Stone Summit Climbing & Fitness Center

I’ve been to Stone Summit several of times now, usually go 2 – 3 times a year. Prior to that, I went to a smaller climbing facility. I don’t know that I would ever want to go back to anywhere but SS.
There’s some parking spaces out front, but plenty in the back as well. When you walk in, you’ll immediately be wow-​ed by the high ceilings and walls. It can be breathtaking and scary at the same time to see people hanging horizontally so high up from the ground. If you’re new, you need to go to the iPad kiosks on the right and sign the waiver. Then go to the staff members to buy your pass. I say pass because most people will probably get the daily pass, currently $ 20 for unlimited climbing that day, plus gear rental (shoes, harness, chalk). There’s cheaper options if you have a multi-​visit punch card, and cheaper still if you want to be a monthly member.
You’ll have to get signed off before you can actually climb… UNLESS, you do what I do, which is bouldering.
Bouldering is climbing without a harness, but the walls are also much shorter. There’s a dedicated section on the right side of the facility, massive mats under you and all in case you need to jump (or fall) from the top. I think these walls only go up about 25 feet. The difficulty is easy to figure out, there’s V in the front, 0 is easy, and 1 is harder, and 2 is harder still, etc. Let’s just say the average new climber is probably not going to get past V1, so be mindful when you’re picking your area.
It’s a family friendly facility, and I think it’s fun for any occasions. It’s better to go with a group so you can rest and let your poor forearms recover. Be warned, you’ll probably get some scratches and cuts. I like to wear long pants for that reason. And bring socks! You don’t wanna have your bare feet in those nasty climbing shoes. There’s also a small gym upstairs. SS also holds classes, whether they’re teaching you intro to climbing, or just a fitness class to help with cardio. Staff is always friendly, and it’s just a fun atmosphere. Last tip, call ahead or check their social media. Sometimes there are competitions going on, and parts of the facility may be closed to the public.

I gave Stone Summit Atlanta 5 stars back in 2011, but I change that to 2… not because if the facility, staff, or routes. It’s an amazing gym and I love the staff and facility, but I give it a 2 star rating because of the people who go there. I have never seen so many pretentious, snobby, ill-​mannered climbing in one building. The climbing community is usually so friendly and family-​like, but since the climbing world has been changing, it seem like all the privileged, spoiled people have gotten into climbing. There is no common courtesy anymore… The people who are lead certified act like they own the gym and bully themselves onto routes when people are clearly waiting to climb. This has happened to me 5 times in the past 2 weeks.
I love the staff and I love the facility, but unfortunately, all these self-​proclaimed «elite» climbers have turned it into a horrible atmosphere…

First time and this place was very cool. The staff were incredibly nice and knowledgeable. The facility was amazing with lots of different routes that range from novice to expert. It’s a great work out and lots of fun. Thanks for a wonderful experience.

I am a big guy (6 ft’ 2, 250 lbs), when i started here the staff was very helpful showing me how to distribute my weight while climbing. The staff was very patient with me to say the least! LOL. Rock climbing is a great way to build your core strength. I love this facility for the cleanliness, staff and over all appeal. It can get busy in late afternoon with customer’s bringing in their children. They have yoga and pilates class here as well.

This place is awesome! It is a very good place to get inspired to climb. Even though you have to be 16 to lead climb and to boulder it is still a very clean, neat, and fun place to go.

Pretty happy with the two times I have been. I went with a friend the first time for the 15 dollar belay lesson and had a blast. Sky was our teacher and he was knowledgeable and approachable. My friend and I successfully passed the class and got to enjoy the rest of the day belaying each other and messing around in the bouldering area.
The facility is clean and tidy, the locker rooms are clean, the facility is spacious and it has a family vibe to it which I can appreciate. They have 10 working auto belay devices which can be a fight to get, especially upstairs if there are a lot of kids.
The bouldering room was probably my favorite. Great routes, soft falls, and everyone was happy to give advice or encouragement.
I bought gear the next day and a punch card. Needless to say, I was very impressed with my first day and the next day after. I am super excited to see what else they have to offer.

Stone Summit is located right off the I-​85 before the Buford Hwy exit. In fact, you can actually see the gym driving down 85. They have a sister location in Kennesaw and you can actually get a membership that allows you access to both gyms.
The gym has one main wall that is designed for top climbing and lead climbing, as well as an upstairs area more for «beginners.» They also have gym equipment and classes upstairs. Check the website for class times. There is also a separate area for bouldering that I have not checked out.
For new climbers, they offer belay lessons for $ 15 which includes gear rental and the day of free climbing after. After that, a day pass is $ 18.
The gym is spacious, but like others have said, can get busy on the weekends. I do feel like sometimes the ropes are too close together and while there are 3 or so «lanes» in an area open, the rocks cross paths so much you have to wait. Paths are clearly marked with different colored rocks and difficulty is marked by color.
All in all, a decent facility for both the experienced and beginners. I would suggest investing in your own gear if you are serious about climbing. While they do offer rentals, they can get kind of musty and smelly, as with any other activity that rents gear.

