This used to be my favorite gym but they changed ownership and the place seems run down. Still the features and routes are interesting and the "super cave" - climb through boulering area is great! Lots of lead climbing and good bouldering. Staff is less obnoxious than PRG. read more

Called over the phone, said they would honor old gift cards. Got to the gym today and waited for 5-10 minutes before the worker came out of the back to help us. Worker would not honor gift card. Glad we made the drive. read more

I love rock climbing! However, I still feel like a newbie. The one thing I like about Climb Max is also the one thing I don't like currently, lol. It seems like an extremely advance climbing gym. Since I'm still new-ish to climbing, I find a lot of the climbs a bit too difficult for me... at any other gym, I'd say I climb consistently at a 5.8/5.9 but at this gym, I'm easily at a 5.6/5.7. Although, when I get better, this place will be amazing. :) read more

this is a pretty cool place. i like the layout a lot, i'm pretty new to climbing. I actually like going by myself just to boulder they've got a variety of walls to climb it's fun and it never feels overcrowded. prices are good also. . . sure the staff seems a little distant but i'm sure if you need help they'll come to your rescue read more

The flooring here is a death trap. I love this gym because they have a huge bouldering area, but I recently sustained my first sprain ever after landing in a hole in the padding. It took me a couple of months to recover and my climbing continues to suffer because I'm so afraid of injuring myself again. I am also constantly tripping over the seams where the padding has folded over itself. This problem has been pretty bad for a long time now and the fact that they haven't done anything beyond some ghetto patching shows me that they don't care about the safety of their climbers. read more

I like this place. The employees are super friendly and willing to help. Only down side is that they should try to clean the place up a bit and do some remodeling. It will really make a big difference in feel of the environment. read more

First time going rock climbing. I was concerned at first with lack of training they give you, but everything they showed me was what I needed to keep my partner safe. They could use a remodel of the flooring just to give a better impression. The temperature was hot, there was one good spot by the front desk where you felt relief from the heat. Bring water with you! Otherwise I had a blast and stayed until my arms were sore, which only took 1.5 hours. Lol. I would go again. First time goers is $25 for one time. read more

I really didn't enjoy my experience. I felt (from a beginner level) that the routes were poorly planned and the space was poorly utilized with random holds, unmarked. I only bouldered and most of the gym was top ropes so maybe I got a bad taste in my mouth, but I'll shop around before getting a membership. read more

This was our first visit, and never done rock climbing before. Damion was our instructor, he was very helpful and stayed with us until we felt comfortable. We were there for four hours and Damion would check on us. It's a great place for all levels. We'll definitely be going back. read more

This was my first time rock climbing since I was little, so I was pretty much a beginner. The staff was helpful in showing us how to do it on our own. It was nice that there were different rocks to climb for different levels. I had a good time surrounded by others who were really into it. I'd like to go again! read more

If there's one thing I'd wish was better, it would be the price, It cost me around $50 for me & my 3 children, but we had a blast at this place on the 4th of July. The gym was pretty empty when we went, which was good for us. I live in the Tempe area and never knew there was a gym so close to my house. The bouldering area is huge, downstairs & upstairs. The tunnel is fun too. Top roping is my favorite, my hands were so sore after a couple hours belaying for my children, but watching them have so much fun makes it all worth while. Definitely beats watching my kids playing video games at home all day long! read more

