On the Edge Rock Climbing Gym

We traveled to Melbourne to check out a different rock climbing gym. We are members at Aguille in Orlando and prefer Aguille over this gym for many reasons. The section below with «The good» would make Aguille even better if they instituted these two things.
The good: Autobelay is available if you don’t have a partner to climb with. Only kids 12+ (I believe that’s the right age) are allowed to boulder. This means no unsupervised little kids running around underneath you waiting to get squashed.
The needs-​improvement: Top rope is very limited, this option isn’t even mentioned to you when you come in and pay. The top rope routes were mostly 5.9+, so if you are a beginner or intermediate top rope climber, this is not the place for you. (I was only able to finish 1 top rope route here and I’ve been climbing for 2 years!) More than 50% of the routes are not marked with a rating. This includes lead, top-​rope, auto-​belay, and bouldering. The majority of the routes start out as one difficulty, but as you ascend it gets harder and the hold types change. The holds were pretty grimy and slippery as if they are never cleaned. The auto-​belay area is in one section, which is the most packed and most used. So the area with top-​roping and lead climbing were mostly empty. Except for the parents that brought their children ages 1 – 3 to hang out with them there while they (the parents) were climbing.
The bad: Not all employees are wearing the gym’s shirt so it’s hard to figure out who is working. 1 employee was more interested in her cell phone and lying on the ground then paying attention to the hoards of kids that came in and were hooking themselves in and out of the belay devices, climbing underneath other climbers, or sitting in the way of anyone else being able to climb. This went on for all 5 hours. There are cloth covered chairs that are pretty disgusting, but the only option if you want to sit at 1 of the 2 tables they provide. We chose to sit on the bleachers instead.

The staff at this place should travel to some of the more professional climbing gyms in the country, they could use the experience. The equipment is worn and in desperate need of replacing. Ropes should all be replaced. They make you watch a video and sit on chairs that have stains and smell bad. The video froze at least 10 times. After being told that I am not allowed to show my son belay techniques in the gym, we decide that this place was not for us. Just having holds screwed to the wall doesn’t make good climbs. The setters lack creativity and style. If you are getting into climbing, I wouldn’t suggest this place as a first stop. This place really lacks the climber community and atmosphere that has kept me climbing since the 80’s. Two thumbs down.

Awesome. This was a great place. The «kids» from 4 – 41 loved it. It’s a great price too. We have made the 1.5 hour drive twice now.

I’ve been wanting to get into indoor rock climbing for awhile now, and today was the perfect day to start. What a blast! It was great fun and an insane workout, I can’t believe how sore my entire body is! The day passes are great if you go once in awhile. I’d love to have a membership but its a bit out of my price range right now. Definitely a lot of fun though and I’ll go back for sure. It’s definitely obvious when you’re new, and a lot of the moms with their kids we’re super encouraging (letting go of a wall when you’re 10+ feet up is a bit nerve wracking LOL)
The extras they offer are really cool too (fitness room, yoga classes, birthday parties)

My daughters love this place. It’s a great safe place for them to play.

Fun place.
Good service, good music, good workout.
I highly recommend it. :)

If you’re in the mood to do some rock climbing in Florida, your options are obviously limited. As a resident of Orlando, my regular rock climbing gym is Aiguille (
) but on a recent trip out to Melbourne for a job interview I finally had my opportunity to try On the Edge, the next closest rock climbing gym at 77 miles away.
The gym is laid out in three major sections. The 12-​foot high bouldering cave contains dozens of routes where you can climb without a rope. The auto-​belay area allows you to climb the full-​size walls on your own, with a mechanical device that lowers you to the ground slowly when you come off the wall. The final area is for top roping (climbing with your descent controlled by another person) and lead climbing (you carry the rope with you as you climb, clipping in to the wall as you move up).
It was easy to get started here, just sign your waiver and watch a 7-​minute video to be ready to climb the auto-​belay walls and the bouldering cave. Additional certification is required for top roping and lead climbing, but I was by myself and those activities require an extra person.
It’s a great workout that throws in a component of problem solving, keeping the exercise interesting rather than repetitive. The auto-​belay system is a great way to climb without an extra person, and I wish Aiguille would add a couple of them too. Sometimes it’s just too difficult to match schedules with someone else.
If I get the job that I interviewed for only a mile or so away from this gym, I’ll be picking up a membership without a doubt.