Altitude Gym

Holy! What an experience! We came to Ottawa to try new things and I thought this would be a cool place to try a different kind of climbing… and what a thrill it was! After finding this place using Unilocal,I immediately was excited from just looking at the pictures. It definitely looks like a church inside too.
On our drive to Ottawa I made reservations for us and they were easy to schedule one for us for the time we wanted. I was worried we wouldn’t be able to due to the long weekend.
On the day of our reservation, we arrived 15 mins early but if you are going during winter I suggest arriving a bit earlier to find parking, fill out paperwork, pay, change into workout clothing, pack away winter gear, and finally go in to the introductory lesson. I also suggest bringing a lock for the lockers inside the mens/​womens change rooms and water. I noticed the main door area and coat area being super crowded and if you own a pricier winter coat or boots you should lock them up safely. After changing into workout clothes we entered the area to the ‘Clip ‘n Climb’ area. At first we were kind of worried due to there being so many kids («Are we too old for this?») But after our safety introductory lesson (done by a staff member who is bilingual, thank goodness), we were harnessed, checked by a staff member, and released into the world of playground rock climbing. The most unique aspect of this climbing experience and most likely the most terrifying for us was the fact that they had automatic belays. It really made us conscious of how high up we were and how much the fear of heights affected us. I found the different walls ranging from easy to difficult depending which one you choose.
This was the most unique experience in a long time, it was a lot of fun and very worthwhile to try if you haven’t. The price was very reasonable and affordable, you get 1 hr of playtime, there is a lot of variety of different climbs (from beginner to experienced), the staff there are excellent (they made sure you were secure and safe before each climb). Kudos to Altitude for raising the bar of climbing!

I was very impressed with our visit to Altitude earlier this month. Although I really don’t have much experience with indoor rock climbing, I’d have to say that this is the best gym I’ve experienced to date.
Pros:
— Huge. Absolutely huge. Having been built inside a former church, this place has got height and room to spare. As others have noted, this ensures that nobody is getting in anyone’s way and that lineups are pretty much non-​existent.
— Personable and helpful staff.
— A grand variety of things to do: Clip ‘n’ Climb (an auto-​belaying gym with tons of neat walls — although it looks like a kiddie paradise, it’s really fun for anyone), auto-​belaying in the regular gym, regular partnered climbing, bouldering (indoors and outside), slack lines, jungle gyms, regular gym (in the basement)…wow.
— Pretty reasonable prices, especially if you plan on making a day of it. I can certainly see why people would obtain a monthly or yearly membership.
— Probably the best music I’ve ever heard in a public space.
Cons:
— I wish we’d had more time at Clip ‘n’ Climb — sessions are one hour long and they fly right by.
I will be coming back here the next time I’m in the are!

I am more of a recreational/​beginner climber and I had a good time here.
This place is pretty big, which is nice because I never felt like I was in anyone’s way. I enjoyed all the walls and all of the padding everywhere. I enjoyed the high ceilings and many choices for climbing. I enjoyed the cleanliness of the locker room/​bathrooms.
On my very first visit here I had only ever climbed at Coyote Rock Gym before, and the two gyms are setup slightly differently and so the belaying technique is slightly different. No more difficult, but nonetheless we needed a quick technique lesson. My only issue with this, is that they charged us $ 36 each to teach the slightly different technique – which I felt was a bit expensive.
The phone system they have is a huge pain – so I would avoid it if possible.
The staff are all really knowledgeable, patient, and helpful. I don’t speak French and the staff were accommodating of that. We had a wonderful time climbing here.

I wish this place was in Toronto… Seriously… (as millions of quebec’ers yell at me right now). I can’t believe the sheer size of this place.
When you first get into the gym it seems pretty cool. There’s a giant boulder sitting right in the middle and the gym and every surface of the walls around it are covered with bolted walls in various featured angles. Not to mention the «rocktopia» wall which imitates a sandstone face with cracks and room for holds to be bolted on.
Another cool thing about the gym is the amount of padding. Take it from a person who has had their share of ankle injuries… This place has the whole floor covered with 1 foot padding. And then another ¾ of a foot around the boulder. Amazing!
Oh was that not enough? There’s also a kids area with assisted belayers that is separated from the crowd. I went in and it’s literally a kids dream. Think American gladiators… but for kids… And without scantily clad steroid freaks.
And when I thought it was cool enough? Welcome to the annex… a section they built for lead climbing (also has some roped lines) with 50 foot walls. Did I mention it’s pretty much as big
As the rest of the building combined? Can you say rock-​gasm?
Dear Ontario, please build this place next to my house. I will gladly live and die there.