Here’s my take on the best climbing and bouldering halls in Berlin. The main takeaway here: for a city whose highest point is only 80m (Teufelsberg) and otherwise flat, there is no shortage of awesome places to practice the hobby we love!
Bouldering Hall Berta Block, Berlin Germany
The Berlin bouldering scene has really flourished over the last few years. Where once there used to only be the few usual suspects to practice it feels like a new hall is opening every other year in the city. One of my favourite places to visit is Berta Block. Its unique combination of size, variety and quality problems keep me coming back.
Bouldering Hall Rhino & Bird, Tokyo Japan
North of Ueno park and tucked away behind the Nishi-Nippori Metro station in Tokyo is the charming little bouldering gym of Rhino & Bird. Making your way from the station to the gym, you’ll think you may have strayed along the wrong path as you criss-cross the back yards of traditional Japanese houses, which makes eventually finding this gym such a pleasant surprise.
Bouldering Hall T-Wall Shinbashi, Tokyo Japan
Japan has always been keen on climbing, but a recent string of strong performances in competitive bouldering and climbing as well as the continued exploits of Dai Koyamada, Yuji Hirayama and Ashima Shiraishi has seen the sport garner a lot of interest, as Japan works its way to climbing’s first official Olympic debut in 2020. Unsurprisingly, Tokyo has seen a number of gyms spring up across the wider city area to profit from this trend. The T-Wall company runs 5 gyms around Tokyo. For this review, I visited the Shinbashi store to get in a little practice during my holiday.