The Refuge Climbing and Fitness - Las Vegas, Nevada

Kenton Anderson

Pros:
1. Grading is closer to outdoor grades than most gyms. The grades will feel stiff compared to most climbing gyms.
2. The staff are friendly and supportive.
3. Open until 10pm.
4. This is the closest climbing gym to the strip if you are one of the many people visiting Vegas on business, and you just need to get some reps in while you're away from home.
5. There is a small workout area including a moon board, tension board and some weights. There are also 3 auto belay stations if you bring a harness, but this is primarily a bouldering gym, so I would consider these more of a training perk.
Cons:
1. Chalk is everywhere. I've climbed in gyms all over the US, and I've never seen a gym with a chalk problem this bad. The first thing I noticed when I walked inside was the chalk cloud in the air. This will undoubtedly cause many regulars to have chronic lung issues later in life. This place would really benefit from 2-3 chalk eaters. Also, chalk is layered so thick on some of the holds that it is sometimes hard to tell if you're on route if an adjacent problem is a similar color. These should be thoroughly cleaned on a more regular basis.
2. Layers of paint on the walls. It's peeling off in many places and scrapes off under your fingernails. It's clearly old and time for a renovation.
3. Unaware crowds. Like most busy gyms this place gets crowded. Unfortunately, people here just sit in crowds under overhanging walls limiting the useful climbing space.

Graham Martin

This is a GREAT gym. I felt every grade actually increased in difficulty, and as a V6 V7 climber the pinks were really fun and the yellows were challenging but totally attainable in 1 or 2 sessions. The climbs here are really long, and the holds seem old but still feel really good. Overall it had an old school feel and the staff, setters, and climbers were all really friendly.

The bouldering area is a little cramped so you have to get out of the way when other people are climbing.

J G

I'm from Seattle and our are almost double the cost but they are also twice as large or greater. I really didn't like that people here also sit on the mats blocking wall space. I didn't climb much because of that and people left their water bottles pushed up against the mat which is an ankle breaking hazard. The ping pong table was ridiculous, having to dodge the ball and people at a climbing gym. It was in the direct walkway and right in front of the bathroom. I really would have liked to enjoy my time instead of leaving after 20 minutes because everything was blocked.

Brad Belikove

i've been to the other places around Vegas (as a watcher, not a climber) my son says it's a lot more advanced. and pretty confusing at first

they don't have the grades on the routes they have like a number and it's from 1 to 39 based on easiest to hardest. I don't know they said it was left over from a competition and they just kept it

The holds on a route are the same color but they also use a color system for the difficulty and those two colors do not match.
And the only place to find out what color is what difficulty is on a poster at the front of the gym.

then they put the color on some tape and the tape on the starting holds. Sometimes they have to color the tape the right color to match the difficulty and that never matches the holds.

This type of stuff might cause frustration for a newbie but for I don't think it'll be a big deal if you've already climbed a few times

It's not very clean but I mean due to the nature of it and the nature of the sport it's not really expected to be clean. There are other places in vegas that are immaculate though.

The staff is super friendly and there's a lot of camaraderie between climbers. It can be very intimidating for a newbie though I think. And the routes are higher difficulty than they appear

One of the great things about this place is if you're not a climber just a watcher who hangs out with their climber there are seats at every single area so you can be sitting down in a bench close to your climber and record or cheerlead etc.

however good luck finding an available seat which brings me to my biggest issue with the place

It's a lot more crowded than the other and I mean A. LOT. MORE. CROWDED.

at no point where we not almost shoulder to shoulder with somebody. there was an entire section of the gym that was standing room only.

Based on the confusion of the routes and how packed it was I would say start somewhere else and only go here once you are comfortable as a climber then you won't have to deal with any of the issues

Ruslan Z

I wish there was less dust at the entrance, but I guess it comes with the territory. The day pass+rental gear was $23. Boulders were fun

Anna Suki

My first time at this gym and I absolutely love the settings.

I’ve been climbing for 1.5 years and noticed some of the VB-V3 climbs are sandbagged. Not sure how beginners can even climb some of the easier sets!

The gym has a training area and it’s so well used. A lot of climbers here don’t slack on training and you can tell because there were a lot of strong climbers on a schedule or had their training apps on! I personally enjoyed the treadwall because I don’t have this back at my home gym. I also appreciate the tension and moonboard and the different varieties of climb, especially the slab wall.

Not sure if I would recommend this gym for beginners but if you’re more on the experienced side, I think you’ll appreciate the sets here.

hansachs

Mid size bouldering gym with modern "color" setting. Kids area with three short autobelays, treadwall, 2024 moonboard, original tension board(soon to be T2) and weight area.

Has claimed title of the Hardman Vegas gym for a while now - problems tend to be reachy and sandbagged - so prepare for ego to be sore along with your body. Only issue I have is some walls are tall and foam is getting packed out so downclimbing recommended and go early if you can as it is a victim of its own success and it gets busy midweek after work.

Henrique Levcovitz de Souza

I felt like a loser with the sandbagged grades hahaha. But that's what makes people improve, so.. not sure if a good or bad thing

Boulders are well set and walls are pretty tall, which is cool. Can be frustrating for beginners, as there aren't many easy climbs

The feedbacks I have are:
- to improve the showering structure. Just one shower and not very comfortable
- to clean the holds more often. Some footholds were super slippery from dust (not chalk, but regular dust)