Trust your gut instinct about the feel of a place. What sold me on the Arch when I first peered hesitantly through the door was the atmosphere: it felt low-key and mellow and scruffy and safe, both the place and the people. The staff encouraged me to come in and look round as much as I wanted. It felt welcoming and open, not like an exclusive club I couldn't belong to. I was terrified, but the place felt right.
What sends me personally screaming for the exits: places that are too noisy and/or too crowded, even at off-peak times. Places where the routes are all ladders, and they just increase the grades by making the holds smaller, the gaps between them wider, and the wall more overhanging. Anywhere where staff are disdainful or you feel you can't ask questions.
Especially if you've got issues to work through, you need to feel that it's a good place to be.
The major, major thing to send anyone screaming for the exits would be "obvious safety problems", but with bouldering safety issues tend to boil down to "don't walk under anyone who's climbing", so I leave it up to the people who know what's what with ropes to advise you on that one. *g*
no subject
Trust your gut instinct about the feel of a place. What sold me on the Arch when I first peered hesitantly through the door was the atmosphere: it felt low-key and mellow and scruffy and safe, both the place and the people. The staff encouraged me to come in and look round as much as I wanted. It felt welcoming and open, not like an exclusive club I couldn't belong to. I was terrified, but the place felt right.
What sends me personally screaming for the exits: places that are too noisy and/or too crowded, even at off-peak times. Places where the routes are all ladders, and they just increase the grades by making the holds smaller, the gaps between them wider, and the wall more overhanging. Anywhere where staff are disdainful or you feel you can't ask questions.
Especially if you've got issues to work through, you need to feel that it's a good place to be.
The major, major thing to send anyone screaming for the exits would be "obvious safety problems", but with bouldering safety issues tend to boil down to "don't walk under anyone who's climbing", so I leave it up to the people who know what's what with ropes to advise you on that one. *g*