Whetstone Climbing

We had a blast at a Whetstone birthday party! Everyone loved climbing and the staff was great and helpful. A very clean and nice place to hang out at - we'll be back soon for sure!

Off the top of my head, this is a GREAT climbing gym! First gym (in Fort Collins) since Inner Strength closed where I come down from a route and think to myself that was really fun! The atmosphere is climber focused and the setting is more focused on outside climbing styles than comp style like Ascent. The gym is spacious enough to never feel crowded and the bouldering is amazing! The top outs on the bouldering walls allow you to mimic any outside project you have. And the boulders are tall! The prow seems way taller than Ascent. Probably similar height as Wooden Mountain walls (and anyone who has climbed at Wooden Mt. knows some of their bouldering walls are tall! I always ask myself how am I still falling when I drop off Wooden MT. walls from the top.). The gym is evolving, for only being open a few weeks they make improvements quickly. I'm hopeful they will stay open later on the weekends during the winter, the setting will evolve as well (as all gyms set soft when they open). The setting is very thoughtful. You still get a great mix of technique focus climbing, with power, dead point or dynamic movement thrown in on the routes still. It's not like a ladder climb to a hard shoulder move and then the climb is over. They set smart. If you are looking to get away from the overcrowding and comp style setting of Ascent look at Whetstone. If you are looking for more sustained rope routes compared to Miramont/Ascent look at Whetstone. If you are looking at good bouldering I would choose Whetstone due to their tall top outs. As Miramont bouldering is still really good. And Ascent is still really comp style focused. Which is fun from time to time. But maybe this review will be irrelevant someday.Big gym! Plenty of cubbies, places to sit and a BAR to cheer on your climber friends on their proj. Warning! If you are leading, hearing that crisp pop sound, sometimes makes you want to consider falling to get to the drinking part faster. :-) The different training boards from the moon, tension, and kilter make it a blast to train there. The trainers at the gym know their stuff and they can kick your but. The owner is always there. He is very passionate. He doesn't act like he knows best. He's very nice and can crush! He actually climbs the routes there and is not afraid to start a discussion to educate the newbies, unlike Ascent.THEY ARE OPEN M-S 6AM-10PM that is AMAZING!!!The downsides:-The walls aren't quite as tall as Ascent. But I do believe they make up for it. Whetstone has slightly shorter walls but the routes are consistently 5.10 the whole way instead of like the other gyms were it's a 5.10 crux for 5ft and then a jug ladder for a bit. The gym will allow you to become stronger at 5.10 moves for 40 ft than for 5 ft.-They do not have a whole lot of variety for trad climbers. It's lacking compared to Miramont and Ascent. They do have three cracks but they need more variety like the wide boy's volumes to get some OW and etc in. Their cracks are different as they lean right and left, taper and widen, and some are overhung, which is awesome! But if you are starting out and want to build your crack skills Ascent's hand crack is still a great place to start.- Some of their staff are new to climbing. They are still learning and young but hopefully, in a couple of months, they will be able to talk the talk. As some are definitely not climbers. That's the downside because currently the staff at Ascent are climbers.- The location is on the southern end of Fort Collins.-Waiting to see if they will put up some dry tooling routes. Will need to mention that to them next time.-They don't have auto belays but staff members will belay you for free!-Finally, the price. For $5 more than ascent per month its worth it but I do hope they can drop their membership rates someday to match Ascent. And as I am still hoping. Maybe Ascent and Whetstone can match Miramont's prices someday (there were price differences at the time of this writing).

I went climbing for the first time with my brother. The Whetstone staff are very friendly and help you get started quickly. My only complaint is the day pass doesn't include the equipment rentals.

My son wanted to go climbing, and I reluctantly went along. But as soon as we got to Whetstone, the climbing instructor and the rest of the staff made me feel right at home, and I thoroughly enjoyed the climbing session. We will be back very soon!

I signed my son up for Whetstones's kids climbing camp. This was his first full on exposure to rock climbing. He loved it! He eagerly talked about it each night. The instructors were great and made the camp a lot of fun for him. Thanks!!

I had a personal coaching session with Ken Klein at Whetstone. Ken was amazing and really took time to understand my climbing goals and he took my limitations into account and devised an excellent training strategy for me. I would highly recommend Ken for anyone wanting to improve their climbing, no matter experience level.The Whetstone gym is also excellent with great route setting, huge number of roped climbs and boulders, full training center, and the weight/exercise room is very well equipped.Highly recommend Whetstone and Ken!

Awesome setting and fresh holds. Wide range of difficulty with tons of wall space. I've visited frequently since they've opened and still haven't climbed on every wall. Plus you can get a beer at the Bivy bar after climbing!!!

It has been a long time since I spent any time in a climbing gym. Was a longtime member at Gym of the Rockies and after that Miramont. They became too crowded and the route setters got very stale. I really enjoyed whetstone, creative routes in mid-range, which tends to be tough to set, and present the cap on my rusty ability. Had a blast, will certainly be back soon with a good mind to join fulltime.

Love Whetstone! All the employees are very friendly and helpful. there are so many routes to choose from. I have been about 5 times since they opened and still haven't come close to climbing all the routes. And I haven't even started on the bouldering problems!

Saturday 1-5-2019 I had the pleasure of meeting Darrell and his lovely wife. Both of them gave me a tour while my kids were hanging out at fly hi with my wife. I look forward to this place opening soon I can’t say enough great things about them both. They took time out of there busy day to show me around what an amazing place. My kids are going to have so much fun.