My wife and I are brand new to climbing, and this was a nice place to go climb. They have all the gear for rent and you can also buy the gear if you want. Lots of different walls to climb so you can do it for a while without getting bored.

The facility is great, but what really sets it apart is the staff! Everyone there has been so kind, helpful and informative. Always look forward to climbing here.

COVID restrictions a touch unreasonable.I have always struggled with the way VE manages their gyms. It doesn’t foster a very healthy climbing community and focuses on birthday parties.I have put up with with the banning of climbing equipment that actually makes climbing safer (i.e. Edelrid Ohm).Most recently, they have introduced all of their COVID restrictions. I am in full support of adding new safety precautions, however it’s at the expense of basic human needs. Today, my girlfriend and I were wrapping up our climbing at the tail end of our 2 hour reservation. We were rushing to leave due to our reservation ending. Both of us had to use the restroom and wash our hands. In total, that put us about 15 mins after the end of our reservation. We were harshly criticized by the staff for this infraction.We learned yesterday that they are actually recording these infractions, and monitoring you more heavily at the gym! I find this to be quite draconian and unacceptable.

Vertical Endeavors is a great gym! To be honest I have not been to many rock climbing gyms, but I always feel comfortable and safe here. They make sure they follow regulations. And my experience with the staff has always been helpful. They’ve helped me learn more about climbing equipment as I’m new and when they didn’t have shoes in my size they let me borrow some for free that day and told me where I could probably find some in my size (I have super small feet so that’s probably not a common issue). This place has many auto belays which is great if you can’t get a friend to join you.

I have been to both the St Paul and Minneapolis location, and this one is just as nice. I brought my daughter and we climbed for almost 3 hours for $53. They have almost 30 automatic belay routes and people just wandering around that will belay in any other route. There is a gym there with squat and bench racks, treadmills, dumb and kettle bells and cardio equipment. The energy and vibe here is active and fun. I will be back!

This location was very organized and clean. There were plenty of things to climb for my 8 year old son. He spent hours in the facility and didnt get bored. The only thing that could be better is the price structure and an employee instructor to help u.

My family visited this location on grand opening. Never had been to a Vertical Endeavors but have heard great things about it. This place was packed, but has different climbing options. I was impressed to find my 2 year old climb the wall that was 5.4. Great option for family or date night.

My friend and I were up visiting for the day and had the worst experience we had ever had at a climbing gym. While most of the staff were friendly and welcoming, we had a terrible experience doing our belay test. My friend and I are both experienced climbers and were both actually on the climbing board at our school. We spend a lot of our time teaching others to climb and belay. We were given the orientation which was really just a tour and then told to go ahead and climb. We didnt vocalize our double checks, even though they were done, and apparently our staff member didnt like that. He decided not to pass us, take away our ATC (which we paid for) and then neglected to give us the chalk bag (which we also paid for). We actually didnt get the chalk bag until we went up to the counter an hour later and complained. And even then that same staff member just glared at us while we waited patiently for his help. When we went through the same test (a friend who arrived later), that staff member was super friendly and made sure to explain what he needed to see and reminded our friend when he forgot something. When we told him about our experience, he told us to come in next time and do it, which was frustrating since it was an hour and a half drive for both my friends. Needless to say, for the price we paid, there will definitely not be a next time.

