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Week in St. Louis... where to climb?

Original Post
Its Isaac · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2016 · Points: 0

I've got a week in St. Louis for work upcoming, and Google shows me there are three climbing gyms in town. I doubt I'll have time to get anywhere outdoors, so I'm curious as to which gym people like the best. Climb So iLL has the fancy website, but the most important piece of info for me is missing: do any of these gyms have crack??? Height of walls is also important, let me know what you guys think.

AaronJ · · Tokyo, JP · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 231

I think Climb So iLL seems to be the most popular, and I believe they probably have the longest routes. The tallest section is not super extensive, but I imagine it's enough to keep you busy for a week.

Upper Limits Downtown has good leading, though it's probably the smallest of the gyms. One good vertical hand crack and one slightly overhanging crack that widens from fingers to fists (or so? I don't remember the top so well) on the lead wall, and a couple of cracks on the bouldering wall up stairs that can be toproped.

Upper Limits West County feels the most spacious, but I'm not sure if it actually has much more climbing than So iLL. The routes are probably taller than Downtown but not quite as long as the longest ones at So iLL. One crack that starts hands, widens to fists, and then ends in overhanging fingers.

Its Isaac · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2016 · Points: 0

Wow Aaron, thanks for the super thorough response! They all seem worth checking out, good to hear that none of them are a total dungeon. Since I've got you here, what's the autobelay situation like? I'm lucky enough that my boss/traveling partner is also a climber, but he's getting back into it after a long absence and so I don't want to drag him around town every day when he's just trying to watch the Superbowl.

DrRockso RRG · · Red River Gorge, KY · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 815

Climb So Ill is sweet! They had a few auto belays when I was there and the bouldering is great.

Its Isaac · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2016 · Points: 0
DrRockso wrote:Climb So Ill is sweet! They had a few auto belays there when I was there and the bouldering is great.
Haha it does look super sweet... but the words "overhanging finger crack" might be the only words strong enough to make me forgo their hip location, brightly colored walls and extra vertical feet of climbing.
Dave Hug · · Carbondale, IL · Joined Oct 2013 · Points: 12,140

Hey Isaac,

Not to sound biased, but as one of the general managers for Upper Limits I gotta say you should check out gyms out. We have three in St. Louis Downtown, Maryland Heights "West County", and the new one Chesterfield (primarily bouldering). Overall we have the more square climbing footage then anyone else. On top of the our Maryland Heights gym is the largest gym in the city. So, If you do decide to try our gyms out I can guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Ed Wade · · Hermann, MO · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 785

Go to all of them while you are here. I prefer the West County gym over all the others. ClimbsoIll is smaller but you should definitely check it out. Bouldering isn't so good at the Downtown gym but it does have a couple of worthy cracks. Think the Chesterfield gym is primarily Bouldering. Haven't been to that one yet. The West County gym has a crack but it is extremely difficult if you try to climb it using only the crack. Maybe mid 12.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
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