I spent an awesome day with my friends. It is so much fun and people and stuff are very friendly.

I would avoid if you’re looking to use an auto belay. Everyone I know and myself likes to climb casually every now and then, so I like the auto system rather than using a partner. We went around 1pm on Presidents Day and it was pretty bad. They have 2 working autos on the ground floor and around 7 on the second floor.
The entire place, but especially upstairs felt like a daycare or Chuck E Cheese with kids running around and parents just sitting back hoping/​praying they’ll be sleepy later. The upstairs was a lost cause so we just used the two at the bottom, which didn’t go high and were very easy. I’ve been to other climbing places (one in Atlanta) and their walls were higher, harder, and area felt more organized. If you have a partner to climb with this is probably an okay place, but auto belays and bouldering seemed very limited.

I think is enough nice place for all people how tries to be in a good fit and healthy. Stone Summit is an appropriate place for both professional sport men and for usual sport men and for usual visitors of sport or firms center.
They have the shop and it is perfect. Also you can use a big stadium.
I was stifled with it.

Friendly staff and super addicting!
Came here thinking I wouldn’t enjoy climbing, but the staff is great at getting your started and offering tips and advice. Its clean and huge!
It gets crowded on Monday’s after work, but weekends are generally not so bad. We have been coming here since August 2015.

Compared with other rock climbing places, summit trumps them in regards to variety, price, crowdiness, hours of operations and staff. I’m very new to rock climbing and the summit is breaking me in real quick!

I really enjoy coming here. I had only started coming to Stone Summit in summer and have been hooked since. My friend and I would usually head over to the Bouldering section and while everyone makes it look easy, it was a lot harder than I thought. I learned several techniques, different placement of foot and hands. The strategy to climb up takes a lot of thinking sometimes to try and follow a single color path. When I visited this time, I tried out the regular rock climb with another person helping. My friend taught me how to tie a rope and assisting a climber. Took a few tries but I managed to pass their test for the day. Stone Summit has many varieties of walls to climb. They are a lot harder than how it looks. My only concern with Stone Summit is just the pricing. I usually pay $ 18 a visit. That is a bit too pricy. This time I bought five advance passes and saved a bit of money. Overall I highly recommend this place for something fun and challenging. There is also a fitness center if interested to becoming a member.

This was my second time ever rock climbing and I would have to say that I didn’t like coming here. Their costumer services sucked, I would ask someone for help and they would just look at me like I was crazy. It’s a beautiful place though and I enjoyed spending time with my friend there but I think they need to become better.

Stone Summit, light of my life, how do I ever part with thee…
I’ve been climbing here for the past year, and it has been a huge, positive part of my life. It is a HUGE gym. The bouldering area has so many routes and wall types (cave, slope, angles). The routes are good for newbies and pro climbers. Top route and lead climbing routes are so diverse and fun. The route setters here to a fantastic job. The routes are also replaced pretty regularly so you always have no projects to work on. After climbing on and off for a year, I’ve gotten significantly better, and it’s thanks to them.
The community is also great. I think I know pretty much everyone’s faces by now, at least the regulars. People are always so friendly and willing to help each other out on getting a route finished. I’ve met a lot of people here and struck up some nice conversations. Like that one time my climbing partner and I did a group pushup with two other guys right before they closed, or that other time when we debated with a group whether it was better to have four feet or three arms for climbing.
The staff is super friendly too. I love Patty. They definitely contribute to the atmosphere of the place. It’s always so clean! I’ve never seen a problem with the bathrooms, and am even comfortable walking barefoot in there. It’s also incredibly safe. Yes, they tell you to lock up your stuff, but no one does. People can leave iphones lying around, expensive climbing gear, but nobody ever takes any other person’s belongings.
I love Stone Summit because it’s not just a climbing gym, it’s a fitness center, as its name suggests. They have an upstairs area with gym equipment if you want to run, lift, or stretch. I also started taking some of their fitness classes (which are free to members) and really enjoyed it. Pilates is amazing.
It’s a family friendly place too. I love seeing children come here and climb for the first time. I took my nephews here and they loved climbing on top of the dinosaur. They also host catalyst sports, which is an organization that helps people with disabilities climb. I saw a blind man climb once with the guidance of an instructor on the ground who told him where to put his hands and feet. Talk about inspiring!
I’m going to miss this gym when I move to Boston. Stone Summit rocks!