I have been going for about 6 months and is always greated with a smile. The staff showed us how to use the auto belay and there is alway other experience climbers to help if something looks wrong. No they do not have enough staff to give you personal climbing lessons. As far as the test they go by the book and those who did not pass because they did not communicate with the climber is there problem. They have a sheet telling you exactly what the test requirement and that includes doing harness checks and doing verbal communication such as saying climb on when the belayer is ready. If you start climbing before the person is ready and you fall who fault is that. The climber. Most of these people complain because they felt that because they climb they did not have to pratice the gym rules and that is that when you belay someone you do anyway they want to. They want to be extra safe and people who have a problem with that maybe should not being climbing to begin with since a small mistake can be deadly even in a gym. Meanwhile I was there for a Veterans recreational outing and we came one day a week for 4 week and had two 4 day session a year. Those who were in the session before and had some experience they allowed us all who wanted to be taught how to belay and how to back each up doing it.They did not require us to take there course or pay for it. When I did my test there was no problems because I knew what they required to pass because it tells you right on the sheet of there testing requirements. Meanwhile even if you fail the test about 40% of the climb are auto belay so the only reason lost there money is because they went home in a suff. If you fail the test you can do again the next day. They do not charge to take the test. So maybe people who think they are so good might look at there sheet first and follow it. Every place has there own rules and that depends on the safety needed with the ratio of climber and staff. When you have a gym full of climbers and there are 4 staff people around they cannot be in every room because you did not pay attention during the instructions they give you to get going. Again people blaming other for there failures.

I like this location a lot more than the Minneapolis VE. The bouldering sections are definitely more interesting. The staff were all friendly and I had no issues with the belay test before climbing. There are lots of creative routes to try for all skill levels. The workout area is good too! Had a good time at this gym.

Love taking my kids here! Great climbing option and indoor activity!!

Don’t go here if you are trying to introduce your kids to a new sport. Three different staff were condescending and rude to us. They are not interested in educating people on climbing. No kid communication skills at all. The one person that was great checked us in and was awesome with getting kids excited about climbing. Unfortunately she was on crutches so she wasn’t in the gym. We will not be returning to this gym. We love the staff at the Nicollet Ave VE and prefer to not be treated like we are idiots.

Great climbing gym with a very positive atmosphere. Both other climbers and staff are very friendly and the general vibe is that everybody wants you to do you best and have fun. Nobody really spits unwanted Beta, but if youre having trouble with a route or bouldering project, you can count on a staff member or more experienced climber asking you if you want some advice (Beta).And if you are a more experienced climber, they have some pretty spicy lead routes with great features we just cant find outside in Minnesota. The routes are usually mentally and physically challenging and most importantly, usually pretty fun.

This is easily the best climbing gym Ive ever seen. They have dozens of walls and routes to climb and top notch auto belay systems on not just the short walls, but some of the tall walls as well. The routes are fairly appropriately rated and range in difficulty from Barney to Spiderman. Some speed routes and identical routes help mix things up.They have a training area (which I feel most gyms leave out) where you can do some basic weight training and grip strength training. The staff was very nice and helpful in getting my novice behind oriented and ready to climb.

Staff is so rude! I’m just waiting for my membership to expire. I won’t ever renew it until they hire adults that know how to smile and be nice.I have been a member for years! I have no idea what happened with the new people they hired.Just plain AWFUL!

Staff friendly. Lead class was great. Better bouldering than Minneapolis Vertical Endeavors.

My partner and I came from out of town and we decided to visit Vertical Endeavors for a session. To preface, I’ve been climbing indoors for a couple years and my partner a year. We came in to top rope and we’ve been certified at other gyms.The pros:- Facility was pretty clean- the climbs were fun and well-rated.- day pass wasn’t too expensiveThe cons:- The orientation took forever. Even though we weren’t going to use auto belays we had to go through how to use them and the bouldering section. It took half an hour to do the orientation before we could even take our top rope test. It was almost an hour before we even started climbing- My partner and I have a significant weight difference. The staff member who tested us said we should twist the ropes to increase the friction For catches on top rope.That’s totally unnecessary and wears the rope out faster. Im a comfortable belayer and ok being yanked in the air a little.- My biggest complaint is they have this fake rubber mulch material on the ground for safety. Because of it you can’t walk around barefoot or in socks. With my tight climbing shoes I had to leave the gym floor between routes to take off my shoes and waste time. Also all this mulch material stains your hands, and it gets kicked all over the lobby. They should just have a padded floor Like in the bouldering areas. If you ground fall on top rope rubber mulch won’t help anything. Poor choice of material in my opinion.- cubbies are too small for bags.- the gym is very poorly lit. It should be much brighter in the climbing area.If you’ve got to climb, the routes are fun, but I’m sure there’s a better gym out there. I probably wouldn’t be a regular there. They need to improve their facility and orientation process.

