VITAL Climbing Gym - Upper East

Fantastic experience: I had never climbed till I joined the gym three months ago and now I go every week! All the staff are friendly and knowledgable and absolutely wonderful. To get a good experience it is a good idea to call and ask when the gym gets busy so you can try to avoid those hours. I like to go between 4-6 since it is usually quieter and many of the regular members are there to hang out with (and get tips from). It's also surrounded by nice food-places to explore after a good climb so it might make a good date idea!

Fantastic experience: First time bouldering and it was awesome! Great upper body work out. Staff and everyone there was super helpful and nice. Very non intimidating atmosphere.

Fantastic experience: Loved it! Worth the fun!

Fantastic experience: Great place. Spacious, great climbing material, reasonable prices. Staff are very helpful.

Fantastic experience: Smaller gym, but it has everything you need. There are a good spread of difficulties in the V0-7 range with a couple V8-10+'s sprinkled throughout. Up to ~V6, there are usually options for different style holds to practice on with higher grades favoring crimps & slopers (as you'd expect) Highly recommend the membership as you can mix things up by going to the other two locations in the area

Fantastic experience: Amazing place. I have long wanted to learn rock climbing. Finally my dream can come true. I think I'll be a regular here. Climbing wall with several levels of difficulty, competent instructors, good new equipment. Light and cozy. The place is small, but everything you need is here. Definitely recommend!

Fantastic experience: Smaller but cozy space. Routes change frequently, and there’s a nice variety. The community and the staff are amazing.

Fantastic experience: Terrific climbing gym, very friendly for kids, we had a great time.

Fantastic experience: Happy for the location, despite the size of the space

Positive experience: Sweet spot, great benefits. Misses a locker room and is small so if more folks show up you may have to wait. Brooklyn branch is on my ToDo list if you are planning for just visit pass go to Brooklyn branch.

Fantastic experience: Local bouldering spot with great route setting and an even better community vibe.

Fantastic experience: Great route setting. It’s not very big like the bk vital or the cliffs, but this space gives it a kinda intimate atmosphere. Although small, the walls are compact with many interesting lines.

Fantastic experience: Super fun rock climbing place and a great place to chill and hang with friends

Fantastic experience: Great place to rock climb, the community is also great as well

Fantastic experience: An awesome experience overall! I’m a new climber & my husband is more experienced. Steep Rock (UES) offered great routes for both of us. The staff is friendly, the facility is clean & the members are nice and considerate. It’s in a great location & a perfect place to go after work or on the weekends. It’s not too crowded so you will have plenty of time to climb. The manager, Andrew was especially helpful & kind. Thanks for a great experience Steep Rock!

Fantastic experience: Kids and entire family had fun challenging themselves on increasingly difficult routes. Staff was friendly and even other climbers were friendly and helpful giving encouragement and advice.

Fantastic experience: Place had a lot to offer for its smaller size. There’s a ton of different routes and also a small weight / training area. Day passes are cheaper than the other gyms if you have your own gear. Will definitely return in the future

Fantastic experience: Really nice place. Routes change frequently, friendly staff and patrons, clean environment. It's a bit small but not always crowded, so good for climbing.

Fantastic experience: Color coded routes that are changed frequently, clean and tidy, and the friendly staff make up for the limited space. Great option in the city.

Fantastic experience: I had a really good experience at this place. I haven’t really climbed before without ropes so this was a first for me. They have difficulty levels for each path which makes it super easy to find which paths are easy and hard. The guy at the desk was one of the friendliest people there. This place has so much for everyone and in all is a great spot while visiting NYC! I will be making a return and hopefully I can go through the more tough paths in the future.

Fantastic experience: I've been a member for 2 years and go 1 or 2 times a week. Staff and people are always nice, routes are changed monthly or so and have a nice array of easy to difficult for an above average climber. Small space, holds from other routes sometimes get in the way.

Fantastic experience: LOVE it here!!!! They change one of the walls every few weeks, so there are always new challenges.

Fantastic experience: Great place with a lot of route varieties. The staff is very nice and the climbers are really helpful. I wish I lived closer so I could go more often.

