Starting now, MetroRockers with memberships have even more to smile about!

You’ve always had a bunch of great perks but we’re sweetening the deal. Why? Because we like you and want to know that we appreciate that you climb here. We hope these perks will keep you climbing and enjoying MetroRock for years to come.

Here’s a list of what you get when you sign up for a 3 month, 6 month or annual membership:

Existing Benefits:
• If you climb more than once a week, the rates per visit are way cheaper than day passes.
• Free yoga classes.
• Speedy check-in, especially now with the self check-in service.
• Access to all MetroRock locations, unlike punchcards which are limited to just one gym.
• Some insurers offer rebates if you have a gym membership. We qualify as a full service facility and will get you the documentation you need if you ask.

Increased Benefits:
• 15% off gear and certain classes—an increase over the old 10% discount.
• Each month you get 2 free passes for friends who are climbing with you. Unlike the old “Membership appreciation night,” these passes can be used any time during the month.
• Go on the ropes course for free up to 4 times per year! You get one pass for the course for every 3 months of membership.

For more information, see our rates page.
Thanks again and we look forward to seeing you around the gym!

Stinky, sticky, uncomfortable, useless except for one thing; and yet we love them so! Climbing shoes are the sort of purpose built tool that only the devoted can get excited about. It’s no surprise that climbers build such a strong attachment to them. Loyalty to brand and style are common and we all know the value of a “lucky” pair for those projects.

It is, however, a tough love. You put those shoes through some pretty nasty stuff and before you know it, the rubber wears out from too many scrapes and toe placements. At this point, you might consider a new pair but if the rest of the shoe is still in good shape, why not resole them?

Resoling puts a new rubber sole on the existing shoe to give it new life. The upper portion stays the same so the time you spent breaking them isn’t lost. You get the same fit but the new rubber gives you a few more months of wear for the shoes. At a fraction of the cost of new shoes, resoling is a great way to keep climbing on your favorite shoes.

New England Resole is a new company offering this service and they do great work! They have drop boxes in both MetroRock locations which give you the convenience of location, shorter turn around time and no shipping costs. Simply fill out a form, drop it and your shoes in a bag and about 2 weeks later, your resoled shoes are back on your feet.

Ask at the desk next time you’re in the gym for more information.

This past weekend Newburyport hosted the second round of the Dark Horse 2013 series and it was a doozy!

The walls were hopping, the chalk was flying and the climbers were all super psyched by the energy in the room. In the end, the field was narrowed down to 16 Young Gun finalists and 9 men and women in the pro finals. The crowd stuck around to watch the drama unfold as the finals problems presented some stiff challenges. Men’s #2 went unfinished by all the competitors while only the winner, Josh Levin, flashed #3. Meagan Martin sailed through the women’s finals in dominating style—not bad for her first Dark Horse!

Final results for this comp, and all others, can be found here. While you’re there, register for next months round in Everett on December 15th!

On December 1st in Everett, Urban Peaks will be hosting it's second annual Climb-a-thon, the Climb for Kids. Last year was a great time--a bunch of hearty climbers did as many routes or problems as they could in 6 hours while the Urban Peaks folks cheered them on and fed them pizza and snacks. Each route counted for points based on height and difficulty and the more they racked up, they greater their achievement. Like a charity run or walkathon, sponsors pledged a dollar amount for each point, route or foot of elevation gained.

This year's event will feature the same format but with a few fun side activities to keep things interesting. A couple of the staff have volunteered to set up a "floor is lava" style obstacle course in the back. We're not sure what it will look like yet, but we know it will be super fun! Imagine traversing into rope swings to the slackline to a rope ladder back to the wall, which is covered in the biggest, craziest holds we have. Yeah, it's going to be a wicked good time!

To take part, see the Urban Peaks website for information. Start lining up your sponsors today and get your lava boots out of storage!

We’re busy with a whole bunch of things lately and a lot of those things get photographed. In those photos are a lot of you. I think you might want to know how to access these pics so please pay attention.

The first stop should be the galleries page on the MetroRock website. Here you’ll find a lot of stuff from comps, events and camps over the years. Speaking of comps, the Dark Horse website has a gallery page of it’s own so that might help you narrow things down. Finally, there’s the facebook page for the gym which will keep you up to date on when new pics are posted, random shots taken and posted for various reasons or for very little reason at all. Feel free to tag yourself or your friends in them if you’re in the shot.

We thank all the photographers who contribute to our galleries. Some of them are on staff who dabble on the side. Others are pro photogs who dabble with working at the gym on the side. And still others are outside folks who just love photography, climbing and the wonderful things that happen when those two passions meet.

Strange, isn't it that there aren't any pictures included in this post? Too bad I'm not a photographer myself!