I took my friend here and we waited for 30 minutes for my friend to get an orientation. Considering she just paid all this money to climb, it was pretty frustrating waiting this long. When we went to ask how much longer was the wait (around 15 minutes in), we were given a brief answer from an employee of “really soon.” The employee looked like he couldn’t care less and seemed to only want us to sit back down. I’ve had bad experiences with the staff at VE Bloomington before, so I guess this just reinforced my opinion of the staff here. The walls are great for climbing here, I just wish the staff wasn’t so rude.

Visited ~ 50+ times. Not a great place for bouldering. The place is way too crowded with children running all over the bouldering area. I have to constantly look for unattended children on the mats before dropping down when the entire area is designated for 16+ unless supervised by adults. Staff, while mostly great, doesnt do a good job of enforcing this. On top of this, Ive had the poorly fastened jugs spin loose on me twice causing unexpected falls.Giving this place a 3 star review as Im sure its still great for top rope, just not much else. For those who dont care, be prepared to weara a wristband to let staff know you dont have belay certification. All in all, I would recommend TCB any day over this if you just want a bouldering gym.

Love the staff and facility. Great place to climb!!!

The only issue I had to overcome was my anxiety and trusting the auto-belay. My whole body now hurts and I can’t wait to go back!

Staff on the night of Feb 7th 2020 was arrogant, rude, and condescending. I am a frequent climber and brought a friend who is new to the activity. I was embarrassed by the staffs behavior. Will not be coming back nor introducing new people to this gym.

Great facility but often very busy with kids every where.would be great if they could separate the kids into a specific area similar to how MBP does

I visited this location today with almost 70 middle schoolers from the summer program I work for. The staff were awesome!! They made it fun while still making safety the number one priority! The students had a blast! Many of them want to return with their parents! Thank you so much Vertical Endeavors staff!!

My Kids and I love it here. Ranging from 7-18yrs they all have a great time finding new and challenging ways to climb. I get a rush of fun too every route I take. The fitness equipment is a great addition for warm-up or cool down lifting and stretching.I havent been to other facilities yet but the staff sets a very high bar in customer service and helpfulness.

It was really sad to stop by VE with a couple of friends from out of the area. I grew up climbing at the first location in St. Paul over 20 years ago on one of their climbing teams. The gym was owned and operated by a group of real climbers who were part of the climbing community.I stopped into the Bloomington location with three friends. After waiting and waiting and finally going through their obnoxious orientation process, I decided to take their belay test (I volunteered out of the group in hopes Having only one of us go through the process would get us climbing sooner), unfortunately their manager made it clear from the beginning it was his goal to fail a climber with almost 25 years of mountaineering experience and by golly he managed to find a way!Instead of simply telling me that the method I used didn’t follow their strict gym requirements, he had to start talking about the user manual for my harness. I’m sure in the last 10 or 12 years since I bought that harness that plenty has changed. His condescending and arrogant attitude was unpleasant and left all of us wishing we had simply asked for our money back and left.The routes are ultra soft— a 5.11 on an auto belay felt more like a 5.7 after getting tugged up the wall.On the plus side, the facility is clean, the locker rooms are nice and it is convenient to locate.Bottom line: if you’re part of the climbing community, you could find a better gym. If you’re going there for a birthday or a bar mitzvah, I’m sure you’ll have a great time if the staff is in a good mood.

No complaints. Its a climbing gym... Something for everyone here.

Wonderful staff who are expert climbers with a passion for safety and fun! The climbing routes are marked well with ratings to help you know how youre doing. If you need assistance or any gear their shop is always ready to help. Classes are available to grow your skill base as wanted.

Fun for beginners and experienced climbers

Visually really appealing. Staff is fun and helpful. The pro shop has a decent selection and they can normally order stuff for you if they dont have what you need in stock.There are many spinners, be careful! Nothing like doing a dyno to a hold that spins on you.Some big old industrial fans would be an improvement. This place is warm especially as you climb higher.

