Myself and our two children (10year old boy, 7year old girl) went to Carabiner's during February vacation. This was our first time at the facility and we arrived at around 10:30 am. The desk staff were very helpful in getting us set up with our paperwork and rental equipment. He also helped us get started with climbing and showing us the auto-belay functionality.
Once we were climbing on our own, Steve (the owner) came by and checked in on us to make sure we were having a fun time. He then offered me a belay course so that we could use other rope systems and not be limited to the auto-belay.
Allison did a wonderful job teaching me how to belay and had patience with me and the kids. We then spent a few more hours climbing and having a blast! Steve also checked in with us later on to make sure everything was going well and that the belay course was effective.
We're already talking about going back soon! Thanks all for a great experience!
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Friday was my first experience rock climbing! First, let me say that $5 was a steal (only if you have a college ID on Fridays only)! Second, the young lady at the desk, Melodie, was super nice and super helpful. She made my first experience really fun and simple! She was very knowledgeable and answered all of my questions with ease. With her instruction, I was able to climb all the way to the top 2 times by myself! I will definitely be back for another workout! Thanks again, Melodie!
Only been here once when visiting a friend but absolutely loved it. Great variety of different climbs, with autobelay for those who aren't certified belayers. Also a very extensive bouldering center.
Always a fun time with helpful staff. The gym is large so you have many different choices for routes up the walls. The routes are constantly changing making returning trips worth it.
This place is like a second home to me. I've been bouldering for 2 years now and the community's great and the boulders are always decently hard. I see alot of complaing about the gym and obviously 10 yr old mats arent the greatest but they catch you when you fall and they are not gonna smell like flowers. you can hit a spinner pretty often as the bolt's are old as well but if you arent a tubby you should be fine 9/10. staff's always really friendly and more times then not will come and speak with everyone climbing which is nice since they can help you out on whatever you are doing
Really tall walls with fun routes and features. Some crack climbs as well which we haven't seen around NE gyms. The bouldering was also very fun and challenging with creative problems! Always love visiting here despite being members elsewhere. Super friendly staff.
I love this gym and wish I could be climbing there right now, but alas quarantine... What brings me to leave a review is that during this tough time for all of us Carabineers dropped my monthly fee to $10, no email about it, just a major discount. I had no issue paying my full membership to help this local business, stay in business, through these closures, but it's nice to see the customer appreciation from them to extend such a discount.
Omg this was amazing the atmosphere is amazing and the place is general is fantastic would highly recommend! But I would recommend going with someone who is certified to help or go in a group.
Wow! What a cool place. They have everything I could ever want in an indoor space: super tall walls, unique features (wait until you see the wall shapes!), lead climbing and plenty of bouldering, a slackline, punching bag, tons of pullup bars and gym equipment, huge space for yoga and fitness. This was my first visit and though I live over an hour away it's definitely worth the drive. Staff is super friendly and the setting is fantastic- creative, varied and very challenging. Can't wait to go back!
I love climbing here, but it could have a bigger staff to help because you could wait in a line for 15 minutes just to ask if you can do a different wall and told know
Great place! Very clean and organized, always knowledgeable staffers on hand and the owner, Steve is everywhere ready to lend a hand. Great price for the fun to be had and there are always walls open so there are never any lines. Good for all skill levels from someone who has never climbed before all the way to people who laugh at 5.12 s. Steve and his staff truly run a great gym and is a model for every business owner!
It was the first time ever climbing for my boyfriend and I so we started with the introductory climbing lesson. We quickly learned and quickly fell in love with climbing. The gym has options for people of all levels and the staff and members were all very friendly and welcoming. We drove 90 minutes to get here because of the good things we had heard and we're ready to do it again.
Member that this gym since it is the closest around, when I first was a member this gym was awesome the guy that worked there from the Navy was great and staff was great always willing to help with beta climbing and teaching safety. I took a break from the gym due to work and now that I am a member again it went from 5 stars to 2. Unfortunately this is the only climbing gym around and unfortunately the staff has become noticeably worse. The willingness to teach belay is not as it use to be if steve (the owner) isnt there but once he shows up it's a different story. The staff is now filled with pretentious climbers who want you to know they're better than you. Andre is an awesome setter and is always friendly as can be from my first membership to this one, but his new helper who likes the wear the headphones while setting is beyond displeasing and doesnt care about any type of customer service aspect and forgets people pay for the experience. If he worked the front desk I would most likely cancel the day I see him. Nonetheless steve did a great job with the gym it is fun to climb but the missing stars are only because of the staff they have chosen as of recent if you know how to belay, bring your own gear and do not have a reason to associate with most of the staff you will have a significantly better time.
This is THE indoor rock climbing place for the New Bedford area. The staff are friendly and they are handling the pandemic really well! Not super busy all the time either and their auto-belays and bouldering walls are all usually pretty open when I go.
Great variety of routes and problems. A great place to get into the sport as they have a great rate on rentals. They also offer better gear for purchase. Very kid friendly and offers a variety of classes for all levels and interests. The staff seek to really enjoy the sport itself.
