Hangar 18

My son and I started our first trial month just last week. He loves this place and he’s been here 5 times in a week.
When you come in for the first time you have to sign a waiver on line, it’s a little tedious but it’s just a one time thing. Then you need to rent shoes, on your first time when you sign up for the monthly membership you get your shoes for free, otherwise it’s $ 3 per rental. The first month membership for the kid was $ 9, since I came as his guest and I also signed up my first month was $ 5!
If you want to cancel you need to come in at least one day before the first of the month to cancel.
There are a variety of paths to take with the easiest being V0 going up to Vimpossible, jk I’m not sure what the hardest level is since I was just trying to accomplish the V0.
It’s a fun pastime even for newbies like us.

I had never been rock climbing prior to this visit, so, as a consequence, I had to pay more, pore over and sign an obscene amount of paperwork, and take a mandatory introductory lesson. I had actually showed up with a rather experienced climber by my side, and she could have prepped me just as well and likely better; however, I was still required to take the introductory lesson, which was rudimentary at best and should not have cost as much as it did. I get it: We live in a litigious society… but still.
The climbing experience itself was really cool. It was challenging for sure, and I have to give props to climbers in general for their agility and uncanny strength. I was exhausted after only a short while, but it was fun. Also, all the other climbers were a cool bunch, and they were really nice and supportive.
My only other gripe would be that they should have some friggin’ stairs (or at least one of those fire station poles to slide down) to get back down after you climb over a wall. The only option to get back down is to climb back down, but, lemme tell ya, I was frightened by the height of the wall and having to climb downward. Yah, I know, I’m a baby, but, still, there was nothing more than I wanted than a safe flight of stairs to get me back down. I climbed back down eventually, but I still would have appreciated some stairs.

I have friends who are members of other Hangar 18 locations, all of whom enjoy the gym very much.
I decided to check this location out because it is located close to where I work, so I could climb between lunch breaks. In addition to this, I am curious about how other climbing gyms are built and I want to climb other routes to improve on my own climbing technique.
I came in to see how the gym looked and see how the atmosphere is here. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming-​from both the climbers and staff. Curtis, who is friendly and welcoming assisted me wih all the questions I had. He answered all of my questions, to which I decided to open up a membership with them.
I currently climb at another gym that I enjoy very much, but, this is convenient for before work!

Hangar 18 has been a great experience for my 7 year old daughter and her Daisy Troop. When we came with the Daisy troop, Bryan one of the staff members was so patient and encouraging with the girls. Many were afraid of climbing and with his encouragement they did it. The look on their faces was so wonderful — to see the pride and confidence. A great experience. Thank you Bryan and Hangar 18 for fun and confidence-​building activity.

So my two month membership through groupon is up and I thought I’d review my experience during the two months here.
The gym itself is relatively small, but it is never too crowded. While most would think that a small gym would lack variety of routes, this gym gym has enough fun and challenging routes to keep you stimulated until the next time they change it (which is quite frequently, I think every other friday).
Aside from the gym itself, what makes any rock climbing gym great is the people you climb with. I can say that everyone I encountered here were all down to earth and the experts are really helpful in giving advice when you ask for it. All the staff members at this gym have been helpful and kind as well, especially Max.
Overall, I had a positive experience here and I will definitely come back here again because of the fond memories i had. The whole vibe around this gym is quite motivating as everyone here are striving to become better climbers. So if you’re a beginner with an aspiration to improve your climbing abilities, stop on by to this awesome starter gym.

The gyms walls are very nice, and I like the use of volumes. For the most part they are consistent with their setting, a few crazy mishaps here and there, but that’s okay. The set is much better than some of the other hangar’s, and the staff is very nice (at least the girl at the front desk that was there at the time). The people there are very friendly and give off a excellent vibe. I would recommend this gym to any newbie or boulder enthusiast. Unfortunately there is no top rope or lead, but it does make sense because of the area and the cheap expense of a membership at hanger 18. Its probably expensive to rent property in mission V. There is a campus board in the back if your interested in training, and overall its a great gym.

Love Hangar 18! I prefer the Rancho Cucamonga location over all others (it’s my home location so I’m probably biased hahaha) because of the the frequency that the walls get reset and the good lighting. Anyways, the Mission Viejo location has a good variety of routes and a campus board in the back. On the west side of the gym, when you make it to the top, you have to climb over the wall, and then walk across the top, and climb back down on a V0. This causes congestion at times. Good gym with friendly people though!