This is an excellent gym and we enjoy visiting when were in town. I am rating two stars because this gym requires us to take the orientation and top-rope/lead test every time we come which wastes up to an hour. If you havent​ been in 120 days you will be subject to this policy. We often climb out of town in Chicago or Milwaukee and no other gym has such an onerous certification policy. At least 6 months between certifications would be more reasonable; I hope they change their policy. (Were regular climbers at our home gym.)

Love climbing here. Not an experienced climber but everyone is very helpful in explaining methods and tactics for overcoming each route

Awesome place to climb indoors. Big walls which reset about every two weeks. Nice bouldering area as well too. When you dont want to climb outside, this is the place to go.

The staff are really nice, helpful, and personable, especially Dana and Brett! I left my harness and atc here by accident and when I realized it I was already 250 miles away with no return to Minnesota on the schedule. When I called they were super helpful and ended up taking the time to ship it back to my house! So nice! In terms of climbing I was a bit injured but the training area was pretty good and the boulders seemed creative and steep so good for getting strong. Thanks for the great experience!

Most climbing gyms range in safety from sketchy to obnoxious. This one falls into the latter. I came here with a buddy of mine during a business trip and spent an hour in orientation and a belay test. My friend passes the belay test, then I go and fail because she didn’t like the way that caught him when he fell. No other explanation and she would not let me try again unless I came in the next day and paid again. She offered to let me take a belay class that day for an extra fee to get certified. It was clear at that point that the gym is more interested in the money making aspect then the climbing aspect. It’s a shame because it is a really nice gym but they really don’t care if you have climbed before and seem to be looking more into upselling people who don’t know any better. If you are looking for a gym to start out at this would be a good place to go since it seems very family friendly and extremely safe, but if you are an experienced climber just looking to climb for a day I would stay away.

Lot of fun, pretty inexpensive, and a good variety and difficulty of places to climb.

Best staff. Best holds. Best routes. Parking situation is easy peasy too

Poor facility. Ive been climbing at VE for ten years and a friend was denied his belay cert because he did not vocalize his checks twice, despite clearly vocalizing and securing harness. Forced to auto-belay around mobs of children and Instagramers all day who spend more time taking up the rope than actually climbing the route. All other VE facilities have never given a problem. Maybe if we had paid for the course we could have had a decent gym day.Visit any other locations, VE Bloomington was a massive disappointment.

Great gym lots of over hanging walls but a good variety of lead and top ropes. There is a slab wall also, and a natural wall with hand and finger cracks... and I think some off widths but not sure havent done much. There are also auto belays in a few areas

I would give them 0 stars, but thats not an option. I had to wait an hour and half to go through orientation and a lead belay test. Overall, unacceptable service. The routes were completely soft. I once climbed at the gym off of HWY 52 in Rochester and find their grades to be spot on compared to outdoor climbing. Their customer service is much better and their route setters know what they are doing.

The climbing is great but the see staff (Josh, and the one the girls from Bloomington)both gave me a mean look and treated me like Im a idiot, I am not going to return to that location.

Beautiful location. We volunteered for the opening, and it was a blast. However, I dont think well be back for a couple of months. The oil from the rubber on the ground made many of the holds incredibly slippery, and our climbing shoes continued to slip at our regular gym for a few days after we were there. We will be reticent to return until we start hearing updates about this. Once we hear, were excited to return, and hopefully visit the Bloomington location more often!

The guy working there said I had flabs with no abs

Nice enough facilities but we walked in on a busy day. Even though we had climbed here before we were still required to go through an orientation and it was over 45 minutes before we were climbing. We didnt have a lot of time and ended up having less than an hour of climbing time even though we were in the facility nearly two hours.