However it was never explained that you needed to pay extra for a staff member to help you climb, as there are only 6 auto belays, and lines for those. Any of the other walls require a person to be trained, or a staff member to be the belayer.
I understand this is a busy week for them, but added staff and more instruction would have been nice. Along with the attitude from the staff when asked for help and told you have to go to the front desk and wait. Along with voicing displeasure, and instead of being helped to have the experience more enjoyable, being told "its a busy week" and "you can't find this at any other gym".
Friendly, helpful staff, absolutely impressive rock walls, tons of top-roping courses (changed weekely), and impressive bouldering options. Just awesome fun.
Cheap rates and huge (i.e. tall walls) with really interesting features and good setting. Three cracks to climb, too! The lifting and bouldering areas are also pretty good, the later having an offwidth ceiling crack, which is hard to come by. The owner and staff are quite friendly, and I would say it's even worth the drive from Boston.
The staff is friendly and welcoming which creates an environment that makes you want to excel at any climbing level. The bouldering routes are changed every two weeks so you're never bored with the problems. I've been a member here for about six months and as a member you get to bring first time climbers in for free. I brought about a dozen people in throughout the past few months. Not one complaint was made. Everyone enjoyed their time here, learned a lot, and got a good work out!
I was very excited to go try this place out after hearing great things from my boyfriend who had been there about three or so years ago. We finally got a chance to go so we grabbed our gear and headed over. We entered and were greeted by a very courteous employee who, at a little past noon on a sunday, was the only one manning the floor. I understand that it was not a particularly busy part of the weekend and that amount of supervision is normally enough--however, we were not able to get belay-certified which restricted the amount of the gym that we could use. This was fine until we saw the state of the bouldering. Only a third of the bouldering was usable-- the rest was in various states of repair. The end result was that we could only use a small fraction of the massive gym that was advertised. One of the major reasons I was excited to go to Carabiner's was the super high top-roping and the massive pillar in the middle of the gym. Even if we had been belay certified, there were only two routes up that pillar.
The state of the gym was a whole different story. The padded floor were buckling which made walking slightly awkward. Many holds were not properly secured to the wall and were shifting/spinning when used--the walls in some places gave a little too much for comfort when all your weight was put onto them. There were also many people walking around in street shoes throughout the climbing area.
The locker rooms were nice and tidy which was a plus. However, the drinking fountain only gave a trickle of water... so we left thirsty.
Since I could not sample the top-roping, this review is focused on the bouldering and amenities of the gym. I doubt that I would raise the quality rating to 'good' if the state of the top-roping is anywhere near the state of the bouldering. Just remember that most of the pictures on the website were taken when the gym was fairly new... and time has not been good to this place; the overall feel was grimy. The staff, the one person that we interacted with, was very pleasant, but the state of disrepair was overwhelming, and we left within 45min of arriving.
The owner is a very nice man and employees are helpful but the crowd that hangs out their is very rude. Climbers are always stuck in their ways of how they do things but I've seen many "advanced" climbers lash out and be really rude to new climbers. Being a climbing instructor myself and climbing for over a decade it is disconcerting to see new climbers be turned off by stuck up climbers who think they know what's what. Like I said before the staff are great and the owner is a very nice guy, its nothing against them but they should really be on the look out for climbers harassing new comers. We have all been the new guy so try to be helpful and not harmful.
Brought my twin girls here today, there first time coming here & had such a amazing time there, staff was super friendly and helpful in every way possible, gave us a quick rundown on the proper techniques & away we were going in no time, had this nice girl there Lilly that one of my daughters and she was so nice & sweet to them, deffenitly would recommend this place to all, plenty of parking and very easy to get to along a variety of different style walls to climb, owner was on hand helping assist also and super friendly too, always check out Groupon for some great deals on this place as well.
Carabiners is an awesome climbing gym! It s great for everyone! Even if you have had enough of climbing you can go to the gym there! If you are 16 or older. This is my favorite climbing gym because you can come with your friends and family and have races up the wall on the auto belays, and do bouldering challenges! Also, the staff is very friendly and nice! I highly recommend going to this gym!
This was my first time ever climbing more than a ladder and it was great! I have thought about trying to do the little rock walls at amusement parks but never did. I am into sports and the outdoors so this seemed to be something I might enjoy.
A co-worked and I split a beginner/into to climbing package and we learned the basics of top rope rock climbing. Our instructor Dwight was great. He was very patient, informative, and friendly. He was a great teacher and he was sure to instill good habits to build on.
We spent about 2+ hours at the facility and it was great. The walls are up to 65 feet tall and there are all sorts of routs for every skill level. The staff were all very nice and courteous and I do not have a single complaint.
They have a nice fitness area and as an added bonus, they even have some Ninja Warrior type of challenges. I do not know much about bouldering but there seemed to be many different routes for that as well.
