Reach Your Peak At These Five Local Climbing Gyms

Illustration by Jeannie Phan

If you’re a newbie…
Rock Spot Climbing

Ready to ascend to new heights, but don’t know the lingo or how the heck to strap on that harness? Sign up for Rock Spot Climbing’s “chalk talk,” free to first-timers, where you’ll learn the basics of climbing from experienced instructors. Once you’re ready to get moving, apply what you’ve learned in a beginner class: Intro to Belaying ($15) will teach you how to tie ropes and hold them for a partner; Intro to Climbing ($65), meanwhile, gets you comprehensive instruction as well as gear rental and a day pass.

30 Old Colony Ave., South Boston, 617-269-2084, rockspotclimbing.com.

If you’re itching to summit a real mountain…
Boston Rock Gym

Combine the camaraderie of the gym with your love of nature at Boston Rock Gym, which offers outdoor excursions ($110 for members, $125 for non-members) led by passionate instructors certified by the American Mountain Guides Association. If you’ve only climbed with a mat underneath you, have no fear: The gym’s full-day outdoor intro course explains how to find the best routes to scale the side of a cliff in Quincy or Gloucester’s Red Rocks.

78G Olympia Ave., Woburn, 781-569-7325, bostonrockgym.com.

If you want to work on team-building…
MetroRock

Is Sheila having trouble working with Bill from accounting? Conquer awkward office dynamics by bringing the gang to MetroRock for a day of bonding activities centered around climbing. The basic three-hour program ($55 per person) includes a class focusing on knots, gear, and communication. The second part of the session takes you to the high-ropes challenge course, which features 17 elements to maneuver through and around before reaching a 60-foot zipline that deposits you back on solid ground.

69 Norman St., Everett, 617-387-7625, metrorock.com.

If you’re looking to mingle…
Brooklyn Boulders

Come for the rock climbing, stay for the party. At this 40,000-square-foot Somerville spot ($29 for a day pass), the focus is on making friends, not just making it to the top. So in addition to the bouldering and vertical climbing courses, you’ll find lounge areas for hanging out in between climbs. Bonus points for the ability to mix up your workout with strength-training equipment and group fitness classes, including parkour and yoga.

12A Tyler St., Somerville, 617-623-6700, brooklynboulders.com.

If you’re looking for a challenge…
Central Rock Gym

More advanced climbers will not bore easily tackling the Cambridge Central Rock Gym’s 200-plus bouldering routes and maneuvering up campus boards, which you climb like a ladder, without using your feet ($22 for a day pass). Or try the treadwall, a rotating rock wall that moves like a treadmill and is the only one of its kind in the Boston area.

127 Smith Place, Cambridge, 857-285-6997, centralrockgym.com.