Welcome to Übergrippen!
We offer climbing (for ages 3 to 93+), yoga/fitness classes, and a full fitness gym to keep you active and engaged – all of this is included in your day pass/membership during our regular scheduled hours at no additional cost.
NO RESERVATIONS are needed, please drop in anytime during our regular crag hours.
Learn all about your options to made sure you have the most rewarding experience possible.
1. Consider your options
to climb with us.
Our front desk staff will be happy to share the best options we have to accommodate your needs. If you end up purchasing a membership the day that you purchased a day pass, your day pass admission will be applied towards your membership costs.
Climbing for the first time is always a challenge, but everyone gets stronger the more they climb, so we’d love to see you again.
2. Prepare for your visit.
All first-time visitors are required to complete our Release of Liability.
Complete it online now:
Filling out our Release of Liability online before you arrive will save you 10 minutes and you’ll get climbing much quicker.
If you are under 18, your waiver must be completed by your parent or state-appointed legal guardian only (NO EXCEPTIONS). If a child is climbing with other family or friends, be sure to have the child’s parents or legal guardians fill out the form online before they arrive.
11 out of our 12 auto belays are set specifically to accommodate young climbers with their shorter reach. There are also multiple routes on each auto belay, too, usually providing plenty of challenges for new climbers. There are 3 auto belays on our South Tower that we rope off during private events for large groups — such as birthday parties. This prevents private parties from taking over every auto belay in the facility, hopefully making our busy days more fun for everyone.
This calendar is available to help you plan your visit accordingly when these events may be taking up the South Tower.
3. Get oriented.
Here are answers to some common questions we get asked:
Nope! Just come in, but we do recommend you complete your waiver ahead of time to make your checkin process faster.
We have open cubbies available for you to stash your personal items. If you bring a lock with you, you can also use our lockers. Lockers are free as long as you don’t leave things overnight. We do rent our lockers if you want to leave your climbing gear here – just talk with your front desk about this.
That’s totally fine!
Übergrippen is a great place for new climbers to try out the sport. We regularly welcome people who have never climbed before and will always have staff on hand to help you get started. On your first visit we will provide an orientation on our Auto-Belay systems and bouldering area, which will open up over 200 routes for you to try!
95% of our adult memberships when we opened are brand new climbers. We get that walking into a climbing crag can be intimidating, but you’ll find yourself with a lot of other beginners that are excited about this new sport.
We do! We have 12 of them! Auto-belays are amazing for new climbers or those without a climbing partner. Once you clip into one, you are welcome to climb 5 feet, or all way to the top, as it will automatically take in slack as you move up. Once you let go of the wall, the auto-belay will slowly lower you to the ground.
Our staff will give you an orientation how to use these. Our auto-belays are simple to use, but do require attention and focus to use properly.
Kids 13 years and younger will need someone 14 years and older to oversee them and to make sure they are properly clipped in and clipped out every single time.
That’s great! Please tell the staff at the front desk that you’d like to take a belay test and we will do our best to get you tested as soon as possible.
Items that are covered under the belay test:
Harness – Participant must put on a harness correctly and explain how they know that it is fitted properly.
Climber – Participant must demonstrate how to properly tie-in to climb using a figure-8 follow through knot and be able to check their knot.
Belayer – Participant must properly set up an approved, assisted-braking belay device (ABD) per manufacturers’ specifications. No ATC’s or other passive tube-style devices are allowed.
Buddy Checks – This is a critical step that needs to be performed by belayers and climbers before EVERY climb. We will expect you to demonstrate a comprehensive buddy check as part of the top rope belay certification. Take care of your partner; make sure you are always doing detailed buddy checks.
Belay Technique – Participant must demonstrate a proficiency in top-rope belaying. The belayer’s brake hand must remain in constant control of the brake strand of the rope. Belayer must immediately and properly catch at least two simulated top-rope falls and lower safely while keeping the brake hand on the rope and below the belay device. Use of the PBUS belaying technique is preferred, but Slip-Slap-Slide is acceptable.
If you have previous experience with lead climbing and wish to do it, please let our staff know. We will perform a lead climb and lead belay test. Lead climbers and lead belays must demonstrate a knowledge of the risks and dangers of lead climbing.
Our lead climbing test requires that you demonstrate proper clipping and foot work. You should know what a Z-Clip is as well as a Back-Clip. Lead belayers must keep an appropriate amount of slack out throughout the climb, know where to position themselves to avoid collisions, properly use their belay device according to the manufacturer’s specifications, and properly catch falls.
4. When to Arrive
Are you just coming in to climb solo / with friends?
Arrive (nearly) anytime.
You are welcome to stop by anytime. For your first visit, we’ll give you a quick tour of our facility and then depending on your climbing goals, we’ll give you an auto-belay orientation (3-5 mins) as well as any belay tests for those that wish to climb on ropes.
Are you just coming in to climb with a group?
Arrive 10 minutes early.
When you arrive, if you don’t see your group, please ask the front desk for help finding them. Once you are all together and signed-in, you’ll give you all a tour of our facility and then assistance everyone needing rental great to find the best fit with both the harness and shoes.
5. Climbing Options.
We offer four different climbing options:
Auto-Belay Climbing
This is the best place for new climbers to start. Using our auto-belays requires a short orientation, and then you’ll be able climb any of our auto-belay routes ranging from 5.6 (easy) to 5.13 (hard).
Bouldering
Bouldering is climbing under 16 feet without rope or harness. Since every fall is a ground fall, we don’t recommend that first time climbers try bouldering until they are comfortable with falling from height. Kids under 14 are not permitted in the bouldering area without an additional bouldering orientation and bouldering agreement form signed by their parent or legal guardian.
Top-Rope Climbing
A top-rope test (~5 mins) is needed in order to top-rope belay in our facility.
If you don’t already have the skills, we are happy to teach you in our Learn to Belay class (ÜG members can apply their 2 hours of free lessons towards this class).
Lead Climbing
A lead test (~10 mins) is needed in order to lead climb & lead belay in our facility.
If you don’t already have the skills, we are happy to teach you in our Learn to Lead class (ÜG members can apply their 2 hours of free lessons towards this class).