This is a large gym with lots of climbing space, treadmills and workout area upstairs, clean enough locker room with towel service, and drinks and snacks for sale, but kind of sterile atmosphere and lacking character. They have some work to do.
Setting and grading of routes is not great. They group their grades into v0/​v1 v2/​v/​3 etc and 5.10s, 5.11s etc are all lumped together. That’s just as well since the setters have no concept of what to rate the routes. Example: I did a v0/​v1 with a finger pocket for ONE finger to a stretched out overhanging position from which you have to send hard. I climbed it but this problem was definitely a v3 or so. Same issue with top roping routes (I haven’t climbed lead here). I would say they tend to rate really aggressively for the most part, but then some routes are spot on and some are even easy for the grade. So basically ignore the little cards and climb whatever you want (maybe not a great place for beginners who really need more guidance). Also most of the walls are overhanging and they seems to focus on muscling up the wall rather than technique or mimicking most outdoor situations.
The other issue is more of a concern: there are a LOT of totally unsupervised kids running (literally) around, rolling around on the floor, swinging from the ropes, etc which is obviously a huge safety concern. They have these auto belay devices so kids can (though shouldn’t) climb on ropes without a belay partner or any kind of safety course and I observed them swinging around, goofing off and swinging into one another or swinging over and pushing their buddies climbing on a neighboring route. This is crazy!
I’ve been here twice now while visiting my parents in Atlanta. I climb several times a week at Planet Granite San Francisco and sometimes on weekends outdoors around the Bay Area and Northern California. I’m not an amazing climber but pretty solid up to V3 and 5.11a. Next time I’m in town I’ll be trying one of the other gyms and hoping for a better experience.

I came here for a company teambuilding event and it was going to be my first time ever doing indoor rock climbing. The good news is that we were doing staff assistance so someone was overseeing our entire time there and belaying for us. Our staff member was Carly and she gave us tips and advice throughout our session since none of us had actually been indoor rock climbing before. She guided us through the entire time and even recommended different walls to climb and did an amazing job.
The next time I came with a group of friends and we had a private belay lesson which cost $ 15 per person but then you get to use the facility for the rest of day including equipment. The class is about 1 to 1.5 hours long as you go through tying knots, equipment usage, and belaying. Our instructor was AJ and he was very helpful in showing us how to do everything. He was very patient with us the whole time even though we struggled at various times throughout the class since we had never done this before. At the end of the session, he tested us to make sure we knew had do it by ourselves before he let us do our own thing.
Stone Summit has a variety of different walls on two floors ranging from all different levels, angles, and heights. They also have a few auto belays so you can do those if you are a beginner and do not how to belay. For those that do know how to belay, they will test you when you get there to make sure you can do it correctly before they let you do your own thing. There is also a bouldering area on the side of the facility where you can mess around with as all.
They offer day passes, multi-​trip passes, as well as monthly memberships so you can decide what you want based on how often you will go. There’s a lot of options to choose from and plenty to do so there is something for everyone of all ages. Great place to go to if you want to do something indoor and experience something different!

Awesome climbing gym!
If it’s your first time here, you need to fill out a waiver and go through their safety course/​tour of the gym. This can take some time depending on the hour. Also, if you’re not a member of the gym, rates are currently at $ 18/​day including gear. Because it is an entire day pass, they allow you to leave the gym and come back as you please for that day.
This place is pretty huge. It has an area where you can belay and an area where you can boulder. I stuck to the bouldering area because I’m not your serious climber, and I went with a friend to just check it out one day. The bouldering area has puzzles that are marked on level of difficulty. If you’re a beginner and have never climbed before, try with the V0-​V1 and then work your way up to see which level you’re comfortable climbing. Also be mindful of people around you. Stay out of the way when another climber is attempting to climb a path. Sometimes it can get a little busy so you’ll have to be patient because some of these problems will overlap or cross over. But hey, this gives you more time to rest ;)
If you do want to belay then I’m pretty sure you have to take a test of some sort to show that you know how to belay properly, how to tie a knot, etc. Stone Summit offers a 1.5 hour belay course for $ 15/​per climber, including equipment and climbing for the rest of the day after the class.
If you’re tired from climbing and want to get some more exercise done, they also have a gym upstairs. They also have a studio where you can take yoga, pilates, and other fitness courses they offer.
I really enjoyed my time at Stone Summit and I’m considering getting a membership to get more into climbing. I think it’s an awesome way to exercise and it’s super fun! I also got to meet some new people that were nice enough to give me a few pointers. Great way to get some exercise done and a great way to meet people.
Really tempted to get that membership…

This is the best cling gym we have ever been to!
The staff is knowledgable and polite and the climbing is great!
The high walls make realistic climbing conditions that offer true to life climbing practice!
I only wish they had a location in Phoenix Arizona!

I got a really good deal on Groupon for an all day climbing pass so I came here with my fiancé for our first official rock climbing & bouldering session. I went rock climbing before but I’m not sure if it really counts because it was at this amusement park called Adventure Dome in Las Vegas. And the size differences between the two are pretty distinct.
Anyways, we came in, had to sign an electronic waiver, then we had a brief orientation with the staff about safety and the basics then we were off to do our own thing. We first started upstairs with the easier stuff just to get used to everything. We could only go on select paths because we didn’t know a thing about belaying so we had to pick paths with auto belay on it. There is also a small gym upstairs with treadmills and the like. Random but the bathrooms have showers WITH towels. Cool.
Afterwards we went downstairs and did some climbing and it was definitely more challenging but I made it to the top on one of the paths I’ve been working on and I felt so accomplished! It took me about 4 – 5 tries but my persistence prevailed. C: We also tried out the bouldering section which is like rock climbing but without the ropes and harness.
This place was definitely huge and I’m glad our first time climbing was in such a large, clean and professional facility. I’d definitely recommend this place to an interested friend.