Indoor Wall Climbing - Vertical Endeavors

My first time wall climbing was just a few months ago. It was an awesome time! I was excited to go back today.

Vertical Endeavors is located inside the Lifetime Fitness facility in Warrenville, IL. The entire place is huge. There's workout area with stairmasters, basketball courts, showers and lockers, salon, spa, juice bar and the climbing wall section. There's probably more stuff I haven't discovered, but it is pretty inclusive of just about anything you want to do to your body.

The staff at Vertical Endeavors is nice and clearly into climbing. On your first visit, you sign a waiver and go through a short orientation on how to properly climb. There's an auto belay section as well as a section for bouldering and leed climbing. The entire space is huge. Very cool.

The walls are labeled and numbered according to difficulty. The higher the number, the greater the difficulty. A 5.6 is supposed to be pretty basic, but I've had trouble with a particular 5.6 that is just out of my reach. Each hold is labeled with a color. If the 5.6 is marked yellow, then completing that course would mean you only use the holds marked with yellow tape. On the difficult walls, I just used whatever holds were available.

Auto Belay

The auto belaying system is pretty cool. It is on a hydraulic system that has a minimum resistance of 40 lbs. As you climb up, it's almost like you're slightly buoyant. When you're ready to come down, you just let go and it releases you slowly back to the ground.

Bouldering

Bouldering is where you traverse laterally. You're free climbing, so you're not allowed to go any higher than shoulder height (to minimize injury from falling). I like bouldering because it works the core and obliques in particular. It's kind of fun to try different holds and swing from side to side.

Cheese

By the end, you're all full of chalk dust and sweat. Wall climbing is an excellent workout. This particular place is great for all levels. It's also an awesome alternative for kids to get exercise. There's a positive vibe throughout the whole place which I really enjoyed. If it tells you anything, I purchased the 10-visit punch card and will be going back tomorrow morning with a different group of friends.

I really dig Vertical Endeavors. The only downside is that it's not very close to my apartment. But it's worth a trip out there every once in a while. Give it a shot! Let me know what you think.