Metro Rock Gym - Everett, MA

The night before last I went to Metro Rock Gym in Everett Massachusetts.  I would have to say that I was pretty impressed.  I flashed a V8 that felt pretty much on point with most V8s I have done.  The grades were pretty consistent between difficulty ratings and the lower grades were where I thought they should be. Alex got on one of the V0s (which she flashed) and said it was really nice and made her feel comfortable if she were a beginner, just getting into bouldering.

The facility itself was pretty clean but was a little older looking.  As gyms typically do, it looked a little worn around the edges.  The staff was not very welcoming at first. Between the kid that rang us up and the other guy that was not excited about me asking questions about the gym, they may need some warming up to.  He said it had been open for about 9 years but wasn't too excited to talk about wall building companies.  We did, however talk to a few people in the gym, including Jeremy Balboni, a local Boston climber.  When I was in Madison, I didn't talk to a single person in the gym and this made the second gym in Boston in which I actually climbed a session with a complete stranger.

The only complaint I would have would be the cost.  At $15.00, this is the most I have ever paid for climbing that was just bouldering.  They offered no military discount and could not offer me a student discount because $15.00 was their bouldering only price anyway.  It's $18.00 if I had wanted to be on rope too.

Overall, the gym was nice.  The problems were good and felt true to grade.  The facility is clean with a staff friendliness rating of 6 or so.  I would recommend people in the Boston area to pay this gym a visit.

Size of Facility:          Great

Route Asthetics:         Good

Route Climbability:    Good

Route Maitenence:     Fair

Training Equipment:  Good

Staff Friendliness:       Fair

Staff Knowledge:       Good

Grade Trueness  V1-V4: True  V5-V7: True V8+: True