Fantastic experience: Small but it doesn’t matter because they make great use of what space they have and change the setups frequently. There’s a small free weight area. The place is generally clean. Even when it’s crowded, people are super chill and are courteous enough to let others have turns. Staff members are also really cool and I enjoy learning from them! Overall the atmosphere is welcoming and as a newbie i feel so comfortable. Also, there is 2-ply toilet paper in the bathroom.

Fantastic experience: The intro class was really helpful. I used to rock climb, but bouldering definitely has a different touch to it. It’s challenging both mentally and physically and forces you to think outside the box and rely entirely on your own body weight to train. It’s an amazing workout and is incredibly stimulating. It’s also really safe. The mats are really well padded to break your fall without you getting hurt. Make sure you practice proper technique, because otherwise you can get easily injured.

Fantastic experience: Great local bouldering gym. No bells and whistles but good people and well set routes

Fantastic experience: As a beginner the staff was reassuring and friendly. Love the midday discounts.

Fantastic experience: Climbing is great and staff is very helpful also everybody climbing has respect for the other people also climbing

Fantastic experience: Great place, great staff, I am no longer a member but that is because I wanted to start back up at a regular gym, lift heavy things and put them down, play with cardio equipment... Steep rock is a good place, good climbing routes, fun members. Edit: when I cancelled my membership everything went smoothly and easily, good people

Fantastic experience: Good wall alot of options for new and expeirienced climbers

Fantastic experience: Took the bouldering 101 class, was so much fun. Dennis was great, and the gym is super approachable for a beginner.

Fantastic experience: Compact space. Helpful staff. Great for young kids (5+).

Fantastic experience: I went bouldering for the first time here and had a great experience. The staff was super friendly and set us up pretty quickly. The place was pretty tiny, but the walls were sufficiently challenging. There were a decent number of kids when we went as well.

Fantastic experience: Love this place! Very friendly staff, good setting and the people there all help you get better. It’s also a lot of fun! Highly recommend

Fantastic experience: Favorite place to climb, friendly staff and climbers, tiny hipster place with ice coffee.

Fantastic experience: Great bouldering gym with a very friendly staff

Fantastic experience: The place is small for me, but they have all the stuff for bouldering, i was there few days ago and i had so much fun.

Fantastic experience: Really fun place to try bouldering for the first time. Helpful, outgoing staff makes the whole process fun and stress free.

Fantastic experience: A great place for bouldering in NYC. Friendly staff, good equipment, and regularly updated routes

Fantastic experience: Always interesting bouldering problems, reset frequently. And a wonderfully friendly vibe.

Fantastic experience: Love this place to take kids age 7-9 for climbing every few months! They change up the wall patterns so it's been different and challenging each time we come. The atmosphere is not intimidating.

Fantastic experience: Small but friendly gym with great staff and good setting

Fantastic experience: Just got a membership a few weeks ago and float between East and West side. Love it! I had no idea there was good climbing in the city. Beware during the day the East side might be swarmed with kids...though they do put an age limit on starting at I think 6pm.

Fantastic experience: The space might be small but don't be fooled, this place is awesome. Great routesetting that takes advantage of their walls and a decent variety of styles (slab, vert, overhang) will definitely give you plenty to work on for hours on end. The grades did seem a little soft and if you're a total beginner (from what I saw) the easiest grades were too easy and the next easiest grade was a little difficult. Definitely coming back to this place though!

Fantastic experience: This gym fits a lot into a small space, and it's done very well. I come three times a week, and I've never felt like I've run out of routes; the overhang is certainly challenging.

Fantastic experience: -Fantastic people and staff -Great problems for experienced or new climbers that make you think and evolve physically as well as mentally *DOUBLE THUMBS UP*

Fantastic experience: Chilling vibe with dope employees. Small but wide range of fun routes.

Fantastic experience: Awesome gym, employees are very friendly, really has a community feel. The setting there is actually pretty creative given the space constraints. The staff is really friendly and talkative, which was great for someone who was just visiting the city for work.

Fantastic experience: Love this place. Great for beginners and they change up the levels enough for more experienced people to be challenged. The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful.

Fantastic experience: Nice little hole in the wall bouldering gym. Small, no locker rooms, no cardio machines, just a lengthy bouldering wall and a campus board with a set of rings. Classic and perfect.

Fantastic experience: Easy to follow routes, lots of variability in difficulty. Staff helpful. Not overly crowded on weekday evenings.