After climbing at climbmax for almost a year I can safely say this is not the gym anyone wants. When climbmax went under new management the gym slowly started to change. First it was no free chalk, then no more free freezing accounts, memberships went up when a new gym opened, etc. They are a suffering business do to some many other well built high quality gyms so I can understand that though. Not to mention they treat there employees horribly. I have heard many stories of employees getting hired working for a week then getting fired. Not to mention this gym is just drama city. The owners gives everyone a hard time for trying to help out. Some new employee was cleaning the floors cause he was bored and then the owner yelled at him because the mop water was dirty. The only reason it was dirty was because of the chalk and sweat he was cleaning up. The owners aren't even climbers. They are the landlords who took over after some issues before hand. They mean well but just don't understand how to act polite and be a friend. every time I came in they always tried to sell me something or make me take some type of "class"(If you want to call it that). They fired there manager who was the main reason Climbmax was decent for a few months. If you plan on having a good relationship with the owners good luck. it felt like I was just another way to make income for them instead of a friend or even just a valued customer. Now onto the pads. Wow...Just wow...The pads are comparable to beds you find in a sewer, i'm talking feel and smell. Dead spots are everywhere and it smells of sweat and old chalk. Even if you plan on visiting for a day you have to be careful not to fall off a V0 and break your leg in a dead spot. And they aren't even thinking of replacing the pads anytime soon. Given pads are expensive and not a on the fly purchase, but come on the pads are five years overdue. Route setting is another issue. They have scared off all their good setters! As soon as the new gym opened in July most experienced climbers and even the setters left. And the ones who stayed weren't allowed to set freely, so they ended up leaving. They still have climbs back from 2012! The holds are also as old as the gym itself. So if you like slimy holds with no texture just go on and crawl your way on down to climbmax! If you like climbing in little to no air conditioning to really train yourself for climbing in a volcano then climbmax has got you covered. Never, and I mean never go to climbmax in the summer. Not only do the holds start to spin becasue of the sunlight heating up the holds but it has to get up to mid 90's in the building. I really don't want to hate climbmax. I enjoyed the people I meant there and had some amazing moments at that gym. I really want it to come back to it's former glory so I can have another great gym I can go to. But until the gym makes it more experienced climber friendly you might just want to stick to some other gyms. seriously phoenix has some awesome gyms for nearly the same price. P.S Climbmax have directly asked climbers to give climbmax a good review on yelp because of some bad reviews they have gotten before. How do I know this? Because they have asked me to. read more

My name is Julia. I am a resident manager for a treatment center. I recently took our girls to Climb max for a group outing. Not only did the girls have fun but they enjoyed learning how to tackle their fears and thrived on the challenge of climbing. The staff there was very friendly and I look forward to going again. Also it hasv lovely sitting areas through out the whole coarse with relaxing music, should you want to sit out for a while. Five stars and two thumbs up. read more

Our group had a great time at Climbmax. The staff was really helpful to the first time climbers. Climbmax is a large gym with all types of routes. read more

My daughter and I told the man at the front desk that it was our first time here so he gave us some paperwork to fill out and left us up front. We stood up front for 20 minutes and the man never came back. It wasn't until we left that he came running outside, however he didn't say anything, he just watched us leave. The place was completely empty besides us and one other customer in the back. I would think when a customer says it's their first time there that maybe the staff would try and make it a positive experience so that the customer comes back. My daughter and I ended up going to he Phoenix Rock gym instead which was awesome read more

Been here several times, found service to be terrible place is filthy. I think this place used to be good when it was first opened but the original owners couldn't make a go of it and it defaulted back to the landlord who is currently running it. The landlord has no interest in running a rock gym but is stuck with it for now so it's slowly going downhill. Someone with a love of the sport needs to take over. read more

Used to be a great gym, but management changed and it all went downhill. I used to go about 3 times a week and loved it, I was on team, had a membership knew the staff. After the ownership changed I noticed the staff change too, people were now very rude. Then I noticed the paths never changed, I mean like it took 3+ months before a new one was introduced. Next the bouldering padding, it was very minimal. It had holes, duct taped on some parts unsafe all around. I jumped down (like I always have) onto a part of the padding that was duct taped, in the shape of a pyramid kind of so the top was sticking out, and rolled my ankle. The staff told me it was sprained and that i should try walking on it. The next day I went to the doctor and it was broken. I was out for 3 months and haven't been to climbmax since. I'm sure if the management had never changed, it would still be 5 stars like it used to. read more