Maybe I am biased but I loved this place. There were people of all ages climbing and just having fun and challenging themselves. I went back today for my second time and spent more time tackling more challenging routes. If you have any time and you are in the area or just visiting like I was, I think it is definitely worth your time to check it out. It is an experience that I will never forget.
What a wonderful place and experience! We took a group of teens and young adults; a combination of novice and experienced climbers who loved it and want to return! They have varied climbing walls, heights, and maintain strict safety measures to avoid any falls or injuries The staff is friendly and the owner, Steve, gave us personal instruction and a dose of humor.
A great way to increase a child s self esteem and confidence. We have already planned our next visit with grandchildren!
love it here, members are all really nice and eilling to help/teach/give pointers. Easy walls and expert walls, great bouldering trails (so many). One of the top indoor climbing places in the US definitely recommend. 65ft walls also
The premier climbing facility in Southern New England. I've been climbing here since they opened and they continue to innovate and add new routes. If you're climbing by yourself you can either hire a belayer or you can use their Auto belay devices or just do some bouldering. They also have over 30 Fitness classes that they offer through their Peak membership which includes equipment rentals.
Some of their classes include TRX, yoga, aerial yoga, barre, spin, Etc.
They also have a weight room for pumping a little iron.
If you want to have a birthday party for your kids they host those as well. Or you can have them come to you with their climbing tower.
Make sure you say hi to Steve the owner when you go there. He's a great guy.
And if you get a membership tell them you were referred by this post. :-)
I only went here to buy a carabiner & was helped by a very friendly young man. What I bought seemed priced fair. I was amazed when I walked in & saw everything they had to offer here though! It looks so fun & definitely something I would enjoy doing with a group of friends sometime. They have allot to offer here & looks like it would be a great place to have a birthday party or even a bachelor or bachelorette party!
This is an excellent climbing gym!! One of the best and some of the highest indoor elements if seen in my travels. . Great variety of elements. The staff is always helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable. The owner, who is just a great person, is often in the gym and engaging. We come here often when we visit the area ( live in NYC area). Also recommended for all ages and abilities. Great for starting out or trying out to very challenging for regular climbers; try the Bouldering section for a workout.
Tallest walls I ve ever seen indoors. Tons of routes and a great bouldering section. Wish I lived closer so this could be my home gym :). Weight rooms, lessons and lockers available. Everyone is super nice!
This place was considered excellent when it opened as one of the first climbing gyms of its kind, but in the years since, climbing gyms have become very popular, industry standards have improved, and Carabiners has not kept pace.
The walls are high, and their shape is very creative, lent to creating great chimney and cave routes, as well as the obvious potential of the pinnacle. Unfortunately, the staff do not utilize these best features for many climbs above 5.7 difficulty level. When I was here, just about the entire overhung lead wall had no routes set on it, and a good number of the hangers in the rest of the gym had no draws on them (an unnecessary safety hazard for gym climbing, especially for children), so I suppose you should bring your own draws if you are leading.
For some reason that I can't figure out, the ropes that the gym uses are not normal gym ropes (stiff and fairly static), but are instead soft and very unnecessarily dynamic outdoor climbing ropes, which is annoying if you are working a route, and also exaggerate the danger posed by the sharp hangers that this gym uses instead of bolted fixed draws for lead climbing (you can be cut falling past them). Also, expect to make a ground fall until you are about 10-15 feet up due to rope stretch.
Carabiners doesn't seem to have replaced its plastic holds since it opened, with the result that many hands and feet have worn them very smooth. If you are not used to using chalk in the gym, you will want to do so here, and even then, it is like climbing on glass in many places.
The staff force you to bring your own Grigri, or rent one of their own. An ATC is not allowed.
The floor is old, raggedy, spongey, and held together with pealing tape. Worst, it can't be easily cleaned and sponges in the smell of feet, so the staff have banned bare feet (their signs are carelessly misspelled to read "no bear feet"). This is obviously bad for people who climb in aggressive shoes that aren't comfortable to keep on while belaying, so bring a pair of flip flops.
The bouldering is pretty bad. There is a lot of potential, but the staff doesn't keep up with it, so most of the problems are half finished, and you will find disappointingly little to work on. Also, watch your head, you will hit it if you are tall.
The lighting in the gym is pretty poor. They have even strung up Christmas lights in some of the bouldering areas that seem prone to getting crushed, judging by all the missing bulbs. Because routes here are set by colored holds rather then marked with colored tape, and because the holds are so old and faded, the low light makes it very challenging to tell which holds are on route for whatever climb you are on. Annoying.
The staff was obliviously blasting heavy death metal laced with frequent 4 letter words at noon on a Sunday while a little kid's birthday party was in the gym. They seemed to figure it out eventually and changed the music.
The exit sign had been broken by someone trying to use it as a foothold (there is a route just above the door). Fire code violation.
All said, this gym would be out of business quickly if it had to compete against another nearby gym. However, it doesn't, and it deserves definite credit for remaining open so long in one of the most depressed areas of the state, providing recreation activities for local youth. It is certainly not a destination to travel to for any serious climber, though.
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