Touchstone gym located in downtown Oakland…read more This is a more small and intimate gym in comparison to Pacific Pipe. There is a small Boulder section, top roping, work area, weights, and workout area. The staff here is super friendly. My friends took the intro to climbing class here and they really enjoyed it. The staff was really helpful in teaching them the ins and outs

I love the structure. Super fun, climbing competition. Great stuff. Super fun…read more I came for the 2024 climbing competition. I had such a great time so glad I came. This building is gorgeous and so fun so aesthetic. The staff was super friendly. When I made a joke about my chalk, they were receptive and fun. Their store was pretty well stocked. Grab myself an adorable, red crop sweatshirt. They're set up was very organized. Literally zero drama. Highly recommend, and I'll be back.

Reach another level of personal growth with a visit to The Peak of Fremont, the biggest indoor…read moreclimbing facility in the area. Remember those days in the playground and their climbing structures? Well, as an adult, The Peak is the place to reignite that hobby and enjoy the sport with a rich community of professionals and enthusiasts. This huge facility is shared among The Peak's climbing structures, an indoor volleyball court, a casual restaurant, and a small arcade. There aren't many parking spots up front but around the back of the building, you'll see plentiful spots. Once you enter the building, head to the left through the glass doors where you'll see the many climbing walls speckled with multiple colored protrusions. The pricing is transparent and it's all available upfront. They do have day passes, multi-visit passes as well as memberships that will waive your entrance fee. In addition to the entrance fee, you may also be required to pay for the harness and shoe rentals (members get a discounted price). They also have chalk for the more advanced climbers. If it's your first time, consider completing the waiver online ahead of time. You may be asked to go through a quick orientation regarding the use of their auto-belay system, however if you already know how to belay traditionally, they may ask you to go through additional training just to be sure. Each wall seemed to feature a variety of colors to distinguish the different difficulty levels for more advanced climbers. Aside from the walls, they also have a huge structure designed for bouldering with a thick padded floor underneath. The boulder and auto-belay walls seemed the most popular but it didn't seem there was much waiting given the ample space in the facility. There was certainly enough climbing space for everyone. As a novice, the activity was fun and tiring; there's definitely a balance between technique and strength! Despite having entry for the whole day, we definitely were tired out within an hour of constant climbing and by hour two, it was just about time to leave and refuel. Fortunately, the location of this space is quite convenient due to having a restaurant right on site as well as its proximity to the highway and other eateries just a few minutes away. The staff were friendly and informative. Besides the initial onboarding, there wasn't much interaction with them. They seem to keep things organized, cleaned and well-maintained. Overall, The Peak does a fantastic job introducing the sport of climbing to the local community and providing a clean and safe environment for newbies and experts alike. The price is reasonable for an all day activity and even more so if you become a member. For kids, they also have camps to build a new passion and train them up as climbers. For the more serious climbers, you may want to consider investing in the equipment to further save on the rentals. If this is a new challenge for you, take the opportunity to get in on this sport! The Peak makes it relatively easy to pick this up and continue leveling up with each visit!

Wow, fun place! I never experienced an auto belay before and it's great because sometimes it's…read morehard to round up that friend to come and climb with you! With the auto belay, it's easier to clip on and just climb, so you can climb more reps also. Friendly staff. I learned some new tips from the belay test as their system is just a bit different from what I'm used to, but I love learning so it was great. Easy parking. Please come and create your own experience.

Best climbing gym around! I pretty much only Boulder but the…read morespace is huge and there's a wide variety of problems for all skill levels. Healthy mixture of top outs and holds to finish! Good rotation of problems! The workout area has a lot of space (though it can get crowded 5-7 midweek). Staff is always friendly and helpful.

I've been here a few times and it's always so mesmerizing looking at the sheer size of the gym/rock…read moreclimbing walls as well as it being 2 floors for bouldering! Their traditional part of the gym with weights had a good selection of accessories and equipment. I love how there are big areas for both top rope and bouldering. I can't imagine how it will be during rush hours as I've only tried to go on the off hours. I usually chance it and park on 20th street instead of parking in the lot as it can get pretty tight. Everyone I've interacted with was pretty nice and efficient! Definitely check it out if you're in the area- it's so pretty'. Theres also a coffee shop on 20th street too if you need a pick me up!

