Best Colorado Climbing Shop

OMG Olaf! That foto sure brings back memories. I walked in there one day and bought my first complete rack as a newbie climber. I forget who sold it to me, but it was either Culp or Hare. You and I got a lot of use out of those stoppers. EG.

Out here on the West Slope, gotta say Summitt Mountaineering. I've had the guys at REI answer questions with "check out Summitt" and Summitt price matches even Internet orders. Haven't been to Ouray Mountain Sports yet, so am looking forward to it.

For anyone reading this from outside Colorado, if you are in Boulder you should go to Neptune's. The selection and the museum are both incredible, it is an institution, customer service issues don't change that fact.

That being said, I love Bent Gate... a close second is WildyX.

I'll add Sawatch Backcountry in Leadville.

It's a small store in a small town so obviously can't compare to Bent Gate or Neptune etc for what's in stock.

But staff know what they're talking about, friendly and willing to give good advice.

And a great little consignment section.

Back Country Experience, Durango CO

Even though I've spent a shit load of money there, I get treated the same every time I go in. They offer to fix things even if i did not buy it there. They don't give shitty advice. They don't try to sell me some bullshit I don't need. If I say: how do I fix this? They either do it for me or tell me how. If I buy something, and it is not up to my standard they make it right.

I just love those guys.

Kevin Friesen wrote:I agree with Olaf...I miss The Boulder Mountaineer. One time I could have sworn that Bobby Bensman waited on me...super friendly and incredibly fit.

I had only been to the reincarnated version on Broadway, and it was a nice little shop very helpful. Just a HORRIBLE location unless you were walking or riding your bike , so I never went. The hill is a tough place to visit unless you live up there.

Rob Schichtel wrote:Back Country Experience, Durango CO

I lived in Durango for quite a while-- and I gotta tell you-- Back Country Experience is owned by one of the biggest assholes I've ever met.

I worked in a couple of the climbing shops in Dgo during college - and one of the other shops used to sell all their avalanche gear at wholesale- beacons, shovels, probes, etc-- The reason was to make it as inexpensive as possible to get them into the field. Cool idea in my opinion.

Until douche-bag at Back Country started calling the manufacturers to bitch and moan that he was getting screwed. I guess he values his mark-up a little bit more than his customers' lives.

I have yet to set foot back in that store.

Bob, don't know the last time you were at Backcountry, but Backcountry changed hands about 8 years ago. The place has changed a lot since then. If you are ever back in Durango, you should check the shop out. I will bet you will have a very different Experience.

Disclosure: I work there so I am a bit partial. Also, the previous owner was a "character", and his reputation is still something we are dealing with.

Hey Kevin-- ahh - new owners... good to hear. Then I will check it out next time I'm in town. Yeah... "character"... that's a very nice way to put it..

Neptune. Thumbs up on their huge gear selection, including mountaineering boots in small sizes, and slide shows.

note: I have not yet visited Bent Gate in person

Wow... Really surprised no one from Colorado Springs hit this forum for any of our Local stuff.

Mountain Chalet is awesome for mountaineering type of stuff with their Mom and Pop type of feel and the fact they allow Dogs inside.

For Climbing, Climbaxe recently opened up shop inside Gearonimo (which is also cool for consignment and sale of outdoor gear). Climbaxe is awesome because they specialize in bringing in gear you can't get in Colorado Sprigns from REI or MTN chalet and thus is able to get you dirtbags quality gear for cheap prices. Gearonimo is cool if you wanna try something new out without dropping a fat stack of cash. I picked up a used #5 tricam for $10 the other night.

Someday I may be cool enough to check out Bent Gate cause I have heard several accounts that those guys are cool.

Sawatch Backcountry in Leadville. The staff always lets you know about current conditions and always goes out of they're way to help you with anything. A++++

The "Best Colorado Climbing Shop" might be mountainproject.com/Dirtbag….

I also really like Active Junky as it allows you to search several sites at once to find the lowest price (Based out of Denver). activejunky.com/.

Other than that, I really only go to an actual shop to find the right size (to then purchase it online) or for small things like chalk. I think the future of gear shops will have to combine a strong online presence with a good ol' fashion crusty storefront. This will then address the needs and wants of both types of consumers. Bent Gate does a really good job with this as well.

Sounds like the perfect shop would have the inventory of backcountry.com, a mom-and-pop staff, and walmart pricing?

