Seattle Bouldering Project - Fremont is the latest addition to Seattle's climbing scene and part of the Bouldering Project family of climbing gyms including two other locations in Seattle - Poplar and Upper Walls right down the street. It is a bouldering only facility so no rope climbing. While smaller than their Poplar location it still offers a full list of amenities including lots of climbing walls, a weight room, yoga studio, hangboard area, and two system walls - Tension and Grasshopper with LED lights. I really enjoyed the layout of the gym and think it's well thought out. They have a main floor with an upstairs observation area that overlooks the main climbing room where the locker rooms are also located and a downstairs with a weight room, system walls, a kids area, yoga studio, and a smaller climbing area. Parking looks like it can be limited during peak hours but that's the only downside I can see. Overall great gym and worth a visit for both new climbers and veterans alike.

I used to really love SBP, especially this location. If you can believe it, there was a time when the gym used to be completely empty during the afternoons. However, in the past year or so, the gyms have gotten so busy to the point where you need to show up an hour before yoga classes in order to MAYBE find a parking spot. The gym is so packed at all hours its impossible to enjoy your climb safely. The influx of new climbers means that there are often children running around the mats, underneath people on the wall, and said new climbers ignore safety procedures. It also has become very unwelcoming for those of us who have been climbing for years. I've witnessed friends get berated by other climbers, have had to stop my route in the middle of climbing when someone else started climbing next to me, have seen people climb when there are people on the mat right underneath them/people not move when others are climbing. There's simply too many people now and theres no way to manage that all of these people will know proper climbing etiquette or safety. During Covid, the gym had a cap on visitors, and I wish they would've kept that. They really need to stop allowing new members to join, or start rigorously vetting that the ones who do join will respect other climbers. SBP hasn't felt like a community in years, and this is reflected in the $20 membership increase within the last YEAR. Pricing went from $75 a month to $95 a month in a little over 365 days.

It's just way too crowded. I've been a member since 2016, previously used the Poplar location, but now living near the Fremont location I'm thinking a membership just isn't worth it - especially with the planned price increases!! I frequently have to cut my workout or climbing session short because there are too many people and not enough space/equipment/routes. I've even tried going late on weeknights but it stays extremely crowded until close. I think there should be some sort of crowd management - especially for safety reasons! Can't tell you how many near misses I've seen because there's such limited space to maneuver.

The route variety here is great, and the designs are memorable. My friends and I found plenty of enjoyable challenges when we visited here, to a point where we ended up staying for over 2 and a half hours. The workout gym is the best I've seen at a bouldering studio, too. My only complaints are that there isn't good parking nearby and the lockers are physical key based and not a rigidly secure system (the Poplar location does it better).

I would have rated this gym 5 stars had an employee not mocked me within 3 minutes of walking into the gym. I can be awkward in person, and I unknowingly used a very awkward mannerism when asking for a day pass. The employee who helped me repeated the mannerism back at me twice in a row. I guess he thought he was being funny. It just made me feel like an idiot, and I find that kind of treatment of another person unacceptable. Other than that initial negative impression, the gym had excellent V2 and V3 climbs. The routes were creative and some of the most fun climbs I've ever experienced. Keep in mind that I'm from St. Louis where the routes are less than mediocre. The gym smells pretty bad, like sweat and feet. It also became unbearably crowded after 7pm. Despite my negative comments, I would climb here again.

This review is for two employees I interacted with yesterday on Monday evening, not for SBP as a whole and all the great experiences I've had here. I also don't leave many reviews except for amazing experiences I've had, and bad ones, and I thought people should know about this. I saw someone's dog tied up out front and it was panting, as it was around 85 degrees outside and in the sun, and didn't have any water. I went inside to the front desk and a guy came up to help me soon after. I asked him if he knew whose dog was tied up outside, since it was so hot. He said, "Sorry I don't know, but thanks for letting me know", with a dismissive smile on his face. It was clear he didn't want to deal with me, but I still asked "are dogs not allowed inside, period?" and he said he didn't understand what I was asking. After repeating this exact interaction one more time I became a bit impatient, due to his attitude, and explained once again that there was a dog tied up outside in 85 degree heat, with its owner inside climbing. He said, "I can't do anything about it, it's not my dog". I expressed that I'd had a bad day and he wasn't being helpful, to which he replied: "Well don't take it out on me". There were several other employees around us as well as some other climbers and the whole interaction was incredibly embarrassing and could've very well been avoided. I don't think it would've been difficult to announce on the intercom about someone's dog being tied outside. I later went to the front desk to get his name, and the person I ended up speaking to was his supervisor. His boss thanked me for letting them know and told me that it was the yoga instructor's dog and that they had left shortly after, which was reassuring. I don't understand why his boss didn't step in and say something about it being an employee's dog while he watched everything happening, maybe it was the bystander effect -- but it could've prevented a lot of trouble. He said the employee was new and had dealt with a troublesome customer earlier in the day, so understandably he had also had a bad day. I told him that I was mainly surprised at how his employee spoke to me, to which I was told: "You did use a strong tone with him". I'm not a confrontational person by any means, and I don't believe I came off as overbearing initially. I didn't say too much to his boss afterward because I was still processing everything and went to climb. Ultimately I felt that I was not treated with respect, and I don't even agree with a customer-is-always-right approach, but I know that my request wasn't ridiculous and was pretty shocked at how I was treated at SBP last night. I felt like I was being punished for being an animal lover. Climbing here has always been super fun, and everyone else has been extremely kind and helpful, but I won't be back on Monday evenings again.