Very disappointing experience. Spring break - took four boys there. Richard at the front counter was less than friendly. There were only two other men climbing at the time which I thought was very unusual since I expected it to have a few more spring breakers climbing. Strange fee set-up - belay certification for two people was extra $4 each person which consisted of Richard being impatient with us while giving us a refresher. Floor in terrible condition with large rips/tears in several places. Saving grace was the fact we had the entire place to ourselves and the fun cave/slide area where the boys spent most of their time. We will not be returning and I wonder how long they can continue to be in business. read more

I took my friend's son (10 yrs) to the gym for the first time. I have been to previous rock gyms long ago, but he had not. The staff was friendly and helpful. The instructor Dave was great. Very patient and explained the procedures well, was very encouraging, and made us both feel comfortable. We really enjoyed the afternoon spent there and would definitely go back again! read more

I read Danielle R's review about outrageous customer service before going and was hoping it was an anomaly. It wasn't. But, I had a prepaid Amazon Local coupon and was locked into going. My small group of 3 mom and 5 kids had the same bad customer service. We also had serious concerns about the safety of this place--their belay teaching skills were terrible. I'll address that further on in the review. I believe we also had the owners checking us in at the front desk (an older Asian couple). There was a bit of fumbling around as they tried to honor our 2 coupons and they kept getting confused about who was climbing and who was not. We did fill out waivers. The husband asked if we had climbed before and I said "yes." My daughter climbs indoors competitively and the other kids had all climbed before. As we are waiting to get rental shoes for some of the kids, the man tells us we have to pay $5 for belay lessons, but the wife had told us we just needed a review of our skills of which there was no charge. When we brought this up to the husband, he got really short and rude with us. When we pointed out what his wife said about a skills review, he said that he was in charge. Oookayyy....But then the wife came over and told us not to listen to him and took us over to an area to have our skills checked! I was relieved when a young guy came to review our belay skills because the owners sure didn't seem to know what they were doing. Unfortunately, this guy wasn't the best either. Nor were any of the other instructors that we saw teaching a group of boy scouts and their parents later. Any other gym I've been to, the instructor has taken the time to really teach the skill. Some show a video, then have a good one on one check of skills When I was taught the instructor made sure I could tie in several times without help. Then, had me work on moving the rope through the gri-gri in the practice area. After all that, then I had to practice belaying the instructor. The instructor threw in a couple planned and unplanned falls to make sure I could "catch" him. It took a good 30-40 minutes. This is as it should be. Safety first, right? So this gym was teaching these first time parents how to belay while their kids were tied in and climbing on the wall! They hadn't practiced tying in, or moving the rope through the gri-gri or how to stop a fall or anything. The kids are clinging to the wall, wanting to be let down and the parent is fumbling with the gri-gri while the instructor is trying to show them how to work it to let the kid down! My daughter was freaking out watching them teach belay skills. As a competitive climber she is fastidious about tying in correctly and belaying correctly. I felt safe because we knew what we were doing. But, for the first timer....yikes! If you have never climbed before I would go elsewhere. We've been to AZ on the Rocks and they do a good job teaching belay skills. I really hate giving any establishment a one star rating, but I just can't give it two stars given the poor way they teach belay skills. Rude customer service aside, that is just inexcusable. People could get seriously hurt. Maybe this place is great for experienced climbers that already have the belay skills down and that don't have to deal with the front desk, but I won't ever climb here again. read more

Seriously the biggest jerk I have ever met ! First things first I was brand new to rock climbing had no idea what it entailed so we drove down there to check it out and were a little intimidated at first so we wanted to watch some people to try to see if we were capable of it. When we first walked in the owner or whoever that ride guy is was salty and sassy immediately didn't take anytime to explain anything to us. As we were watching some people he came up to us and rudely told us we needed to leave if we were just going to watch. I nicely told him we were just trying to figure it out and observe before we even tried it. I ended up thinking this guy was so rude we left as we left I told him I had planned on bringing a big group back with me but since he was so rude no way would I suggest this place to anyone ! Get some customer service skills anddd this place is the dirtiest thing I have ever seen! A broken dusty treadmill just sitting on the floor that I almost tripped on and he had the nerve to tell me we can't watch because of liability haha well clean up your treadmill that's in the waking path. read more

i just started climbing a few months ago but thanks to climb max, i'm a true addict! the first time i went i got great instruction and everyone was very helpful. the atmosphere is very welcoming and relaxed and there are climbers of all levels there. you can do both top rope and bouldering there and the staff is super knowledgeable. it's been a while since i've gotten to go but i'm looking forward to returning and signing up for a long term membership! read more

