Mission Cliffs - Rock climbing gym in San Francisco - 2295 Harrison St, USA

I rarely write negative reviews — especially for a climbing gym — but my experience at Mission Cliffs in SF was so disappointing in so many ways. Maria (staff member) was extremely condescending. We were visiting from out of town and my partner needed to take his lead certification because he hadn’t visited a touchstone before. Between us, we have hundreds of hours of lead climbing experiences, both indoors and outside. We were made to wait over an hour — despite repeatedly coming back to the front desk to ask when we could take it and if anyone was available (they were, but were just chit chatting at the desk). After the hour, we finally went to the desk to ask again and she said “oh, hasn’t someone already tested you yet?” to which she finally agreed to come administer the test. I have previously passed a lead test at touchstone, but was told that by participating in the test again that if I did anything wrong my lead cert would be revoked. Get the need to be safe here, but this felt super unnecessary. She then pointed out that I didn’t have a lead card (we had told her when checking in that we were visiting from out of town and didn’t have this). She then said in an accusatory tone that she could take away my lead cert for not having the card (all before the test, all still extremely unnecessary). She then proceeded to administer the test — which is one of the unnecessarily hardest lead routes for a test imo having visited many gyms in many countries. There is no need for a lead climber to be able to climb an overhung 10b successfully and clean in one go — the emphasis should clearly be on safety rather than ability (other gyms I have visited have plenty of great 10.b and below lead routes). There is also no need to intimidate the climber taking the test prior to them taking the test. Her instructions were convoluted (“clip 6 clips, you can discuss which ones between you” — unclear why she couldn’t just say clip all the draws on the route) and she was just downright mean. The cumulative effect of this is a gym that feels extremely oppressive and unfriendly to climbers — both old and new. I cannot even imagine how a newer lead climber would feel taking this test — intimidated, scared, and frankly not wanting to bother to clear these hurdles. Sadly, to top it off, the route setting was not even good. Straight up and down and nothing very interesting.

Great place to indoor rock climb. Went with my 9 year old daughter and her friends. They had a blast.

My recent visit was one of the worsts experiences I’ve had with any business staff. Maria was very condescending. Plenty of other better gyms nearby. I came in for a day pass to lead climb. From the beginning the front desk employee, Maria, was dismissal towards me for wanting to take the lead test. My climbing partner was already certified. She asked us to wait an unspecified amount of time for the test. We warmed up for over 20-25 minutes and ended up doing non lead climbs while we waited. All our gear was ready near the lead test station the whole time. Almost an hour later of doing non lead climbs, I checked in again and Maria treated us like we were being an inconvenience to her for wanting to lead climb. Before I started the test Maria was belittling and condescending as if she didn’t want me to pass. Being critical of everything I could potentially do wrong. Ultimately it came true. Failed my first lead test. I’m not the strongest climber but I’m a safe climber and have passed at every other gym. I didn’t make any mistakes, just slipped off on the 2nd to last hold. I guess that’s what happens when you do an overhung lead test after an hour of “warming up”. I have hundreds of hours climbing indoors and outdoors. I’m all for safe climbing but damn this is just gatekeeping. Never coming back to this gym again. Don’t need this kind of toxic and non inclusive behavior in the climbing community.

We had a great time at Mission Cliff Rock Climbing today! Matt was our instructor and he was absolutely awesome. He was patient and taught us the basics of belaying and climbing in detail with enthusiasm, and he did an excellent job. As a couple, we enjoyed the experience and would definitely recommend it.

The gym is awesome! They have all necessary equipment for climbing and for working out. There are a steaming room, shower with shampoo etc., they also provide with towels. Gets really full during rush hour, so the time using cardio section is limited (30min) during this hours.

The problem setting is good and interesting, but the rest of the experience is bad.. They have a lot of top rope, but I could only find a single 5.8 in the whole area.. The bouldering is strangely tiny for the size of the gym and very crowded. There's a ton of friction on some of the top ropes, to the point where it's concerning. Parking at peak times is an exercise in madness but I guess that's normal for the area. There was only one staff member trying to man the counter and do belay certifications at the same time, so I had to wait several minutes. They were also visibly teaching some people how to belay during the test.

I came SF for a business trip and found this gym! They have various options. I haven't tried the lead climbing but good workout gears and bouldering facilities.

We used to describe this place as a wonderful gym where people respected the equipment and each other because thankfully, you really only belonged here if you were into indoor climbing, and indoor climbing is a pretty chill sport. Those times they are a changin’… Cycling room with awesome instructors? Gone. Great class instructors? Gone (hope you are all alright and off living your best lives). Small but respectable weights area in front of room up doors for ventilation? …Crammed into to a small unventilated glass box with the kettlebells (that also used to have their own section) and the medicine balls and the only gym mats. Smith press? Scraped. AND what did we get? Ooo!!!! Twice the number of squat racks!!! WTH… Did you forget this was a climbing gym? We already have enough trash 24-hour fitness gyms in this city. No thank you please. But hey! Now they are attracting new members who couldn’t make it up a 5.10a even if you slipped a cattle prod in their chalk sack. And with their bizarro-world “rebrand”, we’re now experiencing things I haven’t seen in a decade of being a member: - physical altercations in the weight areas, - cross-fitters taking up three to four bench/weight/machine combinations (you have your own gyms, please go away), - trashed locker rooms (top three of the last two months are, in no particular order, the dying of hair in the sinks, shaving of short and curlies in the showers and nude trimming of nails onto the floor), Woo. Hoo. They say it takes a few years to change the culture in a company. Apparently it only takes a few months at Mission Cliffs. I still think there are good people here (looking at you Dan and a lot of the regulars who come here). Solid routes, they replace the ropes often enough and though they don’t reset as often as they did pre 2020, still pretty good and creative routesetters. Plus for the included towels (although fees continue to climb). Fingers crossed they fire whatever “consultant” they hired post-pandemic.