First-Timers

Pick A Gym

Visit our Ropes & Bouldering Gym in Grimes or our Bouldering Gym in downtown East Village.

Not sure which gym is best for you? See the page below to see a full breakdown.

Help Me Choose

Choose Your Pass

Find your nearest Climb Iowa location, check our hours of operation, and choose your pass—Day Pass or Punch Card. Once you’ve tried out the gym, we’ll be happy to discuss membership options as well!

See Day Use Pricing

Visitor Agreement

Each visitor to Climb Iowa, whether climbing or not, will be required to fill out a Visitor Agreement.  For those under the age of 18 it must be filled out by a parent or legal guardian appointed by the courts. No exceptions. Fill out our Visitor Agreement online to save time upon arrival!

Visitor Agreement

Schedule & Save!

We run all climbers through an orientation to ensure they are knowledgeable & confident ahead of being their climbing experience. Every new visitor 13 years old and above are required to go through an orientation. This also includes anyone assisting climbers under the age of 13.

Schedule your visit & orientation with us at least a day in advance and save $3 on your Day Pass & time upon arrival!

Schedule Your Orientation

Bouldering

offered at grimes & east village locations

Bouldering is a style of climbing done without ropes or harnesses. All you need at our gym is a pair of climbing shoes—don’t worry if you don’t have any, we offer rentals!

Auto Belays

offered at grimes location

Auto Belays let you climb our tall walls—no partner or belayer needed. All you need is a harness & rental shoes, and if you don’t have any, we’ve got you covered with rentals!

Top Rope

offered at grimes location

With Top Rope, the climber is attached to a rope that runs up through an anchor at the top of the wall and back down to a belayer on the ground.

To Top Rope at our gym, you need to pass a belay test or take a Belay Class, plus have the necessary gear—which is available to rent at our front desk if you don’t have your own.

Lead Climbing

offered at grimes location

Lead Climbing is an advanced style of roped climbing where you clip the rope into quickdraws as you ascend, offering a thrilling and more challenging type of climbing that better translates to climbing outside.

To Lead Climb at our gym, you need to pass a lead test or take a Lead Class, plus have the necessary gear—which is available to rent at our front desk if you don’t have your own.

Who can climb?

Anyone can climb! We cater to people of all ability levels and since we are in Central Iowa, we see quite a few brand-new climbers.

What to Bring?

Not sure what to wear or bring on your first visit? We’ve got you covered! Comfortable athletic attire is ideal, and if you’re bouldering, all you really need are climbing shoes. For roped climbing, you’ll also need a harness. A chalk bag isn’t required, but it does keep your hands dry and can really boost your experience, so we highly recommend it. Feel free to bring your own gear, or rent everything you need from us.

Youth Supervision

If your children are 12 or younger, they must be actively supervised by an adult. We have different youth class offerings, including teams and camps where our staff will supervise the climbers.

2 hours | PRice: $70 (Complementary two-week memberships, all rental gear included)

The skills learned in this class are essential to opening the door to all we have to offer at the Grimes location. During this 90-minute class, participants learn how to put on a climbing harness, tie the proper knot and belay for another climber. The belayer manages the rope for the climber, serving as their protection while ascending..

Learn More

1 hour | PRice: $70 (Complementary two-week memberships, all rental gear included)

Bouldering! Where to start…

This class covers a variety of topics for the beginning boulderer, including sending rules and grading, ways to utilize our bouldering circuits, route reading, and a few exercises on technique. Most importantly, we spend the last portion of the class on falling.

Learn More