This place seriously needs to work on customer service. Apparently, they don’t care to make their clients feel welcome, and I have just spent $ 61 on 4 kids. It’s my kids first time, and I will not bring them back here again. They have Wifi but wouldn’t give it out to parents who are there. It just irks me how she said no to not giving the Wifi access. How you treat and talk to your customers is key to having repeat customers. Just saying…

This is the first climbing gym I’ve ever belonged to and I’m seriously hooked. They switch up the routes regularly so even though it’s a little small, you don’t get bored. My only wish is that they had a belaying portion, but the membership allows you to go to another gym for that.
Overall, everyone is nice and helpful with projects and you see the same people every week so it’s a good atmosphere.

Kasey is great, she helped give us newbies some experience points. She was super helpful and made our membership worthwhile! Great place to have a good time while climbing!

Bouldering only gym. Good padding (always important!). They use colored rocks to designate different climbing routes/​problems (vs some gyms which use colored tape). Grades will range from V0 to ~V8/​V9. I don’t remember seeing many (if any) higher than that. Great location: super close to the 5 fwy and also some food for some post-​climbing noms.
I like that they change different sections of the wall pretty frequently (just about every week!) so that you always have something new to try *somewhere* in the gym if you’ve already conquered all the routes you wanted to do at your level. I also like that their holds are relatively new/​fresh (or at least, they feel like they are compared to some other gyms I’ve been to).
They have a nice flat wall that I find fun to traverse :) But they also have plenty of problems with overhangs too for increased challenges!
There is a portion where you can top out and climb over the wall. In that portion they have a set of free weights and kettle bells as well as a pull up bar and two types of finger boards where you can train. The bench up there is kinda shady. But otherwise a nice semi private spot to get some other weight training /​upper body workouts in.
Overall, I really like the gym :) Got a groupon membership, but it’s already more reasonably priced than some other gyms local to OC.

I already have a membership with rock city, but I got a hangar18 membership as well when I went to climb with my friend in riverside who already had a membership at hangar18. I was with my brother too, and we found that if I got a month membership, and I used up my one time guest pass on my brother, it would be cheaper than if we both got one day passes. I used to work near the spectrum, so I tried to make the most of my membership by coming here during my lunch breaks.
The people are friendly, and atmosphere is very low-​key, which I like. But I don’t like the fact that they don’t keep the holds very clean. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by Rock City, which has a squadron of ‘trade-​members’ who get free membership in exchange for cleaning and maintaining the routes a couple times a week. The holds at hangar18 have been neglected to where the holds are super slippery. Now that’s still ok, I can bear with that, but since the routes are marked by the color of the holds, the dirt and chalk that accumulates on the top of the holds makes it hard to distinguish them.
All in all, not a bad place, but I won’t be renewing my membership, not because I hate this place, but because Rock City is just that much better.

I’ve been a member with hangar 18 for just under a year. This isn’t my normal gym as its a bit of a drive, but I try to make it out every month or two to keep things interesting. This gym is definitely on the smaller side and is exclusively bouldering. There is a small top out section, but I rarely use it.
The walls here are lightly textured and the holds are relatively new. The routes are interesting with a nice mix of vertical and overhung. The routes are geared towards entry and intermediate climbers. The easy routes are almost all ladders and aren’t very interesting, even for a beginning climber. But the v1-​v3s are plentiful and diverse. V4-​v6 is also common and has a nice split between slopey and crimp routes.
Like the rest of the hangar 18 gyms, they use colored holds to mark the routes. I hate this policy because I find it confusing, but MV is better than the other gyms at keeping similar colors separate. Overall the gym feels well maintained and mostly new. Its been quiet and mellow most of my visits (weekend afternoons), giving ample time and space on the wall. Definitely recommend checking this place out!
For those that don’t normally climb, pricing here is fairly standard with what you’ll find in the area. Definitely ask about the specials.

It’s the 5^th Hangar 18 I’ve been to! I so far have loved all the Hangars I’ve been to. My main gyms are in riverside, the one on Arlington and the one that I still personally call thresh but is now East Riverside. This place IS smaller than I imagined it to be. I know it’s just bouldering which is fine with me cause I love bouldering and sport climbing regardless. But overall it was a good place to climb. Shout out to Ryan Whitey I was projecting a bunch of problems he had set there. The staff was super nice and friendly. It’s a bit of a drive out there so I wouldn’t say I would go often but aside from that a great place to climb at.

