Movement vs. BRC

So I am about to return to Boulder after a year in grad school and I am thinking about getting a month membership at a climbing gym in order to get back in shape for the summer when I can't find a partner to do some real climbing with.

That being said, I have been a Spot or BRC member for the past 6 years, but as far as roped climbing goes, am wondering what the current verdict is on Movement vs. The BRC? It would be nice to hear about this battle on a number of levels:

route quality, general atmosphere, staff friendliness, climber friendliness (or lack thereof), facilities, cost, attractiveness of climbers, membership benefits

Really most of all, I am hoping that some really interesting S#!T starts flying as the Boulder climbing community engages in a battle of opinions on the coolness of their preferred location of plastic-urbation.

To the winner goes my month membership.

This should be fun . . .

From the look of it, I'd stay away from movement unless you want a dented car and some hurt feelings from being called names.

ha

I like the natural lighting and clean air at Movement.I feel like the BRC has a better social atmosphere and the physical training classes/yoga are superior. As far as routes go I think they both have a good variety, Movement having the fresher more textured holds and longer routes, BRC definitely has some greased out old holds thrown in the mix.Last time I looked the membership is cheaper at BRC too.( Dont quote me)

Over all BRC Gets my Vote!

Overall, I prefer movement to BRC.

Movement has more light and a nicer open air feel. The walls are taller and there are more routes that you can lead. If you ever go by yourself, I think the bouldering area at movement is far superior to BRC (although you could argue that with the cross membership of BRC and the Spot you get better bouldering by going to the Spot).

The one area in which I think BRC is far superior to movement is "slab" climbing. At movement, the walls range from vertical to severely overhanging. There isn't a single wall that is lower angle which you could use to work on delicate footwork. I think considering the number of walls there, they should have put in one slab-like wall. I did enjoy the lower angle walls in the back room at BRC.

On the other hand, the weight room at movement is far superior to BRC. I used to have a membership at BRC and a second membership at a local gym to lift weights. I just did not find the weight room set up at BRC to be satisfactory. Movement's weight room is not as nice as a dedicated weight gym, but it is good enough and far better than BRC's. So, although movement costs more than BRC, it allows me to pay for only one gym membership and hence save money.

Bob Packwood wrote:It's summer. You'll be living in Boulder. Get in shape on Flagstaff for free and avoid the bacteria-laden plastic and douchy shirtless scene. Just my opinion. Neither.

For years I was of the same mentality and then I realized that I was rarely as strong in the summer as I was in April at the end of gym season. I just re-upped my Movement membership for the next 3 months so that I can get a real burn after work and hopefully crush on the weekends. The atmosphere at the Movement is great and the route setting is world class.

+1 for what Bob said - ditch the gym and go outside.

However, I doubt you'll do that, so my opinion would be to go with the BRC. Yeah, Movement may be taller and more open, but the atmosphere is much better at BRC. Plus, I find the majority of climbers at the BRC actually know what they're doing - every time I've been to Movement there has been multiple 'tough' kiddies that have NO idea how to belay properly ... and yet somehow they took the test & passed (ie their friends at the counter let them in). Movement, to me, feels like an accident waiting to happen. You might hear from people that BRC is more strict or whatever, but that's just because other climbers will pipe up if you're doing something wrong - imo that's a good thing.

I've climbed at both gyms and am basing this opinion not only on my personal experience but also from talking w/ others that have formed opinions of both facilities.
Movement certainly is newer, has longer routes available and is the current scene but plastic is plastic and Movement isn't a quantum leap forward in indoor climbing. The BRC is much less a scene now, has a better variety of climbing features/terrain angles and if you want to supplement your training the BRC hands down has the only decent weight room in town as far as climbing gyms go.
Also if you like to mix your bouldering and route climbing you might look into the joint BRC/Spot membership option.
Though as Bob points out you could certainly save some coin this time of year and simply head up to Flag, into the Flatirons or hit up Bocan and Eldo easily enough.
cheers,
BA
As far as route setting goes my feeling is that being in Boulder we really are spoiled on that front, if you took any of the setting staff from The Spot, The BRC or Movement they would be well above average anywhere else. Certainly they've all got different styles so I don't know that you could objectively say that one setting crew is "better" than another.
Note: the Movement weight room is 80% machines and the BRC is 90% free weights, personally that makes the BRC a much more functional training facility in my mind.

Done both and seem to like movement better. The routes mostly seem set better, the openness and feel is a plus. They could already change out some of their ropes though.

I like the better gym equipment at movement as well, since I like to work out. The BRC's stuff is more of an old school Y type gym. But movement's new...we'll talk again in 5 years.

But both have the "no shirt, but need to wear a wool beanie in the summer" mentality. You won't escape that in a gym...

