UKC

If anybody is thinking about going, but cant make up their mind, then take my advice and stay home. Went today, what a load of rubbish. Theres hardly any stands, music so loud you cant hear anything in the downstairs lecture theatre. I went to hear alan hinkes giving a talk, he could hardly be bothered and so just played endless video clips. Had a good talk with some people on the BMC stand though, glad I never paid for my ticket because I would have been rather pi55ed of if I had paid for that today

In reply to Big Steve:

was it that bad mate , im heading off there tomorrow 4 day , thats put a damper on things

peace
dan

In reply to daniel kinch:

U prob see Marie and Chav-Kids

In reply to J2:

lol thats def put nail into the coffin
peace
dan

In reply to daniel kinch: have you got free tickets? Theres loads of stuff for kids, big balcony jump thing, tall climbing stalachite etc, and there is a nice sausage stand. Apart from that........

In reply to Big Steve:

yeh blagged meself a few tickets other week so may as well go see more intrested in some of the lectures etc than anything else

peace

dan

In reply to daniel kinch: Pity i didnt get this message in time as i went, paid £12 and almost cried with disappointment the bigest waste of money ever ever...

In reply to Mike Fox:

just got back wot a load of b@llocks!

all stalls trying to sell me package trips / adventure weekends to chamonix,france etc for few hundered quid etc no real trade stands , f@ck all gear and was done walking around in 30 min,,

its all geared towards non climbers / outdoor plp the only worthwhile thing was the ralph feines lecture ,
save ya cash and by a new peice of gear instead .

pissed off as missed days climbing
peace
dan

Went today. Wasn't great.

However: Free Whisky.

...and beer, but it's shite, so don't bother.

In reply to Big Steve:

I've just got ticker offers for the Outdoors Show at the NEC (18th to 20th March)

Is this something completely different?

In reply to Dominion:

Dear Dominion

Sort of, you get Adventure in London's one.

Norrie

In reply to Dominion:

Went to an outdoor adventury type show thing a couple of years ago, at the NEC. Was much better than today's scruffy little offering
Can't remmeber exact name of show etc though...

In reply to Dominion: NEC Outdoors Show is really big. Had loads of trade stands, lectures, things to try and bargains last year. This year, there are even more exhibitors. Worth a day out for sure.

In reply to Dominion: The Outdoor show at the NEC is a really good gig, Ive been the past two years and really enjoyed it. Its huge, and is a really good day out

In reply to alpkid:
The birmingham one was great last year, good talks from bonington scott etc, loads and loads of gear, bouldering comp, etc. I'd be going again except its too early for me this year, Ill still be down at uni.

In reply to Big Steve: I went yesterday.

Must admit it wasn't brilliant, but the kids enjoyed it.

I think my top moment was standing behind a bloke who was bragging to 2 women whilst in the queue for the staligmite(tite)?? challenge...

"I won a competition doing this last year... even beat some real climbers with proper shoes and all..."

However, most 'climbers' wouldnt bother with it let alone see it as a challenge and just see it as fun... I mean, kids and the public were romping up it in trainers and sunday shoes... but I didnt want to pee on his fireworks so just quietly sniggered to myself...

Nicola was rather miffed that she wasnt old enough do the bungy cord thing and that the queues for the sphering and barrier jumping were too long, but she had a go on the climbing challenge, surf challenge thing and revolving climbing wall.

I was a tad disappointed that most of the exhibitors were holiday/trek organisers, or if they were a shop, they had only bought a couple of lines of clothing.

You'd have been ok if you wanted sunglasses though - 2 massives stands with thousands to pick from...

In reply to marie:

Blimey yes. I've never seen so many sunglasses!!!
The abundance of adventure holiday satnds, and lack of gear stands was a tad irritaying.

In reply to Alex Purser:

Someone can't spell...

In reply to Anonymous: not sure why but my post seems to have dissappeared. oh well, wasnt that important i am sure you can find the prices and web site for the birmingham show yourselves.

All I saw was sunglasses and Rab down jackets!
Waste of a morning. My view was slightly biased though as I had three hours sleep and hangover from hell.

Next year, no thanks!

