Movement Belmont - Belmont, California

Anton Outkine

Just climbed here today, from some recent reviews I was worried about what the conditions would be but was pleasantly surprised! Locker room is clean overall, and has free towels and a nice sauna. Some of the climbing areas do feel like they could use a deep clean but I was not uncomfortable, and instead I was enjoying the pluses which were the fun climbs and large number of different climbing areas, both for bouldering and otherwise. It probably helped that I came during the day, so I can't speak to how crowded it is during the evening, but overall I had a good time!

vista wanderer

This place has really went down hill in the 2 years I've been coming here. The place becomes a daycare from around 3 to 6 in the afternoon. Usually, you will see one employee with around 10 kids and multiple groups like this. It makes a small bouldering area hard to use, especially when they are blocking whole sections of the bouldering area. The whole place needs a deep cleaning or renovation. The shower rooms are disgusting and don't seem to get cleaned regularly. Most of the towels are nasty and feel like a scrubbing pad.
The routes and boulders in this gym change very rarely. It's not uncommon to see routes stay the same for over 2 months. Due to how small the bouldering area is, this really makes for a subpar experience.
For a premium gym membership price, this place needs to do better.
I can't wait for the new Touchstone gym to open in Redwood City. Maybe then Movement will be forced to do better here. Of their 4 gyms in the Bay Area, this is by far the worst.

Vlogsoryx

My experience with Movement in Belmont was incredibly frustrating and disappointing. I went in expecting a supportive environment that would encourage personal growth and self-discovery, but what I got was the exact opposite. From the very beginning, I was forced to stay in a group, even though I expressed multiple times that I preferred to explore on my own. They claimed it was because they didn’t think I was capable of handling things independently, which, frankly, was insulting and completely untrue. The entire experience felt like they were babying me, constantly monitoring my every move, and dictating what I could and couldn’t do. It was supposed to be an empowering experience, but instead, I felt belittled and boxed in. I wanted the freedom to explore at my own pace, on my own terms, but instead, I was treated like I couldn’t handle it. It was just a bunch of condescending nonsense that ruined what could have been a great opportunity. It was clear that their system was rigid and didn’t take individual needs or capabilities into account. This kind of forced group mentality really rubbed me the wrong way because it took away any sense of personal autonomy. If you’re someone who values independence and being trusted to make your own decisions, stay far away from Movement in Belmont. It’s not worth your time, and you’ll only end up feeling frustrated, like I did. One star, and that’s being generous.

kim young

We visited today and enjoyed the routes so much we plan to come back at the end of the week. Like another reviewer we were skeptical based on some of the negative reviews but found them to be completely baseless. I have a gym membership on the east coast as well as just south of the bay here on the west coast. Both of those gyms also cater to the school age crowd between 3-6pm. Best thing to do is just not go during those hours if you are not ok with this. As far the complaint about the staff/gym being very rigid- Good for them! I very much appreciated the questions the front desk posed to us about our climbing experience. I also like that they are one of the few gyms still requiring the wearing of your belay card. Safety was drilled into me in my early years of climbing and it is still as important now as it was then! And lastly, our regular gym here on the west coast also doesn't have heat or AC so this Movment location isn't the only climbing gym with out those amenities.
The women's bathroom was very clean and overall large with showers, a sauna and changing area. It was not at all crowded today, perhaps many people are travelling for the holiday but it was nice to have our pick of most anything we wanted to clmb. I really enjoyed the routes here. Many of the harder climbs were challenging without being all crimpers which also made them fun to climb!

Legolas Longleaf

Lots of amenities, good amount of top rope real estate. Bouldering is not good though, the layout is terrible. People fall on each other frequently. They have routes going over and around the entryway to one bouldering section which is braindead. With the amount of traffic is at an entry way, there really shouldn’t be any routes there. Hopefully they can figure out their space issue so they can fit more bouldering routes in a safe way, like perhaps expand the bouldering section further out and removing a couple top rope routes.

Dee Mackenzie

We love this climbing gym! The staff are all so friendly and helpful and there are fun climbing routes to do! They also have a nice workout area and do yoga classes.

Calvin Wong

I really want to give this location a better review but I think this place is starting to push on the boundary of acceptable standards in a climbing gym, especially relative to other local Movement gyms. Location is small and old, and let me be clear that I'm not holding my review against that.

Over the last few years that I've been there, I noticed that the gym is starting to get into worse shape in terms of wear and tear as well as generally cleanliness. The ventilation is poor and there's no AC, but that's not an excuses for holds and equipment to feel dirty. Keeping the place clean and fresh and not smelling funky on a hot day should just be a norm.

No AC is pretty bad for a gym facility. It's unbearable on a really hot day and I feel bad for the staff who are stuck here. Is Movement corporate really so cheap that they can't afford to upgrade, even when they keep increasing the fees?

The setting can feel a little slow - I am sure some people prefer that so they can have time to project things, but for a smaller gym with fewer climbs, changing things more frequently to keep it fresh would be nice.

The redeeming features here are it's location and staff. It's the only gym in the mid peninsula so people will do to come here under new gyms open in the area.

I think the summer coaches/staff can be a bit more attentive when they're teaching classes with young kids. Too many times a kid will run under a climber and it creates a potentially bad situation for everybody.

Randy W

This place is a hard pass. Been to a lot of climbing gyms and this one is a disappointment. Sad it's the only one in it's area. I'll drive a bit farther to go to a better climbing gym.

This gym is way overcrowded, and the routes are up way too long for how few of them there are. The routes don't have a realistic rock like movement to them... yes I realize that this is a gym but some gyms have routes that more closely simulate movement on real rock, this is not one of those gyms. The parking is pretty bad too. Lots of young kids

At least the people that work there are nice and they provide towels in the locker rooms.