New Capets

All the new carpets are now down which means the wall is fully open again.

We're also in the process or resetting the whole comp wall so by Tuesday night there should be 25 new problems up including some nice long hard power endurance problems for those into that kinda thing...

New Black Circuit & Mats Update

A new 40 problem Font 5-6a+ black circuit has gone up in The Works. Set by Neil Mawson & Percy it's another cracker requiring thinking and a bit of 'trust' in your footwork.


The Mats that have been up for the last few days (Circuit wall, Pipes, Skips & Kids boulders) will all be back in place tomorrow morning with a shiny new carpet on. Yeah!

Melloblocco 08

Just returned from this years MelloBlocco shindig in Val di Mello, northern Italy - the fifth year this event has run. The bad news is - hard bouldering as we know it has just been kicked into touch by Adam Ondra - the Czech 15 year-old that has been dispatching all the hardest sport routes in Europe with worrying ease the last year or so.

Melloblocco attracted somewhere around 3,000 climbers to its terrible location of 'Northern Italian alpine valley beside a glacier river with brand new areas being discovered all the time'

I'm always a bit cynical of the new greatest things - the new font, the new Malc Smith, etc, but I have witnessed with my own eyes the thorough humiliation of the some of the worlds best boulderers at the hands of a scrawny kid with no discernable muscles !

Ondra did 6 of the competition boulders - the hardest of which was a stern (and I mean STERN) 8b. The 8a+ I watched him flash (watched also by wads like Thomas Mrazek, Michael Caminati, Andy Earl and Martin Stranek who had been sessioning the boulder without success for some time) was a revalation - no idea of the sequence, doing it all wrong, and still cruising to the top so smoothly it was un-nerving. The abject dejection on the faces of everybody who had been trying the problem as he topped out spoke volumes. This kid is taking climbing to a new level - no bulls**t. He doesn't really do much bouldering, prefering routes, so it was nice to see him having a try of something new!!!

The wunderkid himself, Ondra on Antropos, 8b

I spoke briefly to Toni Lamiche and Jerome Meyer who had spent 2 days working a horrific 8b that had not been repeated in 2 years. Apparently they too suffered the humiliation of looking on miserably as Adam p****d up it after a bit of work when he came over to see what they were up to on day 2 of the event. To quote Lamiche, "It's finished for us guys! This kid is the new school."

Adam could will be about to push standards in climbing through the roof - or he'll hit puberty, grow into a 7 foot beer monster with more time for ladies than rock and give up climbing for something more worthwhile.... by the time that happens though, he could well have done all the hard climbs and boulder problems in the world so it won't be a problem for him.

At some point I might try and locate a list of big names he beat at Melloblocco this year (off the top of my head... Mauro Calibani, Gabi Moroni, Michael Caminati, Thomas Mrazech, Jerome Meyer, Toni Lamiche, Patxi Usobiaga, Andy Earl, Christian Brenna...) - an incredible climber.

Percy

SPA Instructors Wanted

We've got a couple of places open for SPA Qualified instructors to become part of The Climbing Works instructing team. As an instructor, you'll be in charge of sessions run at The Climbing Works, from Birthday Parties to Adult Improvement groups, there's a wide range of group work that's carried out here so work is pretty diverse and very interesting.

For more information, or to submit a CV, email brian@climbingworks.com

Mats The Way I Like It, I Like It...Uh-huh!!

An update on the mats:

All the mats and new carpets should be back down by Thursday afternoon meaning that the whole wall will be re-opened by Thursday evening and with the good weather looking like it's going to end by Friday it's just in time.
Today we've also had to lift the mats around the kid's boulder so that means these and the wavy wall are also closed till Thursday. To make you all feel that little bit better, we're on concession prices till all the mats are back in place.

Also by Thursday we'll have another new circuit on the wall with the black currently being set by messers Mawson & Bishton.

The Mats Are A Changin'

Ok, not quite a Bob Dylan classic but close...

At the moment (Sat 10th May) the circuit board, pipes wall & skips are currently closed due to the mats being lifted and the covers removed. This area should be back in order by Monday and in the next week the mats should have a carpet covering similar to the rest of the wall making it a cleaner and more 'comfy on the feet' place to climb.

Sorry for the temporary area closure but to keep the Works the best in the world we sometimes have to do work on it that means temporary closures. It only happens rarely & seeing that it's 25c outside and sunny, this is a pretty good time. As we're incredibly generous folk, we're also giving entry at off-peak prices until the mats go back down.

Enjoy the sunny weather while it lasts....

10,000 Member

On Bank Holiday Monday The Climbing Works registered it's 10,000 member!!! Only being open 18 months that's pretty impressive and something we're all pretty chuffed about here. In terms of actual visits by members to The Climbing Works it's more like 60,000+!

The lucky 10,000 member was Mrs Gina Higgins who at the age of 45 shows thats it's never too late too start climbing (who said bouldering was only for the young). Gina became the 10,000 member after finishing her Climbing Works Adult Induction class which introduces new climbers to the centre and explains how, what, who The Climbing Works is and how everything works in here.

As the 10,000 member she got herself a lovely bottle of Champagne picked out by our own senior wine connoisseur Graeme.

As we're blessed with some stunning weather it's been a slightly quieter week than normal at The Climbing Works but that hasn't stopped the Cheeses working hard as can be seen below...

....market research I think is the term used ; )

New Green Spotty Circuit & May Bank Holiday Opening Times

Another week, another new circuit...well, actually 2 new circuits. Monday saw the new Salmon circuit finished which is the easiest (around Font 2-3) & perfect for newbies or children.

Started & finished yesterday is the new green spotty circuit. Similar to the last one in that in pure old school Fontainebleau style, it's a mountain circuit i.e. you can do the whole circuit without touching the ground. This time it's a little harder with the individual problems around Font 4-5+ and the whole circuit coming in at a stiff French 7a+.

Sam & Percy flashing the new circuit - well, they did set it so no onsight ; )

The features wall has also been remodeled so there will be some fresh problems on that within the next few days.

With the first May Bank Holiday coming up this Monday & the weather not looking great, we're going to be open a little earlier starting at 10am & closing at 10pm.