40 years of teaching experience

leading in rock climbing Since 1983

Since 1983, Vertical Adventures has been the leading rock climbing school in California, setting the standard of professionalism for rock climbing classes with our low student-to-instructor ratios, state-of-the-art course curriculums, excellent safety record, and exceptional rock climbing guides.

Vertical Adventures ROCK CLIMBING SCHOOL was honored to be ranked as the #1 rock climbing school in America by Outside Magazine in their list of America’s top adventure schools.

From September through May, our rock climbing classes and guided climbs are held at Joshua Tree National Park, One of America’s most popular rock climbing areas with over 9,000 routes to choose from. Joshua Tree has ideal weather for rock climbing during the winter season.

Vertical Adventures also offers guided climbs of Tahquitz Rock in Idyllwild, which at 1,000 feet high is Southern California’s tallest rock formation and one of the best rocks in the country for traditional, multi-pitch rock climbing.

During the summer months, our operations shift to the Lake Tahoe Area. Donner Summit and the Truckee area is known for its excellent quality climbing from single-pitch top roping to fabulous multi-pitch routes.

Our rock climbing classes and guided rock climbing have enabled many to attain goals they never thought possible. For small private groups and families with children, we offer special discounted group rates.

If you’ve never done any rock climbing, climbing with Vertical Adventures is the ideal way to learn to safely climb outdoors.

If you’re a gym climber who has yet to climb outside, I invite you to experience the joy and exhilaration of outdoor rock climbing.

Vertical Adventures’ climbing school program includes one-day rock climbing classes, multi-day rock climbing courses up to 5 days in duration, group rock climbing instruction, private instruction, and guided rock climbing.

Our Seasons

June to September - Lake Tahoe
Spring and Fall - Idyllwild
October to May - Joshua Tree

***We have limited operations in Joshua Tree during summer

Testimonials

My buddy and I booked a two day guided session in Joshua tree last month to learn how to trad climb and it was an absolute blast!

We’ve climbed outdoors but this was our first time climbing trad, and we wanted to learn how to place gear from an expert. Jared was our guide for the trip and he was amazing. Jared is a wealth of knowledge and broke things down in a way that made things easily digestible. He was able to ascertain our skill level and competence right off the bat and kept us challenged in a way that that enabled to build a solid understanding of the fundamentals while learning things we never thought we’d get a chance to try out on our first trip. Book Jared! He’s the best.

Brian B

We spent the day with Chris, one of the most amazing caring, encouraging instructors I've ever had.

He knows his stuff!!! And he can encourage you to go for something you never in your wildest dreams would think you had it in you. From the very start of booking this during Covid, Bob was the consummate professional. He met us to go through sizing, equipment etc and followed meticulous covid guidelines, before handing us over to Chris who was our guide for the day. When I first saw where he was taking us, I thought "there's been a mistake, I'm a total novice." But Chris, through patience and humor and just generally such a cool guy had all of us climbing. His instructions were spot on, calling out where you might want to consider placing a foot (yes he knows the routes that well, he can tell out a foothold). Pacing was perfect, I worried we'd be overly exhausted but Chris paced it wonderfully

I loved the day! My only regret? That I don't live nearer to be able to do this again and again and again...

To Bob and Chris, thank you!

L.A.

Our day in December with Tony was one my family will recall with such joy!

My 12-year-old daughter said this past family trip was her favorite, and that is a lot because of the climbing experience with Tony. (She is trying out Sender One today!) He was so patient with our various abilities and comfort levels. He also took time to teach us the basics. The routes seemed perfect for our group, and then he treated us to a hike thorough the Real Hidden Valley Chasm. It was a once in a lifetime adventure! Tony's love of climbing is evident, and that spirit helped build our confidence as well. Thank you and Tony for setting us up for a very fulfilling family day of rock climbing. We will be back and highly recommend to others.

Kristen I.

This was an absolutely incredible course, Jarad was fantastic!

My climbing partner and I wanted to refresh our knowledge and learn new tips and tricks related to building and cleaning anchors, rappelling, and multi pitch climbing. We not only learned a lot, but we had so much fun doing it! Jarad was knowledgeable, patient, enthusiastic, encouraging, and super safe. We can't wait to take another class on self-rescue, additional safety, and learning and redoing more techniques.