Movement Gowanus

Visit: July 2024 The gym is huge with 3 levels. They have rope climbing at the top level and bouldering on the other 2 levels, with a gym on the second level. The change rooms have saunas and foot showers which is really nice The setting is interesting and there was a lot of fun problems. Some of the finishes though, seemed really difficult (or I'm just bad), but I prefer harder climbs over easier ones! Went on free climbing day, so it was extremely packed in the gym Highly recommend the gym!

Huge multi-level facility that includes bouldering, top rope, and even a small little fitness/gym area. For $40 you can have an entire day of climbing, leave to get some food and drinks, and then come back to continue climbing with their day pass and shoe rentals. Their staff was extremely nice and with the two floors of bouldering fun, I could easily stay there all day. Def recommend as I am pretty new to climbing and still felt very comfortable and welcomed!

Gym is nice enough but wow are there a ton of dogs here. Fake service dogs that the owners don’t even bother getting fake “service dog” vests for. One of them was in a sweater and barking like crazy. The audacity of people to bring their dogs to a crowded gym. Super gross that dogs are allowed in a climbing gym. Staff just shrugged at me when I asked about it.

UPDATE: the setting here seems like it gets worse every time I come here. And the bathroom hygiene is getting worse too. Really the only reason to come here anymore is to rope up. If you’re not going to TR or Lead, would recommend going to GP81 or Vital instead. I really wanted to like this gym, but it’s honestly quite subpar. - Ropes setting: good enough, though sometimes set so that the grade is stiff for short climbers and soft for tall climbers. When the route is not height dependent, I find the setting on the soft side overall but not unreasonable. Routes are changed infrequently. Walls are on the shorter side for ropes but still usable. Autobelays provide enough endurance options as well. 3.5/5 - Boulder setting: honestly not great. The grades for Boulders are super inconsistent, a lot of Boulders are set just for the obnoxious Boulder bro types, and when they’re resetting a wall the tend to set thoughtfully for very low (V0-2) and higher (V6/7 and up) but the V3-V5/6 range honestly seems like an afterthought. 1.5/5 - the classes: the classes I’ve been to we frat but there’s so few classes compared to other gyms. It’s pretty clear that corporate is testing how little they can offer before people start canceling memberships. 2.5/5 - the facilities: the water fountains, men’s shower essentials (shower knob, soap and shampoo dispensers), and stairwell doors are broken and have been for a while (see other reviews making complaints). 2/5 - the community: there’s some solid folks here but also a ton of douchey boulder bros and people who only climb to post about it on Instagram. But what’s really bad is the parents especially on the bouldering floors. So many parents bring kids here and treat it like it’s a child’s playground. They leave their play date materials all over community spaces (see photo) while they let their kids run wild largely unsupervised, and they act so entitled. If the gym has a parent orientation to set proper expectations for a climbing gym, it sure isn’t working. worst of any movement gym and among the worst I’ve seen overall of everywhere I’ve been in terms of parent behavior 0.5/5 - the staff: some staff seem to care about what they do, and are nice and helpful. Others have the same burnout I’d expect a public school teacher at a tough assignment to have after 20 years on the job. They’re clearly not paid enough and there hasn’t been enough inversement into their ability to do their job. I’m conflicted on what rating to give this, since I think it’s more movements anti union efforts to blame, so I’ll leave this section without a grade. If you just want boulder, there’s so many better gyms. For ropes, this is mediocre but acceptable.

Ending my membership after too many off-putting experiences, and the price keeps rising. The autobelay areas are often overrun by toddlers with minimally supervising parents. The management doesn’t respond to any emails. The fitness programming is pretty slim and the booking system is horrible. People on the weights floor have really poor manners, especially teenagers who think they run the place and will ask you to move mid rep! It’s also not a safe place for people with animal allergies. People will bring their pets (not service animals) everywhere in the gym, including under climbers, tied up to benches by the weight racks when 20 people are trying to work out, and even tied up in the locker room while their owner is in the sauna. Sometimes it’s larger dogs where it’s unclear if they will be reactive with their owner distracted. No one is expecting a climbing gym to feel like Equinox but this is beyond what I’ve experienced at any gym!