the loyal members of Boulders are paying for. Its obvious youre slowly realizing that you cant just open a gym in a popular part of town and attract new people to cover the insanely high rent. Every month it seems youre jacking up the prices because youre not attracting enough new customers. Clearly you did no market research, and have put no effort into insulating your existing customers from your dumb business decisions.Overall Boulders has average setting, very high prices, and terrible management.Edit:Vertical Endeavors in Twin Cities built 3 new gyms and hasnt raised prices in the 12 years Ive been, and they only charge $37/month. Adventure Rock on the other side only charges $55/month. Jacking your prices up to the national average (which theyre well above surrounding gyms prices) would make sense if you were anywhere near the national average quality for climbing gyms. These other gyms have higher quality facilities and lower prices.If you need help understanding why your setting is below average, bring back the comments or just ask me when Im there. Im more than happy to give feedback on routes.

Im in the same boat as Alex Sherman who posted previously. At the price, this gym simply does not offer the amenities to be worth it.Ive been to world-class facilities all across the U.S., and this is more expensive by far than any of them. At this price, you should have 60+ walls, several thousand sq ft of usable space, dedicated workout rooms (not just training walls), and a large selection of equipment that members get a discount on.What you get instead is a very crowded gym with short walls and average setting.The fact that this facility alone caused membership pricing to over double in two years is disgusting, and what this gym offers does not make it worth it.

As someone who began bouldering for the first time two weeks ago, Im really glad I tried it out. I plan on buying my first month pass tonight. The space is beautiful with great facilities. If I had any complaints, its that absolute beginners are limited to about 10% of the routes. Over the last two weeks Ive seen some adjustments, so maybe this is something that will change. Everyone is super friendly and helpful. Im happy to have something like this for the winter!

Everybody here is so nice and the facility is really beautiful. The walls are definitely a bit shorter than what I have seen in other bouldering gyms. The pricing is a bit higher than I would have expected. There is no free parking anywhere near the facility, which makes a monthly membership even more expensive if adding parking costs. As someone coming from Denver, Colorado, the argument that their expensive membership is on-par with other urban gyms is false. At the Movement gyms in Denver/Boulder you pay $75 monthly and get: access to THREE brand new gyms with FREE parking, plus FREE yoga and fitness classes as well as state of the art fitness equipment/yoga rooms. Overall, I obviously dont know any information about their costs and budget, but as a consumer, this membership cost just seems too high.However, like I said, the facility is very nice, the people working there are super friendly and it seems like a great place to climb.

Nice space with a good set up, harder to park than the east side understandably. I wish there was another top rope option besides Boulders East though

Boulders is where I started as a climber and watching this community grow has been a fantastic experience. There is a variety of well set routes at this location. This opens a great opportunity to grow.Im glad to see community-focused events are becoming a part of this location as well. I look forward to the future.

Friendly staff always willing to give pointers. Seems like everytime i go theres something new on the walls to try out. The events they have for members are a blast. Definately worth a try even for a casual day pass.

Solid little bouldering gym. Clean and well set with a good variety of problem types and difficulties.

The people who work at the gym are very kind and the gym has a good atmosphere overall.A little annoying that the setters set all over the gym during some weekdays. Would prefer to have setters shut down and rope off one section of wall at a time and clear all the routes there, than be all over the gym. Setting individual walls also then makes it easier to find the new routes and have a better sense of what routes are next to be reset.Update: Ive been going to this gym fairly regularly since it opened a few years ago. In comparison to other gyms, I think they set very frequently and also do much more forerunning so it is very rare to see any dud routes that are completely broken. Even going a few times per week, I cant work on all the routes I would like to, and on top of that there are kilter and tension boards if you need more. I still find going during the day when they are setting to be a bit of a bear. The impact drills are deafening in such a small space and you do have to jump around to avoid the setters---but since the majority of traffic is in the evenings, I get that most climbers will prefer having routes reset all over the gym each week, versus on one wall. It is also now clear with the color system which colors will be reset each week.

The Bolders downtown location does the best it can with the vertical space it has.The primary pros of this gym are its central location in Downtown Madison and its large variety of wall inclines. It is right near the capitol and is easily reached by public transport. One of the strengths of the downtown location in my opinion is its cave space (filled with some seriously challenging horizontal climbs) and its archway. Both provide some challenging climbing inclines. I love watching the really good climbers work on the toughest climbs right in the middle of the gym!However a side effect of being downtown is that there is not a lot of vertical space in their basement location. Most of the climbs are relatively short and all are constricted by the height of the walls.It is also my opinion that this gym is not an easy place to get initiated to bouldering. Because the cave and archway and other negative inclines command so much of the gym, there are relatively few easy walls to climb. Typically there are only a few beginner climbs set up in the gym at any one time with most of the space dedicated to intermediate (v3-6) climbs. While I appreciate being able to have some variety as an intermediate climber, I do not think I would have fallen in love with bouldering had this gym been where I learned to climb.

Super fun, and there are challenges for most everyone. New routes are put up every Thursday. Its overall a great place to go bouldering!

