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Nice huge gym with several cracks and auto belay.
However the staff is terrible, if you feel like taking orders from a pimple punk, and climbing in a day care enjoy. Besides that the managment is almost worse and less than accomadating. FUrthermore it is expensive and should be used only in dire straights.
Nearest town or city:
N Scottsdale
Address:
16447 N. 91st St. Suite 105
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Directions:
I suppose this is the only empty field to put a more objective description of AZR. The biased description above was written by climbmax climbers (compare this with the climbmax description -notice the possessive "we") --as there is a feud of sort between Mike Covington and AZR, climbmax climbers have strong feelings against AZR.
This gym has about the same prices, maybe a dollar or two more because of the Scottsdale location, as every other gym in town ( $8 bouldering, $12 day pass, $40 student month membership, $60 adult month). The gym is a commercial enterprise and is geared toward everyone as climbers -- families, first timers and experienced climbers. The downside is that some experienced climbers may feel overrun by B-Day parties and toddlers running around. The upside is that the gym atmosphere is more accepting to newcomers -- there is no climber elitism going on. To avoid crowds and kids, climb during the week --avoid the weekends. Some climbers get upset because the gym is almost ridiculously strict on safety. There is a strict lead belay test and the staff is required to correct the tiniest safety errors (ex. belaying without an anchor) . The staff is generally very nice about this -- they do not "order" people and they are not "punks" -- they are just doing their job.
The gym is definitely not a "climbers gym." The owner, a businessman not a climber, is not into only creating a climbing scene, but rather into making money. Customer service is excellent however, and regardless of management, there is a great "climbers scene" regardless. The route setting is probably the best in Arizona --as only the professional paid route setters are allowed to set routes (as opposed to climbmax where everyone can set routes).
AZR is a great place to climb --it has its own flaws, but so does every other gym in Arizona. This will probably be taken down by the closed minded Nazis that wrote the original description, however I think a more reasonable description was needed.
-MDF
Oh, and for directions, Take the 101 towards Frank Lloyd Wright. Exit at Frank Lloyd Wright and head north on the frontage road of the 101 at FLW. After a block or two, Turn right (East) on Bahia. Head down Bahia towards 91st street. AZR is located at Bahia and 91st Steet.
