Changes are to take place next week to the ground floor Boiler House with more top rope routes available.
As most of you will know, in the past couple of years we have worked hard to create more (much needed) tall lead walls. Whilst we have a quite a number of lead routes on the shorter walls (8m) downstairs in the Boiler House, these have never been as popular as the tall lead walls (12.5m) upstairs in the Engine House next to the café.
In the last 2 years we have expanded our leading capabilities, adding an extra 25 new lead lines in Wells 1, 2 and 3 and four extra lines in the lead area next to the café. This hopefully ensures that there are enough routes for everyone to enjoy, even at the busiest periods of the year.
But what about our top-roping capabilities?
You would have to have lived under a rock for the last few years to have not noticed the increased popularity in indoor climbing. The increased footfall means more visitors in the centre wishing to top-rope and to be able to increase our facilities to meet demand we have decided to change the majority of the lead lines on the ground floor to top rope lines.
The routes that travel over the 2 arches (on both sides) will stay as lead routes and we are fitting 4 more autobelays downstairs. The rest of the downstairs will be top ropes, with routes still ranging in grade from 3+ for beginners up to 7a-c.
These changes will be taking place on Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th January through the daytime to avoid disrupting the evening rush.