Vertical Endeavors

I had a great time at Vertical Endeavors with a group of friends! I haven't been climbing in years so we took a quick orientation and then got to climbing. We went on a Saturday but it wasn't terribly busy! There are definitely less automatic belays than there are regular belays but luckily we had someone in our group who could practice his belay skills! He did have to go through a safety lesson first though before he could belay for us. The courses were definitely varied in difficulty so it was nice to get a few easy ones under our belts before we attempted the more challenging ones. After an hour of climbing we decided to check out the bouldering area before heading home. It was a fun experience and the staff were super helpful! Would recommend!

Super cool people, the auto belay is awesome! You can go by yourself for that reason they were so nice and didn't make fun of me when I said I peed my pants from being scared of heights

Since I bought a yearly membership during Vertical Endeavor's big February sale I thought it would be good to take advantage of the ability to visit multiple gyms without any extra charge (previously I only had a single gym membership). So my boyfriend and I decided to venture away from our usual Bloomington location and try VE St. Paul. It was less crowded than the Bloomington location usually is during the weekend. Parking was really easy in their private lot which was a relief since when the Bloomington location is busy it's kind of hard to find a spot. The space seemed a little smaller but it had more variety in its layout utilizing 3 different levels. There seemed to be a gym, bouldering and moon board upstairs. The main level had a mix of lead, top rope and auto belays. Downstairs seemed mostly to be lead and one top rope, there may have been some bouldering problems down there too. There were lights and cameras clearly visible at the top of some routes. Sometimes there were beeping noises too so maybe they are more proactive about monitoring climbers and detecting when there may be an issue. The layout wraps around in a circle so I could see how it may be hard for limited staff to keep track of everything at once. The routes generally weren't as long as some of the Bloomington ones but the problems got challenging earlier on. The mix of different problems and holds were nice. Even though it's farther than our regular gym we're thinking it'd be nice to visit once in a while to experience a different variety of climbing.

This VE location has character! The wall quality is nowhere near comparable to the Bloomington and TCB locations, but the lead wall is sick. The setting quality throughout the gyms is consistent, which (if I remember correctly) is because the setting team travels between gyms. I've never checked out their training area as I've only come here on a day pass, but if it's anything like the other VE locations it's pretty damn good. The others have system boards, campus boards, hangboards, etc. - enough for just about any training program.Overall, it's worth the visit. Of all the VE locations, this is probably best for beginners as there are quite a few shorter walls and it doesn't ever seem too busy here. If you're seeking out the most high-end climbing gym in the Twin Cities, however, you may want to check out your other options.

I saw cute boys here and my guy friend said he saw cute girls so there's something for everyone here!Being a newbie, I had the privilege of going thru their orientation which ended up being very informative! The staff are very friendly and didn't rush thru anything.I mainly stuck to the auto belay courses and there are quite a few to choose from :-) My friend is pretty much an "expert" climber so I tried a couple of their regular courses too.This place is huge! It's pretty much the place to come if you want to do some decent indoor rock climbing in MN.

I just completed an outdoor climbing class with a friend in Taylors Falls through Vertical Endeavors and had a fantastic time! Signing up on-line was super convenient. The instructors, Chad and Matthew, were professional, extremely knowledgeable about outdoor climbing, and made sure every question, no matter how small, was answered. The class size was kept small and instruction top notch. I highly recommend taking a VE outdoor climbing class for anyone wanting to transition from gym to outdoor climbing.

We had a team outing here and we had a conference room for a few hours to discuss how we were going to tackle the next few years at Target HQ. Our team is pretty cool, so the team exercises helped us prove that we were pretty cohesive and were looking out for Target's well being. Our team does the the reporting for the stores that says how they are doing operationally, and from what I saw at this visit, everyone is on the same page. Our instructor said that we seemed like a real good team, from the two two team exercises we did. The instructors were awesome and patient with everyone. We had a 2 hour session, but an hour of climbing between the exceptional team exercises was perfect. You really get tired after a few times up the wall. I tried getting up the full wall but I have an extreme fear of heights, but after awhile I learned to trust the harness and the rope. It really is a workout and a lot of people on our team had a great time reaching the top of the walls. After a few tries, I learned to trust the harness, but being a big guy, I started sweating and my hands slipped off the higher level handles. I can't say enough about the staff though, they were awesome. They worked in team corporate level management to the group, although I am sure they deal with a lot of high school kids. It was fun seeing the high level rock climbers express their skills climbing above us on the ceiling, and they were in really good shape. They have tons of walls you can climb, and if you like boulder climbing, they even have that. Our trainer said he was 52 years old, but looked like he was a 30 year old, so I am guessing this is a good workout for health people. They made everything perfect for our outing. Even for nerds. Overall a class act operation, and a good team level training session.

I've been getting back into climbing after recovering from injuries I sustained when I was sideswiped by a beer truck on my bike last summer, and I find that climbing helps keep my back strong--and I enjoy it. Unfortunately, this is the only choice in climbing gyms in the Twin Cities. If you're over twelve, it's pretty overpriced and underequipped compared to, as another reviewer says, other climbing gyms in other places. Other gyms in other cities offer some of the best yoga in their home cites and fully equipped, updated gyms (with crossfit classes available), along with luxurious locker room facilities with saunas for only about $75 per month. And there is so much more they could do to make the indoor climbing community more social. But ah...I forget: this is Minnesota. People are not social. The auto belays are lame, especially if you're climbing a long wall. You can't stop and rest your hands and forearms or strategize your moves to get to the top. What put me over the edge and inspired me to write this review is that while I was sharing this with one of the young guys at the front desk, he seemed inspired and curious about what I was saying. Then some other young dude came by and shot it all down, then implied I was old and not their target demographic anyway. Then the first guy got on board with the second one. When I said to the first one that the second one wasn't very smart, he said "Oh, he knows more about climbing than I do." Kid, knowing something about one topic does not mean you're intelligent. Being open-minded, creative and open to possibilities does. I've worked in technology long enough to know that twenty-something guys arrogantly assert they know everything -- even when they don't. It's apparently the same in the climbing world. Sure, they're pretty to look at, but narrow-minded (like a bunch of old men) and not too bright. I've spoken to many experienced climbers in the Twin Cities, and they also agree that VE is pretty lame. They all say they are going to open a competing gym. WHEN??? We need CHOICES here!

I go to this gym almost every week with a group a friends and we couldn't enjoy it more! The staff has always been super friendly and talkative (in the best way) and they are always changing up the routes at a good pace! I truly couldn't recommend this gym enough!

The staff was super nice and I found some fun routs, but I feel like the facility should get some money put back into it. New holds, new mats in bouldering area and new workout equipment is needed. Some holds were great and new with good grip. Some holds were worn out and need to be replaced badly as they were now very greasy, some even cracked. The rout setting could also use some work with some great flowing routs but many didn't have much flow, especially in the bouldering area. The boulder area was frustrating as almost all routs were too easy or not possible. For example I am able to flash most V3 in my gym back home but here I wasn't able to start a most V3 and V2 but V1 were too easy. Over all not a bad place to go for a quick climb when visiting the area but I would never get a membership here.