Vertigo Climbing (Gym Review)

If you happen to find yourself in Lisbon, Portugal, and you need some send time, Vertigo Climbing is the way to go! Easily accessible by car or public transit, Vertigo is on the east side of the city near some docks. Before you even climb, you get to take in the scenery of the water and appreciate the good weather (I’m sure it’ll be great weather?). Moreover, right when you walk in you’ll be in the gym’s cafe and pro shop. Climbing gear AND yummy snacks in the same place? It seems too good to be true, but I assure you, it is very much real. If this pre-climbing excitement isn’t enough for you, just wait until you see the gym dogs. People who bring their dogs let them hang out in the seating area of the cafe. So now it’s climbing gear AND snacks AND dogs. And we haven’t even discussed the gym parts of the gym.

As an American tourist, I would claim that Vertigo has the best prices I’ve ever seen by a climbing gym. So, even traveling on a pretty tight budget, Vertigo should still be able to make the cut. Furthermore, the staff is friendly and helpful, so once you step inside you’ll feel right at home (while perhaps being away from home). While the gym is pretty small, it has plenty of routes to work on. I must admit, it is a bouldering-only gym, but you can’t win ’em all. There are two main walls facing each other with a walkway and several fans in the middle. Each side has different features, so regardless of whether you’re feeling slab, overhangs, dihedrals, etc., Vertigo has something for you. Even more, they have a wide variety of hold types, from tiny generic jugs to top-tier mega slopers. I am familiar with nearly all of the holds at the gyms I’ve been to in America, so it was rather refreshing to work on holds that I have never seen before, as Vertigo had new, fresh holds from companies I wasn’t familiar with.

I have never claimed to love bouldering, but I did enjoy the boulders that Vertigo had set. I personally found them a bit stout or difficult, but even if my ego took a small hit, it was worth it for the fun variety of sets they had up. You see, on top of the wall and hold variety, these setters set all kinds of different routes. I don’t know how they managed to have such an abundance of route types up at once. I mean, we’ve all seen those climbs where you feel certain that you’ve climbed nearly the exact same route, even if it isn’t bolt-for-bolt the same route. There just wasn’t that feeling at Vertigo. Everything had interesting and unique movement. Perhaps this is what added to the difficulty. Either way, it is a special thing for a gym to have!

Finally, if you just want to get some gains, right upstairs is the fitness area. There are a couple of machines/racks, and of course many hang boards, campus boards, etc. The whole space overlooks the climbing area, so you can keep your eye on the prize the whole time you’re working out. For even more training, there are two systems boards—one with normal plastic holds, and the other with wooden holds. As if the climbing wasn’t amazing enough, the workout area offers everything a climber needs!

Gear AND snacks AND dogs AND variety AND fitness…what else does this gym have? Find out here on Vertigo Climbing’s website!