Climbing Gym @ the North Face store in Suyu

[surewould]

I didn't see this listed on the climbing gyms, I'll try to make a legitimate post about it but on the 4th floor of the North Face store in Suyu about 500 meters from Exit 1 is a climbing gym.

It has a lot of vertical (I don't think they provide any ropes), lead climbing and a few routes marked for dry tooling. It has a decent looking bouldering too.

Kind of pricey -
15,000 for a day pass
500,000 won for 6 months
700,000 for a year

If anyone is curious it's worth the look. I went around 1 in the afternoon and there were only two dudes there, the helper guy said there are no waygookin members so far. I can't tell how new/old the place is.

[blacklotus]

I visited as well. No one was working when I came. I and a native Korean climber who spoke good English both kind of milled around for 20 minutes, waiting for someone to talk to us. I spoke briefly with one climber, who seemed friendly, climbed at a moderate level, but was climbing alone. I tried physically being among and eventually talking with the three other climbers there, and no one expressed much response. Eventually, Kim Jaha surfaced and talked about the place and its rates. He was apparently having a meal, and no one else was staffing.

Anyway, as surewould indicated, it's 15,000 to climb for one day on a relatively small bouldering surface with few pre-defined problems. (I didn't climb) But if you live nearby and want to practice indoor sport climbing (got to have a partner and rope), then this could be a good spot. And, if you've been climbing for a long time and enjoy creating your own problems, the bouldering wall has a nice array of small holds. But the angles and overall variety of holds are generic relative to what you find in most NA/ Euro gyms or some other Korean bouldering gyms. If you live in NE Seoul, maybe first try the Nowon Climbing Center.

[blacklotus]

However, this place IS open on weekends. So if it's rainy on the weekend or you haven't got partners or just feel like training, it might be worth your money :)

[obsessed]

I actually climb here a couple times a month. Its great for a mid week session if you can make it there. They're open until 10pm during the week... 9pm on the weekends. The climbing staff there is actually really friendly and helpful, and speak fairly good english. The traversing wall is all 25 move problems, and the bouldering problems are roughly the same. I've never had a problem with the staff jumping in and helping me work through a bouldering problem or showing me some footwork for a particular move. There are some decently hard lines here, a couple 10c/d over-vertical problems, and a 13a? with a 3 tier roof. Its a great place to set up a workout or to practice if you need to work on a particular kind of move.

[blacklotus]

That's helpful to know about the staff on a weekday.

In general, weekdays may have a different atmosphere from weekend days.

I'm going to visit again on the weekend (eventually) and actually climb, assuming the atmosphere is more lively and welcoming.

[obsessed]

Call me when your going. Alot of my steady partners have crapped out on me.

[griddable]

I just got back from this gym, as I now live right down the street. There was a pretty healthy crowd, including some strong but friendly climbers who spoke decent English. The manager (Mr. Lee) is also a strong climber and nice guy, he and the staff member I spoke to also had no trouble conversing with me. I want to check out the bouldering basement around the corner, but I think I may stick with North Face...

with nothing between a single visit and 6 months, it's a bit of a commitment to get a membership here (kind of strange they don't offer shorter intervals), but it's clean, very spacious (looks like the room is 3 floors tall, maybe 12-15 meters? I'm a bad judge of height though. The setting looks pretty decent for the rope area, with some varied terrain higher up. Didn't see what ratings they set up to. I didn't see any fixed ropes (although i think i saw some top-ropes on the kiddie/slab walls), not sure if they have any to rent/borrow, but they did hand me a chalk bucket when I asked. It also has a nice little gym area with weights and equipment, but I didn't use any of it. Kind of sparse on the system/hangboards, just a few on the bouldering island. There are lockers and a locker room I didn't bother using, but I think it may have showers, and If it's anything like the rest of the building, it's probably clean and modern).

There's a vertical bouldering section that stretches the length of one wall (you can also boulder up to about the first clip in the rope area if you aren't getting in someone's way), and the bouldering island ranges from slightly to pretty overhung. One novelty I saw was a sizable lead slab wall, made from what looked like real granite textured tiles, to get your cheese grater on :)

If I get a membership I'm gonna need two things: a ropes partner and a slackline set up :P