Friday, August 20, 2010

Stone Summit

When I first heard about a new gym coming to Atlanta I was pretty excited.  I say pretty excited because the location was 20 minutes from my house and I wasn’t psyched to drive in Atlanta rush hour traffic.  As time progressed and I heard more and more about the gym, I began to get more into the idea.  Darren and Daniel, the folks that brought Stone Summit to Atlanta, were doing tons of homework, visiting many other gyms and really looking to the future.  I was able to tour the facility during construction and was totally blown away.  I immediately made the decision to begin training there as soon as possible, traffic be damned.

I was in Spain for the grand opening but I’ve been climbing there regularly for the last 6 weeks.  My overall impression is that the gym is amazing, a great indoor facility.  However, like everything, there are a (very) few things that I don’t love about it.  Details below:


The Good:

1.  The place is huge.  This has been key this summer as the heat has kept many Atlanta climbers inside and in the gym.  Even on a Saturday with the parking lot near capacity, the gym doesn’t feel too crowded.  There can be a slight downside to the size and that's the loss of the intimate, community vibe.  However, I haven’t noticed it at SS at all.  In fact I think it’s brought many of the Atlanta climbers that have been spread out over many gyms into one place which has been really cool.




2.  The routes are very good. Claudiu Vidulescu, the head route setter, is a nationally certified setter and it shows.  Lots of variety in movement as well as many different hold styles (and manufacturers) make for a really nice training experience.  For routes they've opted for colored holds, eschewing tape.  I usually don't like this as it limits the setters but SS was able to get hold companies to produce holds in their colors.  This means that, for a given color, setters have several different companies and sets of holds to choose from.  This eliminates the tedium that can result when routes are set with only one hold-type.

The routes range from very easy to 5.14- with a nice number in each grade range.  The gym features most angles from slab to very overhanging which is great.  I have a couple of small issues with the routes (see below) but overall they’re excellent.  In 6 weeks and sampling many of the routes, I’ve done 1 bad route and 1 not so good route.  Both were left over from the junior national competition in early July so they're not really representative of the gym’s setting.

3.  Bouldering is good.  I don't know the exact square footage of the bouldering area but I do know there's a great deal of it.  Lot of problems at most levels, a pretty good mix of angles (more on this later), and nice tall walls.  No topout boulders but I’m ok with that.

A portion of the bouldering area.


4.  The gym facilities are top notch.  New, modern cardio and weight equipment with a nice view of the climbing walls to keep you motivated.  Towel service both in the cardio area and the locker rooms shows the gyms attention to detail and willingness to provide proper service.  Spin classes and yoga classes have just begun which are included in the membership fee.



5.  The café is cool!  I scoffed at the idea of having a place to eat inside a climbing gym but I was wrong.  The food is very tasty and reasonable, smoothies are very good, and the folks back there are super friendly.

The seemingly ever-evolving menu.



6.  The gear store is great.  Unique Outfitters has to have one of the best selections of climbing gear in Atlanta, if not the best.  Lots of different models of shoes, hardware, and soft goods.  My one complaint would be the lack of Petzl gear.  Plus it's staffed and owned by people who actually rock climb.




The Bad:


1.  The routes have too many huge jugs on them.  Yes, I said it, huge jugs aren’t always great.  This isn’t as much a criticism of SS but a criticism of steep gym climbing and hold companies.  Hold manufacturers need to realize that holds can be good without being absurdly good.  I think this will slowly become less of a problem at SS as the gym gets more holds (they are continuing to purchase new holds several times a year which is great!) and the setters become more comfortable with the steep terrain.




2.  The grades are a little wacky.  Routes and boulder problems both have a wide spread of difficulty for a given grade.  I would say on average, the grades in the gym are soft but not always.  Should it matter?  No, but it is nice to track progression.

3.  This may seem odd for those who have climbed there but I wish the gym had more steep ground, particularly in the bouldering area.  A long 45 degree wall without a break in angle would be a great training tool. 

4.  Evening fitness classes would be nice.   The current yoga classes are only offered very early in the morning which is difficult for some of us to attend.  I heard a rumor that evening classes may be coming soon, I hope so.  It would also be nice to have some evening fitness classes such as core training, P90x, crossfit, etc.

So is it perfect?  I'd say no, but it’s close.  My negative comments are small, almost trivial issues.  My overall opinion?  The gyms is simply fantastic.  I can easily say that I would be a much stronger climber if this gym had been built 5 years ago, and I look forward to getting stronger there in the next 5 years.  Darren and Daniel did brilliant job producing a top-notch, world-class facility.



Full Disclosure:  I'm not compensated in any way by SS, nor do they know that I'm posting this.  I pay my monthly dues like everyone else.

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