Stone Climbing in St Augustine

Name: Stone Climbing – Saint Augustine Climbing Company, LLC

Price: $18/ day pass

Owners: Eric Hires and JT (John Thousand)

Overall Rank: 5 out of 5 stars from Google Reviews

Stone Climbing Gym Overview

Stone Climbing Gym is located at 115 Strongway Court, St. Augustine, FL 32086. The grand opening was Sunday, September 12, 2021. The facility offers over 5000 sq feet of climbing area, 16 feet high bouldering walls, and 35 feet tall for top rope and lead routes. There are no auto belays. The rope and lead area is number 4 in the layout below. It has a cool overhang for people who love the practice of climbing roofs.

Yoga, meditation, climbing classes, training areas such as free weights, bikes treadmills, Kookaburra cafe, and gear shop are available.

The Good & The Bad

Good

The staff is friendly and helpful. When the Aiguille youth team and the parents including myself visited, the staffs were very nice. They answered our many question demands. Eric who is the co-owner of the gym took the time and tested us all for lead belay. He was very patient with us.
Not many gyms throughout Florida have tall walls so we are hungry for them.
Fun routes especially leading in the overhang area #4.

Bad

It is 100 miles from where I am in Orlando. This is only me though. If you live in St. Augustine, it is not a bad thing.
No autobelay. =( Although I prefer rope or lead, it is nice to have an autobelay so that you can climb by yourself with rope when you don’t have a partner to climb with.
The only belay device is the Grigri. I am OK with it because I know how to use it but not everyone is comfortable. It is harder to learn especially for lead belaying. The Aiguille youth team learned to use the ATC and are not familiar with the Grigri.

Who is On The Rocks Climbing For?

People who seek adventure and alternative work out beside the traditional weight lifting. It is great for all genders and ages from four (4) up to ninety-nine (99+).

Rock climbing is also great for women who are looking to tighten the tummy, triceps and strengthen muscles without having to lift weights or do traditional exercises. Climbing is a fun sport that sometimes you do not even realize that you are working out.

Interest to learn more? You may enjoy reading the following article(s):

On The Rocks Climbing Gym Support

Great and friendly staff
Yoga classes
Climbing & belay classes
Weights and work out area for conditioning
Coffee and snacks after a hard day of climbing

On The Rocks Climbing Gym Price

For 2021, $18/ day pass. Please visit https://stoneclimbing.com/visit for more pricing information.

My Final Thoughts

I heard over the grapevine that a new climbing gym was built in St Augustine. My interest was piqued. My first question was “How tall are their walls?” The answer was “They have lead.” That was all I needed to hear. “I am in!” I called out.

When team Aiguille visited the new gym Stone Climbing, I tagged along. It took a while for us to climb because we all had to be tested for belaying and climbing lead. We kept Eric busy for at least 1-1/2 hours. After our conversations with Eric, we learned that he is the owner. He was very nice and patient with us. He was down-to-earth and easy to talk to.

It is not as tall and large as Project Rock in Oakland Park, FL near Fort Lauderdale but it holds its own. The routes are so much fun to climb even the overhang. In the past, I hesitated on leading and especially with overhangs. However, for some strange reason, I was not reserved. The holds are grippy and yet not as sharp as I expect to how new holds feel.

The only thing that slowed me down was my endurance. I have not been climbing tall routes lately so I was huffing and puffing. It was good to rebuild my endurance. All in all, I had a really fun time and would definitely come back to visit again. I was sad that I couldn’t stay as long as I like. I’ll be back!

I hope this review has been helpful. I love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Please leave your messages or questions below. I will answer them within 24 hours.