Really great and big bouldering gym. I just started climbing and this gym is not short of beginner…read morefriendly problems and they have a unique arch section with problems as well. I was hoping to grab one of the merch here but as usual with any Touchstone gyms, the designs are basic and weird cut, and the gyms are lacking in sizes. As others mentioned, there are free parking on the long block behind the gym.

I love coming here. Staff is friendly, the routes lots of fun. As a member, I really appreciate the…read moremembers only hour on the weekend. I also find the kids area to be a lot of fun, seeing kids experience the joys of climbing.

Great place with wonderful, helpful people. A fun, safe, integrated workout, that allows and…read morepromotes the use all my skills ..

Plenty of problems to work on at this climbing gym. The routes are also decently rated. Staff at…read moreIronworks are helpful. Overall, I enjoyed the atmosphere and set up here.

I have two issues with Oaktown Boulders: communication and organization. It was impossible to get a…read morehold of them by email or phone to sign my daughter up, so we drove there and showed up to talk to someone. I signed my daughter up for a class, and after she attended one session (and after getting her excited about climbing), they emailed me to say they messed up, and the class was full. So they cancelled her enrollment and gave me a partial refund. Totally unacceptable! My daughter was so disappointed. After that experience, we joined another climbing gym and asked Oaktown Boulders to take us off their email list. They have literally emailed me half a dozen times, promoting new classes and letting me know about openings. EVERY SINGLE TIME, I ask them to remove me from their email list! No response. Also, unacceptable! Get your sh*t together, Oaktown Boulders!

Part of loving Oaktown Boulders is loving that they are aiming to make climbing something that ALL…read morekids have access to. And doing so by providing quality and fun instruction - there's no compromising in what they offer. It is exciting to see the growth that they have achieved over the past couple of years and moving locations, hiring/training new staff is never easy. If I wanted big box climbing lessons for my kid I'd go elsewhere. Yet, in addition to wanting this confidence boosting and camaraderie building experience for my kid it matters to me to give my money to a place also working to do good in our community. Have you read the Mission?

Had a very odd interaction with a staff member. We were told that California EBT cards were not and…read morewere never supposed to be accepted for the discounted climbing price across the touchstone gyms, however, every other gym has accepted it and the website itself says that they are accepted. If the policy for the company has changed, I understand the website might not reflect that yet, however, the website does clearly state California EBT is valid for the discounted price so it felt like this gym in particular is unilaterally deciding to not accept them despite what the company website states. I'm more than happy to update this review if contacted. I have tried contacting this gym to get clarification and have not been able to do so. Edit: manager has since reached out to rectify the situation. Great customer service.

I bought a day pass for a visit here for some bouldering. The day pass is 25 before 3pm and rental…read moreis included for the first time. The process was easy and we filled out our forms rapidly. The shoes are self serve and i noticed that they also provide rental chalk. The bouldering area is quite minimal, but they had a number of interesting problems and the boulders are all on Kaya, my preferred app for logging my climbs. They also provided 0 training or onboarding for us so if you are new to the sport, I would recommend coming here with a friend who knows the ropes haha. The grades made sense, I wish there was a bit more slab type climbing though, and the overhang area is also fairly minimal. This is obviously a much more top rope oriented gym. There is little AC but they do have fans, and there's a small strength training area and some treadmills. The bathrooms are quite well appointed with hair dryer, tampons, and nail clippers. Enjoyed the trip for sure!

Super busy on a weekday evening. The facility is mainly top roping, and every single climb/wall is…read morefull. There are also a couple walls for bouldering in the very front and the very back. The bouldering routes are fun and creative. The gym area is one of the bigger ones I've seen at a Movement gym. There's also a nice outdoor space where I've seen classes happen. Overall, it's a nice facility, especially considering how long it's existed for. Just be prepared for long lines and waiting.