Leah Miller wrote:+1 for what Bob said - ditch the gym and go outside. However, I doubt you'll do that, so my opinion would be to go with the BRC. Yeah, Movement may be taller and more open, but the atmosphere is much better at BRC. Plus, I find the majority of climbers at the BRC actually know what they're doing - every time I've been to Movement there has been multiple 'tough' kiddies that have NO idea how to belay properly ... and yet somehow they took the test & passed (ie their friends at the counter let them in). Movement, to me, feels like an accident waiting to happen. You might hear from people that BRC is more strict or whatever, but that's just because other climbers will pipe up if you're doing something wrong - imo that's a good thing.

We saw a girl doing a lead test back clip THREE times in a row, and the guy never said a word, except that he'd point it out when she came down. After she failed, she back clipped AGAIN and when we pointed it out, her friend said "we got this"...well it looks like you don't got it. Scary stuff man...

Cats.

Leah Miller wrote:You might hear from people that BRC is more strict or whatever

I climbed at the BRC for two years without even a TR test...they were never strict and always aloof. Movement at the very least has employees around.

Movement is cleaner, bigger, nicer in features and employees - They actually talk to you even if you don't crush V10. Basically it's the same - a building with climbing walls - but the customer service at Movement made my decision easy.

Better air quality, better route setting, and a less crowded floorplan gives my vote to Movement. My main complaint would be that their weight room lacks a decent set of free weights but all Chuck Norris needs is a bowflex and 5 minutes a day so I guess I just need to HTFU.

Having climbed at Movement and BRC, I've met friendly people at both places, seen poor judgement and dangerous habits at both places, climbed nice routes at both places, and dealt with competent staff at both places. That said, I have noticed some of the younger folks who sort of seemed "too cool" for the rest of us go from the BRC to Movement after it opened this past summer. Sweeping generalities are just that, though, and I've spent some great afternoons at Movement with younger (stronger) climbers. For me, the BRC seems better for finding partners closer to my age (48), and I regularly pair up with some of the best of Boulder's climbers- people who've made our area what it is over the past 30 years (safer habits, good stories). Folks like this also climb at Movement, but I (and more than one friend) have had a bit more trouble finding partners there. On balance, I guess I have witnessed a few more dangerous belay techniques at Movement, but gyms in general seem to feature stuff like that. In my opinion, the bouldering setup at the BRC is better and more varied, but I'm a lousy boulderer....

The open atmosphere, clean air, natural light, and rad route setting make Movement a far better gym IMO. First gym that hasn't given me the asthma feeling from chalky air.

after climbing at both places pretty extensively, i would give movement my vote, hands down.

much better route setting
infinitely better bouldering
i actually like movement's weight room better (brentapgar says that BRC has more free weights, but movement actually has as much free weights, but a lot more room, which maybe makes it seem like not as much?)
a lot better lighting
a lot cleaner air - i actually didn't have a sore throat/cough the entire winter like i have the last several years.
a system board and a better campus board.
taller routes
there is a good slab wall, albeit a TR wall, that usually has fairly good moderate to moderately hard slab routes.
a couple decent cracks.
the locker room doesn't smell nearly as bad.

slim wrote:i actually like movement's weight room better (brentapgar says that BRC has more free weights, but movement actually has as much free weights

I agree about the free space, but you are totally wrong about the weights. BRC has a dumbell rack that goes from 5lbs. up to over the 120lb mark. Movement's dumbells only go up to 45 lbs. That's a pretty sizable difference and I hope Movement adds more.

As far as straight bars are concerned I believe it's about the same and the kettle bells are almost the same.

Scott McMahon wrote: BRC has a dumbell rack that goes from 5lbs. up to over the 120lb mark.

Dear lord! What do you use a 120lb. dumbell for? Just typing "120 lb. dumbell" makes my elbows hurt.

you have never seem my guns apparently (i'm talking to scott). i don't need much more than 45's....

tread wall would be a good addition. i need one that is taller than the one at BRC though. my hands are at the top, and my feet are draggin'.

Monomaniac wrote: Dear lord! What do you use a 120lb. dumbell for? Just typing "120 lb. dumbell" makes my elbows hurt.

LOL...mine too. But that being said you do get used to heavy weight pretty easily, epecially if you train somewhat smart and have an ok diet.

Not always best for a climbers build, but great for when you're "at da beach"!

You're joking right? Of course these discussions are divisive and distracting, but Eldo is way better than Boulder Canyon, I mean really there's no comparison. Eldo is prettier, sketchier, taller, more diverse, more fun, has really neat features, super-duper history, less traffic, a cool train... Eldo is better. End of discussion.

Oh yeah, BRC is better because movement is all overhanging and I can't climb stuff that steep for so long.