PLASTIC PARADISE - The Gravity Vault - Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

From Urban Climber Magazine #10
Photos by Matt Stark

Where is it?
The Gravity Vault is located at 107 Pleasant Ave at Route 17 North in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Directions:
From the South: Take the Garden State Parkway North to exit 163 and get on Route 17 North. Take Route 17N through Paramus, Ridgewood and Allendale to Upper Saddle River. Once you pass through Allendale, landmarks are a Westy Storage Facility and Lighting By Gregory. Immediately after Lighting By Gregory, make a right into our parking lot through the marquee sign for our facility. The entrance to The Gravity Vault is in the rear of the parking lot.
From the North: Take Route 17 South to the Allendale exit. Follow the signs for the U-Turn and get back on Route 17 North. Follow the directions as above.

What's in the gym:
The Gravity Vault is a state-of-THE art Indoor Climbing Gym that features the following:
13,000+ SQUARE FEET OF CLIMBING INCLUDING ARETES, OVERHANGS, ARCHES, SLABS AND MORE! With 35+ FT WALL HEIGHTS, 45 TOP ROPE STATIONS, A RAPPEL LEDGE, KEYHOLE ARCH, TWO 14' BOULDERS TOTALING 4,500+ SQ. FT., DYNAMIC LEAD CLIMBING THROUGH 26' LEAD ARCH, CARDIOVASCULAR TRAINING AREA, PRIVATE PARTY ROOM, LOUNGE AND PRO SHOP.

Who designed the structures?
We designed them in collaboration with Rockwerx.

I've climbed in other gyms. Do I need to take a belay test?
Yes, we just want to make sure you understand our belay system and are keeping everyone in the gym safe.

When does it get crowded?
Great climbing crowd weekday evenings and inclement weather weekends.

Any Comps?
Not yet but keep your eyes open for some in the near future.

How old do I have to be?
Ages 5 and up are welcome. Our oldest climber was born in 1919

Hours:
M-F 12PM-10PM
Saturday 9AM-8PM
Sunday 9AM-6PM

Contact?
Website: www.gravityvault.com
Phone: 201.934.ROCK (7625)
Email: Info@gravityvault.com

Let's Ask The Local

Name: Justin Rauch of Ridgewood, NJ

Age: 24

When are the best sessions happening?
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Those are the light days -as opposed to Tuesday's and Thursday's which are the heavy hitter days.

What's good about the gym?
Routes and boulder problems are excellent. They get changed frequently so there is always new stuff. The place is very clean, the atmosphere and staff are super friendly, the bathrooms actually smell great, the layout of the gym is nice and open, huge boulders, and they even have some cardio equipment, which is awesome!

What's bad about it?
Until the gym got satellelite radio the CD changer got quite the work out. There not open 24 hrs a day and they need some more fingerboards and campus boards.

Anyone gonna beat me up?
NO, unless you really ask for it.

Rating from 1 to 10?
9a! (Best gym I've personally ever been to)