The 4th season of the Dark Horse Series kicked off last month in Everett with a crazy amount of strong climbers, sick problems, roaring crowds and folks from age 4 to 40 something kickin’ butt. Local Vasya Vorotnikov and out-of-towner Isabella Faus took the big prizes home in dramatic fashion in front a roaring crowd while climbers of all ages took prizes at every level.

Did you miss it? Don’t worry, there are still 3 rounds left and the grand prize is still up for grabs. We are beyond happy with the way this comp has become such an event in the local and regional climbing scene. In addition to a bunch of regulars who know our walls from countless sessions in our gym, we saw some big names travel a long way to compete. In fact, there was a French Canadien team that made the trek, filling the air with “allez!” and giving the event a cool international With so many climbers competing for prizes, for pride and to challenge themselves, it’s a great vibe and a fun way to spend the day.

The next round will take place in Newburyport on the 17th of this month. That’s almost a week away! After that, we’ve got round three on December 15th and the big finale in January, both back in Everett. This thing has been gaining momentum since it started 4 years ago, we can’t wait to see what will happen this year!

Between now and mid-January, we will host a bouldering competition at one of the two MetroRock gyms every 2-4 weeks, a total of 5 events in 4 months. Unlike a racetrack or an arena, where the playing field need only be maintained, a climbing competition requires a whole new set of challenges each and every time. We set all new problems--everything from the v0s for the novices to the v10+ for the pro finals—for each event. Wiping the slate clean gives each comp gets its own set of routes or “problems” to insure that climbers have something new to work on. If you estimate 10-15 holds per problem and about 75 qualifying problems and 18 finals problems per event, that’s more than a thousand holds which need to be taken down, washed, put back on the walls, tweaked, tested and repositioned before we’re ready for competition.

It may just look like plastic bolted to an angled wall, but putting the right hold in the right place is an artful craft. It is a labor of love brought to you by a team of chalky warriors armed with sick beta, twisted notions and power tools. The work begins the weekend before each event when the boulder areas get stripped and prepped for the new sets.

We are pretty much obsessed with climbing. It’s what takes up our weeknights, our weekends and most of our vacation time. The amount of time we spend climbing, talking about climbing, choosing and buying new climbing gear and planning our climbing trips is probably equal to the time we spend working or at school. It’s easy to understand why: the beauty of the movement, the pure joy of sending your project, the way it affects your fitness and well-being, and the fun you have climbing with friends—these are all things that make climbing so frickin’ great. But what do you do when your limits as a climber start to bring you down and instead of being pure fun, it becomes frustrating?

In the gym, we see a lot of this frustration so we understand the tough mental dynamics between wanting to climb for fun and satisfying the urge to climb better, harder and stronger. Many of us want to get better but when it comes time to do a set of pull-ups, work the core or spend time in the gym NOT climbing, that urge fades away and instead, we go top-rope that fun route in the corner for the 10th time.

With this in mind, we have set out to emphasize the benefits of training and put a few programs together to help you find a regimen and stick with it. Check out our options and see what fits your needs and wants. From one-on-one PT sessions to group training to 90 minute pick-me ups, we have a some great options to choose from. Our goal is to give you the skills, knowledge and discipline to make training a part of your climbing life. We’re sure that as a result, you’ll be a better climber, you’ll feel better about your abilities and when the time comes for that extra bit of power to get to the top, you’ll have it in you!

Winter in the climbing world means either you’re psyched for ice or you hang up the climbing gear and wax up your skis. But for us, we train even harder for competition season! At MetroRock, it's a very busy time: between our own events, hosting USA Climbing and attending other comps, we’ve got our hands full. This means we’ve got at least one a month from October through January with even more events to be announced for late Winter!

Our pride and joy is the Dark Horse Series. Now in its fourth year, it just keeps getting better and bigger. Last year’s finals hosted a packed house to watch the country’s best climbers get nasty for the grand prize and all the glory. This year we’ve changed the schedule a bit and added a day to maximize the sickness!

At Halloween time, we give you the Blackout Boulder Brawl. With the boulders glowing in the blacklight and competitors decked out in their brightest neons, it looks like a climbing comp taking place in the Tron universe. Climbers fight the pump and disorientation to get to the top in this warped and weird setting.

USA Climbing hosts a wide range of comps in the region and we are proud to host our share. Whether it’s boulders, speed or difficulty, we have the facilities for it all. These range from school age kids to college and beyond so there is always something for everyone. You will probably see future pro climbers competing at these events.

Our schedule to date is listed below, with some events still pending for Spring. Please remember that competition in the Dark Horse and Blackout Brawl is open to everyone at all levels. You don’t have to be a pro to win prizes!