This is a great place to climb in Tempe! There aren't as many kids here as there are at AZR, so it's easier to navigate. Never done any trad here because the bouldering is just so good! There are tons of bouldering routes for all skill levels, and I find them a bit more challenging than I'm used to (but thats probably due to the fact that the rating system is a little different than AZR), but its fun to push myself here with tougher routes. read more

I am sure glad they didn't rehire that blonde devil from the old location. At the old location in Tempe there was this blonde girl that looked to be in her early 30's. I ALWAYS tried to avoid her due to negative energy written all over her face but one day she made me target. I HAVE NEVER EVER had somebody be as rude to me as she was to me. Not only was she rude and a target of her bad day(which appeared to be every day) she started throwing personal insults at the business I own. I strive to be as polite and respectful at all times and I was speechless as she continued to humiliate and belittle me. She even called the owner on the phone saying how disrespectful I was and that I should be banned from the gym?! It was a absolute nightmare ... the girl was literally having a clinical diagnosable deranged psychotic episode in front me and a helpless to stop it. I hope she's in a deep karma hole. I am curious if anybody else knows who I am talking about? Besides that .. it's the best rock gym for bouldering in AZ. read more

This was my first time visiting a rock gym and I had a great time. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Your first time it is only $12 including gear. My boyfriend and I had such a great time we ended up staying for 3 hours. We will be back! read more

This is an awesome neighborhood gym. We always love climbing here. It isn't too crowded, the staff and owner are knowledgeable and very friendly. It is affordable and the climbing variety is great. read more

horrible customer service. learn how to teach people and how to talk to children politely.

Been to PRG and AZR, which are great gyms. My daughter and I thought we'd give CM a try, and we were very pleased. My honest opinion: I like the climbing walls at the other gyms a little better, but it's honestly not too different. But the bouldering walls and training areas are phenomenal and unmatched by the other gyms. They have tons to offer for the serious climber. Also the staff seems to be more knowledgeable about climbing than AZR which seems to have a lot of kids who don't climb as seriously, and about the same as PRG. The prices are great, too and they offer great discounts to teachers, which I am going to take advantage of. I recommend that you check it out, and check the others out, too and then make your decision. read more

Those people from California must be trolls. I was there last Saturday and the staff was extremely nice and helpful! It wasn't my first time climb, but the staff was very knowledgeable and I still learned some useful techniques. I was amazed by how much bouldering there was and its quality. I am definitely going to get a membership then next time I go in. Don't listen to those people from California. The gym is very welcoming and I left with with many new friends and future climb partners. read more

My daughter loved her first visit to climbmax. These guys did a great job making her feel comfortable. I was able to leave for an hour to go to Costco and they watched the girls and corrected them to improve technic. They had a great time showing off when I came to pick them up. Girl power! read more

Completely horrific experience. Purchased a special voucher online at signpost.com and the staff said they didn't know about it and then 15 min later they realized, 'ohh yeah, we did sign up for that' then when we gave them our voucher, he couldn't figure out to use it. Richard and Greg were the front desk people and didn't know how to treat paying customers at all. We were forced to call the signpost support when it was their responsibility in the first place. They did nothing at all to solve the situation, just dumb blank stares. I've climbed at many many gyms for 6 years and this is by far the dumbest and most terrible service that I've ever received. Why support a gym with no idea how to treat customers? We left due to the bad treatment and went to climb at AZ on the Rocks in Scottsdale instead. This gym won't last long treating customers this way and signing up for deals and not educating their staff about it. read more