Ive been going to this location on and off ever since it opened and I can say it has only gotten better. Some older Google reviews complain about the oily rubber. That has been taken care of - they were shipped the wrong stuff when they opened and the correct rubber is there now. They also finished building out the entire location, so there are now multiple auto-belay routes, belay routes, and lead belay routes. They regularly switch out the holds in the belay areas and the boulder rooms, so there are always new challenges before you can get bored. The weight room is smaller, but has just the right amount of weights, treadmills, practice holds, and so on. The staff is nothing but welcoming, friendly, and helpful. It does get crowded at times, but everyone there is friendly, patient, and accommodating. Perfect for a family outing or an exercise date!

What a great experience! I went there for the first time on my birthday. Staff were great and the place was awesome.

So much fun. This place is amazing. Friendly staff and fun for the family.

Of all climbing gyms in the city, Bloomington VE is the best. Lots of routes, tall routes, good variety. Okay number of self belay routes, I got to get me some friends!

I volunteered today for the grand opening of VEs Bloomington location and I had a great time! The climbs are crazy tall, with some totally awesome lead and nat routes. Dont get me wrong, I think theyve still got some tweaking to do; not all the walls were complete, some more work needs to be done in their workout area, and the fresh rubber chips in the main climbing area are too slick (like coat your shoes and make you slip off the wall -slick). But I hope everyone thought todays grand opening was a success and they all had a great time!

I brought my eight-year-old son here for his first real introduction to climbing. The staff was incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. We both loved it; my son is totally hooked and cant wait to go back! Thanks, V.E.!!!

Great place, climbing for all abilities and the staff are very friendly & helpful. Yearly membership is a great deal

We had my sons 9th birthday party here and they did a wonderful job! The kids had fun and learned a lot great facility and even better staff. Big thankyou to Alex and Jordan!

Love it! Bright and spacious place. Plenty of auto-belays if you go alone, and plenty of top/lead routes if you go with friends! Friendly staff

1st class facility, and staff

Love this place, friendly staff, great customers, fun place, it doesnt get much better than that.

Great place to climb and boulder inside, friendly staff, plenty of parking, love the new rating system.

First time doing this, but it was so fun! Im terrified of heights so it was quite scary at first, I didnt get to the top of the wall but I think eventually I will!! The Staff was very friendly too.

Lots of 60 ft walls and lots of options for bouldering, autobelay, toprope and lead climbing! In other words, lots of fun types of climbing. Friendly staff and natural daylight too, no dungeon feel here.

Tall walls. Great lay out. Big parking lot.

The third VE location in the Twin Cities. As tall as the Minneapolis location but with more such routes. Not as big as I was expecting based on the hype, but the facilities are awesome. Still some issues with being a brand new climbing gym; the rubber pieces are very slick and leave some residue on your shoes. As a result, the first few holds on almost every route are covered with a slippery black gunk. Very hard to get a clean foothold on most routes. Locker rooms are nice and there are lots of storage cubbies spread around the facility. Some areas are still under construction, so theres more yet to come.

Friends with all the staff, LOVE going here, theyre changing out the rubber which is a bonus and the staff loves to help you out if you need it. GREAT PLACE