Got a special promo for $ 5 for the first month (don’t quote me exactly on that price), and the rest is $ 28/​month for students. Although this exact location doesn’t offer top roping, for the price I think it’s a very competitive gym. With the nearest gym being Sender One, which I think is one of the best, but it’s also one of the most expensive (~$ 80/​month). So for the price, I think this Hangar 18 location is a great deal. You get a great workout, loads of bouldering challenges, and it’s color coordinated.
I initially regretted getting a membership because I first went to the Long Beach location, which I think Hangar 18 should take a closer look at and maybe invest more time to sort of touch it up? But coming to this location, and the San Clemente location definitely made me feel good about having a membership.

It’s been a month since I’ve been introduced to this. I have lots of hours to kill so I decided why not do some bouldering? I searched bouldering and there weren’t too many in my current area (Irvine).
Hangar 18 had good reviews with only 5!!! That’s good for me. Means it won’t be too crowded and less pressure. I came in right when they opened at 10 am. There was 1 staff working the front and he was super friendly and nice. Price is the same as everywhere you go (~$ 20 whole day including rentals).
I’m used to only going to one place back in Norcal so the layout of their walls/​rocks were new to me. They have only one section where you could go over the top and then climb down. The majority is just tap out (which is one thing I wish they could change). Their levels ranges from V0 to V10 with +‘s and -‘s which is pretty cool! As a beginner, I was able to complete V0’s and V1’s. I also wish they could put more mattings because it feels short and I’m always worried that if I slip near the top, I might land on the ground instead.
Anyhow, during the hours I went (10 to 11:30am), there were only like 3 other people. It is definitely not crowded. I feel like not many people know about this place, but once people know, I could definitely see it getting busy. This is solely a bouldering gym, so it doesn’t have the many extras that other bouldering/​rock climbing places have. There’s a small weight lifting area when you reach over the top of the wall. They only have 1 stall per gender, so no locker rooms.
I’m definitely excited for the next time I come.

Lots of fun and it’s not too crowded (yet)!

Price is super fair, I think it’s $ 28/​month right now (special pricing that is, I’m not entirely too sure what the regular price is). I bought a group on that was $ 50 for 2 months + 2 guest passes.
They rent out shoes and chalk for free! I’m a noob so I’m not actually sure if that’s the same with all gyms or not…
What caught me off guard is that this gym smells worse than my muay thai or jiu jitsu gym? It’s bouldering… I mean how is that even possible?
Still a fun place to go to on my way home from work and the people here are all so nice. For the most part, the music is great.
4 Stars, I’m a fan.

3.5 stars. Randomly drove by this place on my way to getting my car maintenanced. Couldn’t wait to check it out.
I got a membership here as it’s significantly closer to my home than the other gyms I go to, and the price is right. $ 16 for a day pass, or $ 28 for a monthly student membership. It makes sense.
This is strictly a bouldering gym. With that said, it is very small. I could see this place getting unbearably and dangerously crowded. Surprisingly, very few people come here on the weekends it seems…
Even with the size, there are a lot of routes and a lot of variety. However, I found the ratings a bit skewy. Maybe it’s because I’m still strengthening my core, but I found several routes that are marked below my usual level quite difficult for me. Further, almost all of the walls here are inverted. If you’re a beginner, it will be a bit harder for you to start out.
The walls also go quite a bit higher than I’m used to. For me, this took a while to get accustomed to, as I don’t usually go 20+ ft when I’m bouldering, and I prefer top outs. I have issues with heights… My first few climbs here were scary! I still feel my heart race a bit when I’m down climbing. On the same note, I’d feel wary of bringing children here for this reason.
There are very few extras here. You’ll find a campus board, a traverse wall (though it only ever has one route), and some weights hidden at the top of a «top out» wall, which you are then required to down climb from. Not much in way of variety.
There are no lockers, no showers, no changing rooms, etc. There is one bathroom per gender, a little «cubby» shelf in the back, and a standard water fountain. That’s it. This is definitely a bare bones gym.
They open a bit late, at 10 AM. But they stay open until 10 PM. So if you like your work outs after work, then it’s a plus. If you’re like me and like to get in some sweat before work, it might not be as convenient.

I came here through a recommendation from a friend after expressing interest in rock climbing, and stopped by on a whim one day to check it out. I’m not an athletic person at all, so I was a little intimidated to sign up, but Hayley at the front desk was really welcoming and informative and made me feel totally at ease.
I ended up signing up for a month membership, which is SO reasonably priced! I like that it includes shoe rental, too. Hours are convienient as well.
The best part of this gym is the atmosphere. It seems to be a really cool, laid-​back, and friendly community and you never get laughed at, no matter how much you suck (ahem, me). There’s always someone there to give you pointers or cheer you on.
The only slight downside for me is that it’s strictly a bouldering gym, as I would’ve liked the option to learn belaying too, but oh well.
Come climmmb with me!