Great staff and facilities, kind of pricey.Edit: Ive had my downtown membership for a bit and Ive decided that its definitely worth the price, and while I would like it to be cheaper (obviously), Im not going to cancel over $10 or so.One thing Ive noticed is that it seems like I run out of project routes quicker than I did at the east gym, even though the downtown gym has more bouldering. Granted, Im only climbing V4s, but I feel like I was more interested in more of the east side routes than the downtown ones (and my climbing frequency is still relatively consistent.) Im not sure if its because the routes are reset at different intervals, or if theyre set less dense at the downtown gym, or if its some other reason.Last idea, any thoughts of bringing a shop to the downtown gym? I think the membership comes with a discount on gear, and Im going to need new shoes soon, and Im really lazy :)

Stopped in to climb here while I was road tripping back from college. The staff was friendly and helpful. There was a nice variety in the routes. Not just the grades of them, but also in the types of holds, degrees of overhang, and style of climbing.

This place is so fun! My 7 yr old had a blast. Climbing all over the place

Great little spot, super friendly staff, fun problems. Lately, grades dont always match problem difficulty, which can be pretty dangerous/discouraging for beginners.From a beginner friend: It kind of sucks to be a brand new climber and not be able to get half of the V0/1s. Sincerely, a fat climber in floppy shoes.

A great gym for the dedicated bouldering climber. Regularly hosts awesome events, with an extremely helpful and friendly staff, as well as unique and challenging problems. Take notes Brooklyn Boulders. ALSO THE GM IS RAD AF BET SHE CRUSHES HARDER THAN YOU, YOU WEAK!!!!!

Employees are friendly and the atmosphere is great! Highly recommend if you are looking for a new hobby or just something to do with friends.

Very nice upgrade. Tension Board and Kilter Board for training. Would only suggest lowering the pull-up bars so people could get up to them and allow lockers in bathroom to be rented out.

I love the new facility downtown. The problems are challenging, and I found a wide variety of problems at my skill level. That being said, its a bit pricey for just a bouldering gym. Ill be climbing elsewhere.

Great gym with friendly staff and large selection

Great place to climb, its just a bit expensive. But if you love climbing its well worth the money

Fairly large, but the routes are cramped by short walls--they tend to be fairly powerful, short and unimaginitve. The gym also suffers a little bit from a cramped layout. But you have to keep all this in context... Its a climbing gym on the square!

Good, clean climbing gym but its free climb only, so I like the east side location a lot more.

I have been excited for this for months, have even saved up enough for my own shoesin cuz I live downtown. However, it costs $85 a month to go here as opposed to $49 a month to go to the East location. They do this by allowing an exclusive location membership at East, but make you buy an all access membership to go to Downtown. I just want to go to the new location exclusively. The price clearly limits the amount of client diversity and excludes most who dont have high expendable income. It sounds like all the same red tape nonsense that businesses use to exploit their clientele. I really want to climb, but your capitalist shenanigans are impeding me from doing so. I hope you read this and amend your tactics.

Amazing new bouldering gym. Cool new high tech led wall and lots of square footage!

The new gym is awesome. Feels huge, and you dont have to worry about someone falling on you anymore.

Fantastic new facility with great setting, a wide range of wall angles, and a fully decked out training area.

Great holds and route setting, and wasn’t very busy. Staff was helpful.

This is a 2 star climbing gym.It has higher prices than most gyms in the country (verify for yourself with prices from other gyms)They claim their pricing is because they have prime real estate in other reviews, but then rattle off a number of gyms in cities that are 1M+ people. You can NOT compare Madison to Chicago or the DC metro area. Further, theyve removed the option of only having an east side pass. The cheapest membership option available for the standard person is 85$ a month.But that does NOT include the amenities of 90% of the climbing gyms in the country. They do not currently offer yoga or any other free classes for their members. There IS a group fitness class you can pay $150 to take.Whoever replies to these reviews does not seem to care about feedback or community improvements. This is a sentiment shared by staff. If you ask the staff why is it so expensive? or why do they not have X?, youll get a gaslighting-esque answer of this is the norm, dont you know?I imagine their biggest regret come five years from now will be renting this downtown location and pricing out any new members. No one asked for them to choose the priciest real estate in Madison, climbers dont care if they climb in a posh high rise. That money may have been better spent training their setters, updating their equipment, and increasing their amenities.Edit I have googled it. I compiled a list of over 25 climbing gyms from across the country and you guys rank 10th. I can share this with you if you want.Many areas of Madison are undergoing a gentrification. Developers are investing in S. Park, there have been 4 to 5 high rises built along E. Washington in the past 3 years, and many new developments underway currently near Hilldale. Maybe if you went past the capitol youd find the development of underused areas in Madison youve missed.Edit 2: You seem to misidentify your gym as being in one of the top 10 most expensive cities in the US, which it is provably not. You also seem to misidentify your gym as being in the upper to top climbing gyms in terms of quality, which it is provably not. You also seem to not understand that Madison extends beyond the first two blocks of the capitol. Rent there is also provably higher, there is a reason the capitol square is surrounded by high end restaurants and banks. Maybe if you had done the market research you wouldnt have ended up with such a bad deal, but hey making a bad deal happens to the best of us, just look at our current Presidents past businesses.

Great gym but pricey for what little there is. About 5 bucks more than any other gym I’ve been to and they usually include fitness and yoga with daily membership.

Great place to boulder and friendly staff.

Excellent Place for Bouldering

The best option for your bouldering needs in Madison

Membership is expensive. Changes in rates and membership are not well advertised. Does not offer yoga or other classes for members. Must pay for parking downtown.

Climbing is the best

Fun.

Awesome place!!

AWESOME