I've been in a lot of shops, none of them meet all of those criteria. They all do things their own way and have something worth the trip. Neptune has a great selection and is an institution, I've met beginner climbers that felt talked down to and others that were given an extensive tour of the whole place. I've never seen the "Neptude" first hand in any of the countless times I've been in there. Bent Gate has good stuff and good people, and will be an institution soon enough. WildyX has great deals on last season's gear and blems. The smaller shops spread throughout the rest of the state are pretty cool too as long as you get over the fact that they can't afford to carry everything you might want to look at. For me the best shop is whichever one I happen to be near that day, they all have something to offer and so far I haven't been to a climbing store yet that the staff was rude to me.

+ a million for the Bentgate.

A geat shop filled with great people. A good friend was killed in an avalanche this weekend and the shop immediately stepped up and put a donation option on their website as well as donating the proceeds from tonights community night and raffle to his family. If you are around Golden tonight please swing by the Bentgate at 8 p.m. and show your support. It should be a great night. Hope to see folks there!

bentgate.blogspot.com/2010/…

Kirk

+ a million for the Bentgate.

A geat shop filled with great people. A good friend was killed in an avalanche this weekend and the shop immediately stepped up and put a donation option on their website as well as donating the proceeds from tonights community night and raffle to his family. If you are around Golden tonight please swing by the Bentgate at 8 p.m. and show your support. It should be a great night. Hope to see folks there!

bentgate.blogspot.com/2010/…

Kirk

-Neptune's has stuff nobody else has. If I'm looking for some weird, esoteric piece of gear, I start there. Prices aren't any higher than anyplace else, because most folks in the biz do the same markups.
-REI has a lot of stuff, and once in a while, people who actually know how to use it. I treat the place like Sniagrab: if I know exactly what I want, I'll go there and not expect help.
-Mountain Miser? Well, I used to work there way back before Eric and Dana sold it. They were the ones who took a plunge into rock climbing when they themselves barely understood it. I also worked for Forrest Mountaineering back in the day, twice, no less. The first time was when the store was in the basement at 1517 Platte Street, not far from where WildyEx and Savory Spice Shop are now. The second time was on Speer Blvd., regrettably before Layton built that sweet wall (last time I looked, that was a dance studio, but I live in northern Minnesota now).
-WildyEx got my vote while I was still teaching in the Denver area. They had nearly as big a selection as Tuna, much better prices, and they were a helluva lot closer to my gig in Centennial. I sent kids there all the time to get reliable, friendly information as they started their careers as climbers. And I couldn't beat their prices.
-The one time I was in Bent Gate, I was very impressed. They just weren't anywhere near convenient.
-Sawatch Mountaineering in Leadville absolutely kicks ass! Love that place! Nobody else is gonna do what they do, not up in that town, anyway (I can say that: I grew up there).

Allen Hill wrote:I love going to Neptunes and having the staff all but say, "must we help you?"

Oh my word that is so true. Twice I've stood at that counter waiting to be helped and had four employees twiddling their thumbs attempting not to make eye contact if at all possible. I had to pointedly ask for help THREE TIMES once.

Granted, one girl that helped me there was golden. She was kind and incredibly helpful and helped me for the better part of 20 minutes.

WildyX. I'm in there 2-3 times a week just looking and they have gone out of their way to introduce themselves to me, walk me through any processes I don't understand, try shoes on for an hour, and generally talk to me. Their selection is pretty sweet too.

We are very climbing-shop rich.

Bentgate has always provided me with good pricing, availability, and friendly expert advice. If it was in Boulder, I would give them even more of my business.

Neptunes is a mixed bag for me. The selection is awesome but browsing is uncomfortable when I am being approached by sales people every two minutes (not an exaggeration). I did receive thirty minutes of high quality assistance and advice when buying climbing shoes from a pretty sales lady. She did not help me match them to my Prana shirt though. :-)

REI has great pricing and return policies but the employees are largely clueless about climbing, except for Dan Dalton at the Boulder store, of course!

mountainmicah83 wrote:Wow... Really surprised no one from Colorado Springs hit this forum for any of our Local stuff. Mountain Chalet is awesome for mountaineering type of stuff with their Mom and Pop type of feel and the fact they allow Dogs inside. For Climbing, Climbaxe recently opened up shop inside Gearonimo (which is also cool for consignment and sale of outdoor gear). Climbaxe is awesome because they specialize in bringing in gear you can't get in Colorado Sprigns from REI or MTN chalet and thus is able to get you dirtbags quality gear for cheap prices. Gearonimo is cool if you wanna try something new out without dropping a fat stack of cash. I picked up a used #5 tricam for $10 the other night.

Did you read through the entire thread?