Kelowna has two bouldering gyms run by Gneiss Climbing, OG Banks and Hill Security, and Beyond the Crux, which has top-rope and lead walls. Outside, the Okanagan has more than 2,000 routes and boulder problems, from the gneiss of Skaha Bluffs, about an hour south, to the Boulderfields south of the city.
Photo: Gneiss Climbing
Gneiss was founded by geologist Chris de Vries and his wife Nancy, who moved to Kelowna in 2006, and the brand was inspired by the development of the Boulderfields. Its first gym, OG Banks on Banks Road, opened in 2016 with about 5,000 sq ft of bouldering around 15 feet high and an upstairs training area with free weights, and runs Saturday youth programmes for ages 6 to 12. Hill Security, on Vaughan Avenue at the edge of downtown, followed in 2021 with 3,600 sq ft of bouldering plus some top-rope and auto-belay climbing. It runs Intro to Climbing courses for adults and for 8 to 12-year-olds, and training blocks for climbers at V4 and above. Problems are reset on Wednesdays at OG Banks and Mondays at Hill Security, and both gyms open late on their reset days.
Both gyms share one price list. In October 2026 a day pass cost $20 before tax, a twilight pass after 21:00 (except on Sundays) $12, and a monthly membership $69 plus a $60 start-up fee. Youth aged 11 to 17 paid $16 a day and children aged 3 to 10 $11.50, and under-3s climbed free with a paying adult. Gneiss also rents crash pads for $25 a day, useful for a trip to the Boulderfields.
Beyond the Crux on Finns Road calls itself Kelowna's original indoor climbing gym. It has top-rope, lead and auto-belay walls and bouldering, and teaches a belay course ($60) and a lead course for climbers aged 13 and over ($85). It also runs after-school camps for ages 7 to 11, summer camps and birthday parties, and UBC Okanagan Recreation holds its Learn to Rock Climbing course there on Monday evenings. Its website listed a $19 day pass and memberships from $50 a month, but the site is undated, so check prices before you go. It's closed on statutory holidays.
In Vernon, The Rock Garden Climbing Center on 14th Avenue opened in 2015 as the city's first indoor climbing gym and has since doubled in size. It has bouldering, including a cave and a training section, top-rope walls, an Intro to Belaying course for ages 14 and over, a junior team and summer camps for ages 6 to 12. In October 2026 a day pass cost $20, or $18 for bouldering only. To the south, Hoodoo Adventures closed its climbing wall in Penticton on 1 February 2026 and says it's looking for a new site.
Skaha Bluffs, near Penticton, is the Okanagan's biggest crag, with more than 1,300 climbs on Mountain Project. The rock is gneiss with crisp edges, and most routes are moderate sport climbs, with some excellent trad lines, from 5.0 to 5.13. The season runs from March to October or November, and summers are hot. The crag is in Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park, where climbing is allowed only in the northern section. The access-road gate is closed from mid-November to mid-March and from dusk to dawn, there's no camping or overnight parking, and there's no drinking water. Don't park on the single-lane access road: overflow parking is at the bottom of Smythe Road, and the park gets busy on spring and autumn long weekends. Marc Bourdon's Skaha Climbing (Quickdraw, 2018) is the newest guidebook.
The Boulderfields, reached by logging roads south of Kelowna, have more than 1,200 problems from beginner level to V14 on gneiss, and Andy White's Okanagan Bouldering (2018) covers over 1,800 problems across the valley. In 2021 Gripped reported campsites with picnic tables and fire pits there, but no water, so bring your own. The Okanagan Bouldering Society works with land managers on access. For routes, Mount Boucherie in West Kelowna, Lonely Crags and KLO Creek are covered by Kelowna Rock Climbing (Blue Moose, 2016), and John's Family Nature Conservancy Regional Park, south of the city, has dozens more. Around Vernon, there are short routes and bouldering in Ellison Provincial Park and at Cougar Canyon in Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park, and basalt columns at Aberdeen; Roped Up in the North Okanagan (2020) is the local guide. The Alpine Club of Canada's Okanagan Section runs Wednesday climbing outings for members who have done a basic belay course.
Gneiss Hill Security hosts Pop & Lock 9, a Sport Climbing BC bouldering competition, on 17 and 18 October 2026; the Pop and Lock series at Gneiss goes back to at least 2018. The Rock Garden in Vernon hosts Gravity Check, a youth bouldering competition on the provincial calendar.
Sport Climbing BC's season runs from Pop & Lock in Kelowna in October to the open provincials at the Richmond Olympic Oval in December, with speed events at The Boulders near Victoria and bouldering across Metro Vancouver.
Joe Rushton