Bouldering is climbing without ropes, four metres up, onto a very thick mat. That is the whole thing.
CRIMP
Read it before you touch it.
Nobody is watching you.This is the single thing beginners get wrong about a climbing wall. Everybody there is staring at their own problem, failing at it repeatedly, and feeling mildly embarrassed about it. You do not need upper body strength, you do not need to be thin, and you do not need to come with somebody who already climbs. You need trainers you can take off and about ninety minutes.
Prices
- First sessionEntry, shoe hire, the safety brief
- Adult entryAll day, in and out
- Under 18All day, in and out
- Shoe hireAny session
- Monthly, rollingAny time we are open, no contract
No joining fee, no induction fee and no annual contract. Cancel the monthly whenever you like, by email, in one line.
Your first hour.
- Arriving.Sign the form at the desk. It asks you to confirm you understand you can fall off, because you can.
- The brief.Fifteen minutes with a member of staff, in a group of up to six. How to fall, where not to stand, how to read the colours.
- The easy wall.Start on the slab at the far end. It leans backwards, which means your feet do the work and your arms do not get tired.
- Falling off.You will. Everybody does, constantly. The mat is thirty centimetres thick and the whole sport is built around it.
Grades
- Yellow: a ladder with lumps.
- Green: your first real problem, big holds, obvious moves.
- Blue: you have to think about your feet.
- Orange: you will need more than one attempt and that is the point.
- Red: strong fingers, after a year or two.
- Black: there are four people in this city who do these.
Classes and coaching
Beginner course.
Four weeks, one evening a week, same six people.
Technique for improvers.
For the plateau at grade 4, which is where almost everybody sticks.
Youth club.
Ages 8 to 15, coached, parents welcome to leave.
One to one.
An hour with a coach on whatever is stopping you.
The gym
I put off going for two years because I thought I would be the worst person there. I was the worst person there. Nobody noticed and I went back on Thursday.
Sixteen pounds, shoes included, no booking needed. Turn up and somebody will show you where to start.