Until this new rating system goes away, my score will be low. They have decided that the Yosemite decimal system now rates walls with 10+ or - instead of a, b, c, or d. I am an experienced climber, but I am not an expert by any means. When I look at a route, I expect to be able to tell where itll sit in my abilities. I can usually climb 10as and some 10bs. Now, I have to just try climbing a 10- without knowing what to expect. This place is too expensive to have shortcuts in the rating system.And now, the original review...Let me start by saying this is my favorite gym I have been to in the country thus far. The facility they have built deserves a solid 5/5 for height, variety, and quality of equipment. I have been to so many places that would qualify as scrappy at best. They also have a great gym for complementing your workout.If you want to lead climb, overcome your fear of heights with the high walls, auto belay because you are by yourself, or boulder, there is no comparison that I have been to (yet). I have been to gyms in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Duluth, Grand Forks, Seattle, San Jose, Salt Lake City, to name a few, and all leave me missing VE Bloomington.I think part of the problem is people come to a climbing wall expecting a normal kind of customer service; a thing that seems to always be subpar in climbing gyms. They are staffed by people who just love climbing and thus you get a fairly laid-back atmosphere which can lack costumer service. It could be better, but I have definitely seen worse. This place in Eugene didnt even do an orientation and the guy who took my money barely seemed to even work there.Now for some negative. First off, these climbing gyms have gotten outrageously expensive. For my wife and I, we pay about 110/month; about what we pay for YMCA Twin Cities. But there, you get access to pools, child care, and all the classes you can fit into your schedule. The fact that VE charges on top of that to take belay lessons and such is way too Verizony. My main qualm is the overall rating system of routes. There is absolutely no standardization at VE. I am a 5.10a-b climber on a good day. But when I try numerous 5.9s or even 8s that I cant do, that is not right. My bigger concern is just how long it takes them to rate routes. Sometimes it is weeks after setting that they put a rating up for a route. I am not a pro climber; I shouldnt have to guess what a route is prior to climbing it. Just like I should know the weight on a dumbell before lifting it or the price on a car before test driving it.Having their staff or even volunteers test routes and come up with a fair rating should be the absolute first priority after they clean the walls and reset everything. By the way, they do this way too often for these competitions. It seems like once a quarter they are putting up signs saying they will be closing the bouldering area and parts of the main wall for these. And that often means that you wont have a decent variety of routes for weeks to a month.So there is my review. Hope people find it helpful.

Best place ever makes me feal so alive.

Great staff, great facility. Routes and problems get changed on the regular, lots of autos if you are climbing alone or with kids, good variety on the TR and lead routes too.

What a fun and unique way to stay active. Q friendly helpful staff, and a party room too.

Great climbing. Routs are not sandbaged. Tall routes.

I love vertical endeavors! Best workout ever

Great climbing, great staff, and an absolutely fantastic workout for your old formies!

The best routes out of all the Vertical endeavors in my opinion.

After climbing here for one year the best comparison I can make is this rock climbing gym is very much like the Comcast Xfinity of rock climbing gyms.The vibe I get from climbing here is simply awful. I feel like the gym is only trying to accommodate whatever will bring in the most money. The constant announcements to sign up for this or that are annoying and it seriously needs to stop. Instead, put up flyers or something else, Ive never experienced this at another gym.I climb here because it is close to my home and it is my only option (much like Comcast Xfinity is to a lot of people). Ive climbed at many climbing gyms across the country and this franchise by far the worst of them all.That being said, many of the regular climbers and most of the employees are very knowledgeable and super nice and fun to talk to. I have only the utmost respect for many of those people and workers because I know they are only trying to have fun climbing or hold down a job and make a living.

I have a membership to VE and I now go to the Bloomington location several times a week. Such a fun way to get a good workout!

Great place, feels much bigger than St Paul

Customer service is lacking. I would definitely recommend the Minneapolis location.

Great bouldering great top rope great auto belays

This is our favorite location! Live in Roberts WI but try to make it to Bloomington at least twice a month and the others once!

Helpful staff and a lot of different climbing options.

Fun climbing gym, best in twin cities...

Best VE Gym in the twin cities.

Friendly Gym, lots of routes, frequently reset and great annual deals on membership

Finally!! Ive been waiting for a climbing gym that compares to Movement in Denver and this is it! Huge, tall climbs, lots of bouldering and a friendly staff! Check it out!

I’ve never bean there but i herd it’s lit with that white powder stiff

Awesome place to climb and workout.

Staff with condescending attitude.

Incredible place

Fab place

Awesome!

Great variety of challenges!

Loved it!!!

Soooo great

Kicked my butt, but yall rock!

Impressive facility, equipment and staff.

Soaring verticality

Im so glad they have a facility in Bloomington now!

Great gym, routes updated regularly.

Best one.

Best climbing gym around

GREAT!!Awesome staff and fun routes!

Very good work out!

Glad to call this place my home gym.

Great new facility.