Yey or Ney:
Beta Boulders is a great addition to the not-so-well served southwest of Amsterdam. A good place for beginners given the large amount of vertical boulders yet the circuit and Moonboard room is also great for the more advanced in search of a new play area!
➕➕➕ The quiet co-working room is a great feature in these remote office days 🤓 👩🏫
Aaah, Beta Boulders. Another unlucky gym that had the hurdle of opening it’s new doors right at the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
As one of the newer additions to the climbing scene in Amsterdam, we have a look at the different areas of this gym, what makes it stand out (or doesn’t) and give you our little take.
A (Very Brief) History
There’s been a boom in bouldering gyms all around the world over the past 10 years and these guys have been riding that wave.
Opened by a crew from Copenhagen (where there is another venue), Beta Boulders opened its doors in Amsterdam right at the beginning of 2020, just as the pandemic was taking off.
These unlucky guys were right up there with Beest Boulders, in terms of terrible timing ⏱
In spite of this tough start, the gym has become quickly a popular location.
It’s located strategically in the not-so-well served southwest of Amsterdam, perfectly catering for people from around there who don’t want to have mission it any further-off bouldering gym!
First Things First
Pleasantly located in a building different to the usual industrial hangars bouldering gyms usually reside in, this place is in a fancy bit of architecture, renovated from the earlier half of the 20th century.
The building itself looks more like something from your modern financial district and shares office space with the likes of Deloitte and Under Armour.
There’s a pleasant co-working room near the entrance in the bar/café area.
A great feature and is noticeable straight away as you walk in and head down the stairs to the gym.
The Bouldering Hall
Once you’re through the reception and café/co-working area you head into the further end of a long rectangular room which is the bouldering gym.
First you have the training area directly on your left and the room stretches away on your right with all the boulders.
The layout is different to the larger hangar/warehouse gyms where you have free standing boulders in the middle of the room (a thing we love at the likes of Beest).
Here the walls stretch along both sides of the long room, with an arch at one area.
As the gym is on the lower floor of an office type building you have the other floors above.
The roof therefore isn’t as high as us fashionable folks are used to!
This can make it feel a bit cramped and slightly dusty or warm during the hottest summer days.
On the other hand, in the cold, windy, dead heart of winter this place stays nice and toasty. Given the terrible Dutch climate can be seen as a plus! 🥶 ☃️
The Boulders
In terms of the boulders, they stretch along both sides of the walls all the way down the room.
There’s a good mix of slab, vertical and overhangs/roofs, though the majority is on the vertical and steep side. There’s an arch near the left end of the room which is also great fun!
Bouldering Colours & Grades
The bouldering colours, representing the respective grades, are given both in the Font scale and Hueco grading (6A, 6B or V4, V5 etc).
They seem to use lowercase letters for the Font grades for some reason?! 🤔 🤷♂️
The ranges are:
- Lime: 4/V0
- Green: 5/V1/V2
- Yellow: 5b-6a/V2-V3
- Blue: 6a-6b/V3-V4
- Orange: 6b-6c/V4-V5
- Red:6c-7a/V5-V6
- Black>6C+/V5
Training Area 🏋️
The training areas at Beta boulders are separated into two sections:
- A general training area
- A system/circuit board and Moonboard room
The general training area has:
- Campus boards
- Finger boards
- Gym frame for hanging and body weight exercises
- Rings
- A bench press with bumper plates, kettle bells & even small parallettes! 🥳
- Yoga blocks and mats
Beta Boulders BoardRoom 🤩
Wow! A entire separate room just for these 😍
The boardroom, which is hidden privately at the far end of the rectangular gym is a great little gem.
As this is neatly out of the way, you wont get disturbed whilst training hard 💪
The circuit board is a good size to work endurance and there are two Moonboards at different angles.
Superb!
Chill Factor 😎
Always very important!
Whilst many gyms are similar in this respect, Beta Boulders offers a nice feature: the quiet co-working area!
The is a separate room entirely, with glass walls/big windows near the entrance and café area. This is absolutely perfect for the remote-working job-seekers!
It’s closed off from the rest of the gym, which means it stays quiet when you need to get some work done 🧑💻
Luckily the walls are all windows, which means you can watch the bouldering when you lift your dreary eyes up from your computer!
The rest of the café area has a few couches, armchairs and offers nice little areas to sit and chill in.
The Financial Stuff 🥱
Beta boulders is nicely one of the cheaper options in terms of Amsterdam bouldering gyms.
At the time of writing:
- Single entrance: 12.5 €
- Monthly membership: 49€
The gym doesn’t offer any partnerships with other gyms in Amsterdam.
Our Take
Beta Boulders is a great addition to the not-so-well served southwest of Amsterdam.
A good place for beginners given the large amount of vertical boulders yet the circuit/Moonboard room is also great for the more advanced.
The quiet co-working room is a definite plus that allows you to get some work done if you’re the remote gym-dweller type.
Overall:
Was there anything else that you loved/hated about Beta Boulders in Amsterdam?
Find something absolutely ridiculous or incorrect?
Let us know below!