Mb

In reply to Big Steve
I totally agree to all the negative comments about this so called adventure show,the only excitement and adventure to the day was the lunatic national express bus driver who took us to london,( I think he must have just been sacked from the alton towers death slide), perhaps they should have took a stand at the show. I was approached at the show to be asked where i bought my gas and electric from, how is that connected to adventure?, the final pisser was seeing the rab jacket i have just bought, being sold for £80.00 less.I will never go to this event again, what a load of crap. Last point does any body know where i can get my money back?
ginge

In reply to Big Steve: think you all missed the main attraction! the big TNF A5 bouldering compertition going on all weekend, from the stand we could see it! how did they do some of those problems?!?

Jess.x

In reply to Little Brew:

Sadly have to agree with most of the comments here, few stands that would really have interested most outdoor/climbing enthusiasts. Keela had some reall bargains going and was also miffed to see the rab jacket (I was wearing) going for pennies.

The A5 bouldering comp was good though and watched the final rounds on sunday and have to say the route setters should have had a go as route 5 of the mens final was right beatch! Although after all competitors started and failed the route the same way I had to ask myself why didnt anyone try the second hand hold with the right as it seemed as if it might make the next move easier. But that was an easy observation from behind the railings

Also already mentioned the woman on the gas stand wins awards for aggressive selling, jumped from her stand blocked our path to aks if I paid my gas and electric bill, I said no and she then offered to make it cheaper for me...?

Also couldnt believe the stand offering adventure mortgages??? You sign up with them and they release your equity so you can go climbing, mountain biking.... I understand if you want t acommercial trip up everest but is that wise for a lending company???

overall, show was pretty crap.

In reply to Big Steve:
second message to this topic. I e mailed Cameron Mcneish at TGO today, and asked him to get his readership to write in and comment on the quality of this show?, he told me they had not advertised it this year in TGO, because they spent a lot of time and effort last year putting a stand at the show, this year they didnt bother, wonder why?
ginge

In reply to jools: Wouldn't that have been a good reason to go to the show though? To get gear cheaper?

Personally find a lot of these shows seem an anathema - going indoors to learn how to enjoy the great outdoors. Word contradiction comes to mind......

In reply to Little Brew: I'm with Little Brew on this... the A5 Bouldering Champs were ace, well worth the visit! Cheers for the free tickets, Escape 2!!!

In reply to Allan Thomson:

true, I had several rreasons for going and several expectations, even though the gear on sale was limitied to the point of not being any I still got some...

Also as others have mentioned the bouldering comp was good.

It was just that expectations were higher than the show achieved.

In reply to Alex Purser:

Don't forget that it is called the Outdoor Adventure Show, so the holiday sellers shouldn't have been a surprise.....however it wasn't that good for £12 or whatever.

Pity the poor stands adjacent to the balcony jump mat - every 2 mins they had a blast of air from the mat that blew all their paperwork everywhere......

In reply to Big Steve:
I think the climbing in the London show was great - nice to see real athletes competing. Other stuff was new and different, fun to try and watch. What else do you think that should have been included to make it worth going to?

In reply to Jot:

Climbing gear and naked chicks

In reply to m0nkeyboy minus cookies!!: Went on saturday - huge waste of money. Only stayed for half hour before leaving. Watched the Junior Girls bouldering though and was mightily impressed by them. Won't be going next year.

In reply to jools: Got a feeling that the starting position was dictated so the climbers had no choice about which hand was on which hold. Pwercy did show them how to do the moves afterwards. My feeling is that they were all knackered, the walls were a little bit steeper than normal.

Glad that you enjoyed the A5 BBC.

Also big thanks to all those who donated prizes to the raffle and all those that bought tickets (just wish more of the prizes were picked up on the day so I don't have to post them out). We raised over £1k

In reply to graeme alderson:

You could give the mountain-boarding lesson I won to the highest bidder if you like! Proceeds to the Junior Team...

In reply to graeme alderson:

Is a list of winning tickets available anywhere?

In reply to graeme alderson:

ah I see, never bouldered for anything more than a cup of tea, so would know these regs!

i did hang about but didnt think a route setter would have a go, glad to hear they did. money where their hold were.

As the best bit of the show it would have been better if a large expanse of the show was a wall and had some instruction for those milling about the less appropriate stands.

money raised too, well done.

In reply to Ian oldie: I should post it but have been off ill last couple of mornings, will try and sort it tomorrow, probably put it on BMC but will post here about where

Atleast the last laugh was on the chav's looking for the big skate ramp with tony hawkes showing off his stuff. to see thier faces when someone pointed to an older gentleman sporting a beard was priceless!!!!!

In reply to Big Steve: U should have gone on sat. The money was worth it just to see Ranulph Finnes speak for an hour. The man is a ledge!