Testimonials

“Once again, my high school students (Outdoor Education class) had a wonderful day climbing at Taylors Falls with Jill and Lynn and their staff from Apex. They are second to none when it comes to safety, communication, and training. And their fun and friendly manner with the students encourages each to set new climbing challenges for themselves. My classes have been climbing with Apex since 2007 and we have only had positive experiences!”

– Nancy Icopini, Teacher

“We had two separate groups of junior high youth utilize the talents of Apex in leading rock climbing at Devil’s Lake State Park in summer 2013. The staff of Apex on both trips worked SO well with our adults and especially with our junior highers. Communication, safety, quality equipment, ability to adapt to our group’s needs (both groups had different abilities and needs) and the overall experience was excellent. They challenged us appropriately and allowed us to feel comfortable when we didn’t reach our goals (and then challenged us again). Would highly recommend Apex Adventure Alliance and we have already booked them again for our groups next summer.”

– Russ Senti, Executive Director – Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center, Teacher

 


“I would recommend Apex for your next adventure. Todd, Jill and the rest of the guides have been phenomenal. As someone who had never rock climbed before I was a little apprehensive, but instruction from Apex stresses safety and makes it fun. There are no worries about gear, Todd even had shoe

s for my preteen children. In the past year, I have been on several trips with them; from Devil’s Lake, Taylors Falls, MN to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. The scenery and camaraderie are fantastic. Each trip left me wanting more. Even after all the schooling I went through to become a dentist I had a huge feeling of accomplishment after reaching the top of that first 5.6. It only lasted a second though, before I began to think “bring on the 5.7!” Thanks, Apex.”

– Dr. Todd Reich, D.D.S.

 

 

“I am hooked. One day I was sitting at home working and said to myself, “If I can finish this project by Friday I am going to reward myself by going rock climbing outside!” It was the best idea ever. And Apex made the experience wonderful! I was scared out of my mind, and with much humor & encouragement Todd and Adam, our guides, helped me work through my fear and climb higher than I had ever thought possible. I felt comfortable with his knowledge and his attention to safety. The great lesson I learned that day was that anyone can work through the fear and have a great experience doing it. Go climb!”

-Lana Fox, Web Technology Developer

 

 

“Last weekend, we had an awesome time rock climbing the Red River Gorge in Kentucky with Apex Adventure Alliance. “The Red” has some of the best sport climbing in the world – Todd, Jill and Vince from the Apex crew made sure our every need was taken care of and we made some great new friends on the trip as well. If you are interested in climbing with some outstanding people and enjoy the outdoors, be sure to check them out!”

– Ben Reilly, Photographer, Reilly Images

 

 

 

 

“Apex has been instructing my 7th graders in rock climbing at Devil’s Lake for several years. The instructors do an outstanding job with the kids. We have always had safe, fun, and great learning experiences with them. My student always come back to school and write about rock climbing as their favorite experience from the field trip.”

– Scott Musser, 7th grade Science Teacher, Roscoe Middle School

 

“As part of Eddie Bauer’s active outdoor lifestyle, we enlisted the services of Apex Adventure to introduce us to Rock Climbing at Devil’s Lake. None of us had ever Rock Climbed before and one member of our team was even afraid of heights. Our guide, Todd, did an excellent job providing us with the training and encouragement that we needed. All of us made it to the top of at least one of the cliffs and several members did multiple cliffs. Some as high as 100 feet. More importantly, we all had a great time and left with many stories to share. Thanks, Todd, for a great outing!”

– Larry Hersam, Eddie Bauer Information Technology

 

 

The (ice climbing) outing was a huge success from our point of view… The feedback I received at this week’s scout meeting was that all of the scouts really enjoyed the ice climbing.  At least two of the seven scouts reported privately that it was the best outing they have been on (I suspect that a few more might share that view).  I got equally positive (and perhaps even more enthusiastic) responses from the adults, some of whom went out of their way to compliment the work that Todd and Noah did.

We were very fortunate on Saturday to get a combination of good ice, great weather, a beautiful snow covered park, no crowds and a really great group of participants and guides.  I understand that the odds are remote that we will be able to duplicate all of those positive factors the next time we go ice climbing, but we are already talking about the possibility of planning another ice climbing outing in the future.

Michael Stick, Boy Scout Troop 8 Hinsdale, IL

 

 

 

If you’re looking to get into bouldering and don’t have an experienced climber to assist, this intro class is an absolute must. Ian, our bouldering guru, covered everything we needed to know from showing us a variety places to climb to spotting and pad placement. We had such a good time we almost forgot to eat. We climbed straight through our whole time, and then some. I highly recommend this intro class as well as Ian as a guide. Thank you!

– Anthony Apilado, Bouldering Class Participant