Climbing

OUTDOOR

Outdoor Bound

(outdoorbound.com)
Who they are: This 26-year-old company combines the thrill of climbing with other fun activities (like booze tastings). But don’t expect to get drunk and climb: “We take people out with a really strong emphasis on safety and education,” says co-owner Connie Magee. Trips take place all over New York State, with a focus on the Shawangunk Ridge (better known as the Gunks). The guides are all certified by both the American Mountain Guide Association and the Professional Climbing Guides Institute.
Sign up now: The group’s outing on Saturday 3 includes rock climbing followed by whiskey drinkin’ at a local distillery ($169).Drink here afterward: What, whiskey’s not enough? Magee & Co. like to stop at the Gilded Otter in New Paltz (3 Main St; 845-256-1700, gildedotter.com), a brew pub with a lineup of at least eight different beers, including German ale Dusseldorf Altbier ($5).

Dynamic Outdoors

(dynamicoutdoors.com)
Who they are: “I founded Dynamic Outdoors six years ago,” says 36-year-old Igor Bass. “It was mainly to get out of the city for the day.” The group climbs all over the country, but its local trips are mostly to the Gunks (though they climbed in the Adirondacks over Labor Day). You can expect about 15 people on each trip, split between return climbers and newbies (beginners are given more attention by the guides).
Sign up now: The next trips to the Gunks are Saturday 3 and October 17 ($159), departing at 7am.Drink here afterward: “Zum Schneider (107 Ave C at 7th St; 212-598-1098, zumschneider.com) is often our local hangout,” says Bass. Nothing like a stein of Jever Pilsener ($4--$12) to help you relax after a day of conquering sheer faces.

The Cliffs

(1 Commerce Park, Valhalla, NY; 914-328-7625, thecliffsclimbing.com)
Who they are: It’s a bit of a trek to Valhalla in Westchester, but the price tag makes the trip worth it. Hop Metro-North’s Harlem Line to Valhalla (approximately 40 minutes; $5.23--$22.50), and take a $3--$4 cab ride to the center (if your group is three people or greater, the Cliffs will pay your cab fare). “We’re a much better value than the usual sports club,” explains owner Mike Wolfert. “We have 13,000 feet of climbing terrain, with 40-foot-high walls. It works out to be a couple hundred routes and over 100 boulder problems” (particular ways of scaling a boulder). The Cliffs offers packages for every level of climber, and everything from a day pass ($16) to an annual pass ($60).
Sign up now: If you show up weekdays between 3 and 6pm (and until 8pm on Friday), Wolfert has an instructor on hand to belay (provide support via ropes) with you, so you don’t even have to get certified.Drink here afterward: “One hidden gem is Captain Lawrence microbrewery (99 Castleton St, Pleasantville, NY; 914-741-2337, captainlawrencebrewing.com),” says Wolfert. “They do a lot of boutique beers—double and triple fermentation, oak casks and the like.”

INDOOR

Brooklyn Boulders

(575 DeGraw St at Third Ave, Gowanus, Brooklyn; 347-834-9066, brooklynboulders.com)
Who they are: This facility opened earlier this summer, and is specifically dedicated to indoor rock climbing. “New York City does not have a true climbing gym,” says business director Lance Pinn. “There are fitness centers with climbing-wall ascents, but the value is lacking for climbing enthusiasts.” The space has 11,000 square feet of climbable surface to challenge both experts and noobs.
Sign up now: Climbing here will set you back $20 for a day pass, $180 for a ten-pack and $695 for a year.Drink here afterward: Nearby Pacific Standard (82 Fourth Ave between Bergen St and St. Marks Pl, Park Slope, Brooklyn; 718-858-1951, pacificstandard brooklyn.com) has a variety of West Coast beers, and also offers a frequent drinkers’ program for $10 (you get rewards, like gift certificates, for consuming booze).

Manhattan Plaza Health Club Climbing Gym

(482 W 43rd St between Ninth and Tenth Aves; 212-563-7001, mphc.com)
Who they are: This swanky Hell’s Kitchen club features 5,000 square feet of climbing surface. There are two rooms: one dedicated to top roping and another to bouldering, or climbing sans rope. Both rooms usually have a fair amount of people scaling their walls, and often—at least in the case of the bouldering room, with its padded floors—they’re also falling down.
Sign up now: The Learn to Climb package, which includes orientation and one month of both rentals (shoes, harness, chalk) and climbing, runs $100. A day pass is $20, a ten-day pass $175 and climbing shoe rentals $5. Drink here afterward: Refuel at German outpost Hallo Berlin (626 Tenth Ave at 44th St; 212-977-1944, halloberlinrestaurant.com) for hearty portions of suds and meat.

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