Boulderz Etobicoke

This is my go-​to climbing gym since I live in Etobicoke now. Overall, the place is good and I would recommend it to others.
But two things really bother me about it:
1. Please clean your holds. Most of the ones in the bouldering section are gross, slippery, and hard to distinguish.
2. Try not to place routes of similar colour beside each other. For example, pink can be easily mistaken for red. Coupled with the dirt, it’s just an unnecessary challenge. Clearly marking the routes would be so helpful.
Thank you.

Overall: Snobby staff, unwelcoming to newbies (or climbers who need a refresher).
Went tonight with a coworker who has been here a few times. Though I’ve been climbing a few times at different gyms around the GTA, it had been over a year since I had hit the walls. I figured I would get an intro lesson and a few pointers when I arrived, and no problem, it would come back to me and we would be able to climb the rest of the evening. I was wrong. They do not offer any sort of intro classes on Sundays, only on 3 days of the week at very specific times. Not only that, but they were unable to give me pointers to guide me in the right direction. Ontop of that, they were snobby and made me feel unwelcomed as a beginner. Anything that you haven’t done in over a year would take some time to get back into it, especially something as technical as belaying. I’m fairly sure the guy who did my belay test was out to fail me from the get go. It was his attitude and lack of compassion, and when he failed me, he said if in a way that was quite unfriendly. I’m sure there’s no good way to tell someone they failed a test but I could have thought of 10 different ways he could have said it that would have made me feel better. He made it very clear also that I would in no way be able to try again today. I should have done more research before coming here and known that intro classes weren’t offered tonight. I only assumed that like many other gyms in the city, I would be able to pay for an demo. Felt ripped off after paying close to $ 30 for a day pass, shoe & harness rental and not be able to climb & not being given a chance to. Also, they must not have air conditioning because the place was way too hot and stuffy. It was at least 10 *C cooler outside. My friend and I ended up bouldering for a bit. Overall this place left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Boulderz is the most perfect place to learn how to climb. The Dupont location offers fantastic, high-​quality recreational programs and camps for kids, beginner lessons for adults, a new moms group (which is one of the best ideas ever), and more and more. Though small, the quality of routes offered at Dupont Boulderz was (and is) par to none in terms of bouldering in the GTA. It attracts passionate, talented climbers and staff who encourage those who are just starting out. Personally I never minded when Dupont was raging busy, it just felt a little bit like an awesome hole-​in-​the wall bar that offered awesome climbing instead of drinks. :)
BUT. THE ETOBICOKE LOCATION. It is is huge, as in, nearly seven times the size of the Dupont location. They chose Walltopia walls, and a huge stand alone boulder in the center that you can top out on from anywhere, designed with so many interesting angles and overhangs that it will make your head spin– and as always, the high-​quality, creative, diverse route-​setting that is offered at Dupont carries out here on a simply enormous scale. Oh, and ropes. There must be 100, and the possibility to lead climb exists on all of the roped climbs as far as I can tell. Also for lead climbers there is a high arch that brings the potential for more epic-​length adventuring.
As the number of new gyms in the GTA increases, I highly recommend checking out Boulderz because it is a truly unique place to climb. Additional bonuses: fantastic music, espresso, and the treadwall (from their website, they will have a treadwall in Etobicoke soon, as well).

If anyone has gone to the old Boulderz, you’d probably describe it as a smaller gym, not to many rope climbs, and well, small. Get ready to get your mind blasted because Boulderz has gone and brought a serious gym to the mix.
Right now it’s about half bouldering and half rope climbing with a completely dedicated kids/​beginner area. I think the routes are around 40′ high (i could be wrong) and most of everything is bolted for those of you who lead. It’s actually quite amazing because the gym is only half done and it’s already got a ton of stuff to do.