Love this place! The routes are fun, staff is friendly and the workout room downstairs is great. It can get really busy on weeknights but before 5pm is ideal.

I was a member there for a few months and ended up leaving with a sour taste in my mouth. Even though the gym is nice, the staff always seemed very standoffish to me. I only got greeted walking into the gym once. I would walk in, look up, say hi, scan in, and just get nothing from whoever was on the other side of the desk. Maybe a glance and then back to their conversation or computer. It just made me anxious at the start of every session. I wasn’t super confident starting at a bouldering gym and the staff did nothing to make it feel welcoming. Much to the contrary. Oh, and I should mention I paid attention one day to see if I was the only one not getting greeted, and I did hear the guy at the desk greet two women that came in, but nobody else. Huh, seems strange. Then there’s the upper walls which are fun and nice, but I also just get so weirded out when I walk in and just don’t get greeted. In fact, I was there once earlier than they opened I guess, and the guy working shooed me out saying they open at 9. Another climber near me said “oh sorry I didn’t realize you weren’t open should I go?” And he’s like “OH NAW you’re cool!” Right in front of me. Why was she allowed to stay but I wasn’t? That sort of situation is cringe, and doesn’t make people feel welcome. I could also tell she was confused. Anyway, the only reason I tolerated paying almost $100 a month for this is because I was able to go during most people’s work hours and had the place mostly to myself. I found out on my last week that they had classes too that no staff member ever mentioned to me, not even when signing up! Ridiculous. If you go after work hours, this place is so crowded it’s ridiculous. Overall, SBP made me start bouldering, I did have a lot of fun, but then it made me stop bouldering because I couldn’t really have fun there anymore.

Decent gym, but too crowded and the sets don't change enough IMO. The staff is generally not very friendly, which I personally find somewhat off-putting - I prefer a more community oriented feel.

Look, it is a good climbing gym but it has its issues. The gym gets intolerably crowded after work hours. This is a common issue at climbing gyms but here, many climbers lack safety etiquette, compounding the issue. Recent construction has disrupted parking significantly, so you will spend time looking for a spot if you come in the evening. Grade variability. I understand the color grading scale, but still from set to set the colors seem to move several grade levels on average. Also, there is a lot of slab climbing over large holds and volumes. Watch your shins.

Place is great! Only wish was that they would get the same lockers as the poplar location incase you forgot your lock for the day.

First climbing experience was here and I instantly got hooked! Now I go at least a few times a week and am loving it. Tons of fun climbs and a membership gives you three different locations that each have their own perks. Highly recommend if you're into bouldering or want to get into it!

Over-populated and under-staffed. Routes don’t get reset frequently enough (IMO) and there’s at least 5 bulbs out on the grasshopper board that don’t seem to ever get fixed. Elevator has been broken for weeks with no repairs which sucks for those who depend on it for accessibility of the whole facility (weight room is on basement level. Shower is on the 2nd floor). I’m a bigger fan of Poplar but feel overall “meh” about the facility as a chain. As of 12/26/22 parking the past two months has been pretty awful. Not sure if that is in SBP control but definitely doesn’t make for a pleasant experience.

I really like the child programs. It's a great way to get young ones involved. Their outreach is great to the local childcare centers. I will say that the ventilation is poor and my asthma is immediately triggered. I'm not particularly sensitive, so i think this is a legit concern and I need to go outside within 20 min. The smell is something between feet and chaulk, which is probably exactly that. It's a welcome addition to the area and it's quite popular. I would echo other statements regarding parking. Bring a bike.

Great in terms of climbing, but the downstairs gym area needs some love. They have fans, but they don’t do much. They have dust collection, but they’re frequently off even at peak times (so it smells like sweat and chalk and is generally… dank). Weightlifting (or doing cardio) down there in the summer time is super unpleasant and they could fix this by just increasing fan speeds.

Dope place to boulder in Seattle with fresh routes usually every week! Just make sure to come on non-peak hours. Staff are really friendly, and same can be said with other boulderers, with many willing to help each other out! My primary concern is parking and after SBP Fremont lost their parking a few weeks ago, finding parking was quite difficult especially during peak hours. Wished there was a nearby lot instead of having to circle around the neighborhood for almost half an hour and risk disturbing local residents.

Generally good and well set more oldschool (as opposed to comp style) bouldering, with friendly staff and good facilities. But what gets it the 5 star review is that this gym is home to some of the most interesting routes from V0-V2 I've ever seen. I took a new-to-climbing friend there and he enormously enjoyed putting together the puzzles of un-obvious, intimidating looking, but physically un-demanding beginner climbs. So few gyms get this right.

I come here for climbing and yoga classes. I've found the other patrons to be nice and supportive. Highly recommend slow flow yoga with Ela on Sunday afternoons to decompress before the week starts. One complaint I have is that they don't have mirrors in the gym area, which is suboptimal when working out.

Smaller than Poplar, smaller parking lot as well. But that shouldn't be anything bad. I love the way the gym was designed. The slab section is one of my favorites and I love just talking about slabs with Colin who works there. Weekdays before the evenings are nice and quiet. But after 5pm it will start to feel very crowded. They have an entirely separate building called the "Upper Walls" or something like that, so keep an eye out for that if you need some extra problems