I had my son's 13th birthday party here & it turned out to be such an awesome experience. It wasn't…read moreyour conventional party, which was perfectly cool with me. 2 hours was perfect for the kids as climbing takes a lot out of you. The staff was patient & worked really well with everyone. It was a lot of the kids first time climbing & I was nervous they weren't going to like it, turns out they had an amazing experience. Thank you Movement! S/o to Ben for being so kind to all of us, I didn't get the other guy but you were amazing as well. Thank you for being patient with us, I know teenage boys could be tough to reign in but you toughed it out! I appreciate it! I'm considering a membership after this.

I'm a regular here. Climbing is such a fun sport and this gym has great options for bouldering and…read moretop roping. They also have a lot of events as well, which provides a strong community feeling. It gets very busy in the afternoon when the kiddos are there but I'm always able to find an open route. I'm not a huge fan using a grigri, but that's what they provide. Check it out!

Did not have a great experience here. I'd give it maybe 3 stars until I went to cancel my…read moremembership. First, the place smells like a bad combo of feet and climbing chalk. All climbing gyms have something of a funk, but this place is the worst. I joined to take the yoga classes mostly, but that's a hard pass. Classes start on time, but the gym allows members to show up late. When they do, they move the curtain, light up the whole room, and the noise of 100 climbers floods the room. Right in the time when you're settling in and trying to focus. Then the weight room is above the yoga room, so you get to hear weights slamming down during class, which is also disruptive. I found the classes super uneven, some being great (Bronwyn) and others being a weird combo of loud music over soft voices so you can't hear the instructor, or instructors borderline shouting at folks to expel breath as loud as possible. Not what I'm looking for. So, no problem, it's not for me. It's close to home, price is reasonable, and they have good climbing facilities. Boulder area isn't the best, but the rest of it is quite good with interesting routes changed often...enough. When I went to cancel, I was hit with a "policy" that you have to cancel on or before the 25th of a month or they will charge you for another month. I reached out on the 26th, 5 days before the next charge cycle. Seemed like plenty. Complained, go zero response. So basically I consider they robbed me of $110, because of course the cancellation policy is not visible..until you go to cancel. Hope it was worth the money, Movement. Cannot recommend.

Some of the most fun climbs I've had in my entire climbing journey so far. I had the chance to…read morecheck this place out very early into getting started with climbing so many of the climbs back then were out of reach as I was climbing fairly low grades at the time but they really do have a lot of fun climbs that incorporate a variety of skills/techniques My main reason for the high grade despite a fairly large lack of amenities that my primary gym has is they just create a welcoming third space that overshadows their lack of space and feature rich gym equipment. The climbs are some of the more unique ones I've encountered with many of them challenging your sense of body positioning/tension with a good range of beginner styled climbs that allow for a friendly atmosphere. This has been my second time come and the community here seemed quite close knit as many were cheering for each other wrt their "projects" As for some nitpick downsides, the seem to only have one shower area for men's bathroom with a fairly small open changing area that is tucked into a corner. Given the space is nearly quarter to half the size of comparable SF climbing gyms I guess I could see the reasons behind it. Their sets were also a bit inflated imo but my reference points are Movement, Touchstone, and Mesa Rim gyms so it's not quite fair to say it's a universal truth but it felt like their climbs were a tad too easy for the higher grades. Maybe it's a reason people find it more welcoming but regardless the way the climbs are setup it felt exciting which is rare after climbing for nearly two years now They also have beer on tap (for members) which was surprising but seemed to really emphasize on the community focused aspect and their smaller membership size One other drawback as I think back is this location is honestly terrible for parking as it's on a busy corridor of Van Ness St so parking is really only good after 6 PM since meters stop charging then. If I take all these into consideration this place would be a 4.5 stars. I really like their sets, they have a two-week membership that is $50 / two-week period with discounts for students and Medi-cal You can probably try most of their problems within the two week period given how small the gym is but for now I see this as a slept on gym primarily because it doesn't have the same presence that larger corporate gyms in the Bay have

This place is sick, they have a 2024 set moonboard. I think what stands out for benchmark is their…read moresetting. Really stiff. Really easy to get to from union square. I just took a bus from union square to van ness then walked a few blocks. There is plenty of restaurants/bars down the hill.