Crux Climbing Center Central

Visiting from out of town, I decided to check this place out because of the boulder focus. It’s clear when you walk in that they want to make sure climbers feel comfortable in their own skin. It’s cozy, despite its large size, and there’s a good amount of climbing. The majority of the climbs are in the V3-V6 range and the difficulty was pretty consistent across grade bands. They use circuit grading, and they put the grade band on every start tag, which is great. I spoke with lots of staff while I was there and everyone was very friendly. I don’t know how stiff your gym grades, and I don’t care how soft or sandbagged this gym is compared to yours, because the bottom line is that climbing here was a lot of fun.

Very nice bouldering gym. Spacious gym with a ton of different routes at all levels. Creative problems set by some great setters. Clean gym, friendly staff, and a decent setup for some freeweight exercising.

Crux Central has some of the best routesetting I've ever seen. They have really exotic holds, including some holds that the head setter designed. The setting is complex and fun to figure out - at all grades - the gym is really geared toward intermediate and beginner climbers. There are many easy boulders in the V1-3 range that use tons of volumes and macros, which is a testament to the gyms dedication to the beginner climber. They don't set anything that requires an unreasonable amount of strength, but rather focus on building technique and having fun. They have a low density, and high quality. The friendliness of the other climbers is what impressed me the most. Everyone said hello to me and I felt welcomed from the moment I entered. In a city with many world class gyms, this is truly a destination gym.

The main issue with this gym is the route setters don't seem to know how to make routes for lower-intermediate climbers. The black (5.10) routes are always quite easy, but then the next level, blue (5.11) is a large jump in difficulty, and there are zero routes in the gym for intermediate climbers in between. I've only ever seen this issue at this one gym, other gyms usually have a strong focus on that middle difficulty level, but not Crux. It briefly improved for a couple months, but now it's an issue again and it's pretty much been an issue since they opened.

We had a group gathering today. Please send our thanks to the shift leader who helped us with registration (I’m sorry, I forgot her name…!). She was really kind! We’ll definitely come again next time.

Really cool facility, great environment, cool climbs and amenities. I frequent the South Austin location as I am closer and honestly prefer the South location since it has lead climbing routes. Really enjoyed this Central location though and all it has to offer

YEAR UPDATE// Crux climbing is my favorite gym, and getting a membership has been great for me! I share a “crew membership” with friends that gives us guest passes to use to bring other friends, and reduces the price since we all signed up. The walls change often enough to not get bored and stay up long enough to figure out the more challenging climbs. I’ve used the yoga and fitness classes and really enjoy the variety in energy from the instructors and the different types of classes. The workers are knowledgeable about both how to climb and how to be cool folks. I see young children walk in and the front desk is immediately helpful getting them to their club, I see folks teleworking from the gym, families, clubs, and I know it’s a good third place. I’m so happy this is my third place! Old review: I’ve been going here for a couple months, and it’s always been a great atmosphere. It’s connected to coffee shop if you get hungry, the staff is great, there’s 2 gyms and a lot of walls that reset with a schedule posted at the gym. I like to spend a whole day here working for 20 minutes and climbing for 10 and just switching. Dog friendly, there’s a ping pong table, lots of storage for items in benches and cubbies!

While not their typical clientele, Crux is a great venue for a child's birthday party. Our 4 year old chose Crux as her party location after a recent outing here with a few friends. We chose to limit our party to the back kids room, adjacent to the workout space, and had a great time. The assigned staff was wonderful with the kids, helping them to learn climbing lanes, footholds, etc., and then chasing them around the room for a game of tag when things turned silly. We chose to hang out with a few of the kids after our party time ended to let the birthday girl and a few friends practice climbing on some of the novice courses outside of the kids space and they had a blast. We'll definitely return to Crux Central and would highly recommend it for a great kid's party site.