UKC

Manchester climbing centre is now open.
All the lead and top ropeing walls are open.

The bouldering wall will be open in 2 weeks,we are just waiting for the matting and a few finishing touches.

The Cotswold Rock shop is open plus the fantastic Rocks cafe.

Please check out www.manchesterclimbingcentre.com or call on 0161 2307006

Hello,

Any feedback from climbers who have been down would be greatly received.

Thanks to those people who have already been down!

Jo

In reply to Jo S:

Not been yet , but it seems to be bloody expensive. Mind you it is nearly time for outside after work ,so !!!

In reply to Jo S: Good wall, well designed, pleasant and helpful staff. The big leader wall is certainly impressive.

Lockers, showers and changing rooms a great idea.

In reply to anonymous1:

So it'll p*ss it down for the next 2months!! Prices seem ok to me....it is a buisness you know!

In reply to anonymous1: Great facility, excellent team, unique climbing environment. It's true, you get what you pay for!

In reply to Jo S:

Yea! good, been twice.

Staff pleasant and welcomming. The church has been fitted out nice.

The price? not too bad, I remember paying £5.00 when Rope Race first opened and that must 10 years ago.

I'm hoping to visit at least once a week.

Jeff C.

In reply to Jo S: We've added it to our UK walls database at:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/databases/walls/wallinfo.html?id=497

So any updates of details, reviews from users, and photos will be very welcome.

Cheers

In reply to Jo S:

I think it's pretty good value actually, when you think of what warrington and even salford want for their efforts.
Brilliant facilites, some great routes, a sound bunch of staff and when the bouldering opens up it's just going to be even better, surely?
I heard that Sir Chris is going to be there for the official opening on the 15th March is that true?

In reply to oliver aram:

So i hear...

In reply to Jo S:

just had a quick look thru your web site and must complement the designer for using the 3d-esqe map of manchester

In reply to Jo S: £12 for registration and £6.50 for peak time entry, £18.50 for first (possibly only) visit. Is that right?

In reply to Serpico:


The £12 "registration" is in fact a lifetime membership and is optional, without membership it is £8.50 per session.

Jeff C

In reply to Jo S: i have been to book my Beginners course i had a look around and i think its a brilliant place, the staff are nice, great layout, nice wall, ect and that is what i think before i have even started to climb there, i am starting this wednesday looking forward to it.

In reply to Jo S:

I went last Thursday and was a bit disappointed. Where is the roof section? My favourite sort of climbing and there isn't any. There also seems like a lack of features. The top roped climbs for example are on acres of flat timber with small variations in angle. Bit bland really.

On the plus side there is lots of leading and to a decent height. Fantastic building too.

In reply to Jo S: Was impressed with the long leading wall. And hopefully the bouldering will be cool as well. There certainly appears to be large concentration of slabby and vertical Lines.

It could definately do with several more steep lines. Did hear that they have an option for putting up more lines near the stained glass window. So hopefully these will be of the overhanging variety as I cannot see them needing any more vertical or slabby lines.

Cheers

Tim

In reply:

leeds wall is 20 pound per year, regular user and 5.50 therafter, otherwise it's 6.50 per session!

seems fair to me, looks like a better wall too.

I'll be visiting.

RD

In reply to Jo S:

I enjoyed the wall - It's competitively priced, especially if you live in town and so save on travel to Warrington etc.

It really could do with more varied topropes. It lacks overhangs, tall routes, and needs a wider selection of hard routes on the topropes.

Seems maily focused on lead climbs, which currently have all the features walls and all the overhangs.

In reply to Jo S:

I also went last Thusday.
Price wise it seemed about standard, and the fact that the membership is a one off and not every year is good.

Climbing wise - the best routes are the lead routes. There aren't that many features. The grading is french and went up to about 7c+ although I only managed up to 6b+ so pleanty of projects stil to do. It was a little easier grade-wise than the Broughton bouldering wall.

The overhangs weren't massive, but big enough for me. The possibility of another wall over the stain glass window would be a great position but it would be a shame to cover it up.

Size wise - I was a bit surprised. I thought it would be massive. It is a fair size - the tallest routes are 20m. I guess I was expecting more. Don't get me wrong though - it really is a fantastic place, and I hope to go maybe every other week - after all the Broughton wall is very good for the really hard stuff.

In reply to Gareth B:

Overhanging walls rarely have topropes in place becuse of the swing you get if you fall off low down, and you can't clip the rope in on the way down easily. Just get a rope and lead them.

In reply to Jo S: Went last night. The directions off the internet are truely awful - sorry but they are. Because the lines are so thin, my deskjet printer couldn't handle it.

I had to queue for routes all night and would hate to imagine what it will be like when it is busy. The top roped routes were generally dull and easy and I just couldn't be arsed to queue for the few 6a type problems on the leading walls. All together quite a disappointing night and paying £18 odd for the first time stung a bit. I am sure other climbing walls don't charge as much as £12 for registration.

I will maybe pop back at a quieter time and no doubt have an excellent time but it will be out door climbing of an evening for me when the clocks go forward.

In reply to Jo S:

I also went last night - I'll agree that it was hard to find the place, but when I went in I loved the building and the fittings and the colours. I think it was extra busy because it's only recently opened and people are coming to check it out - I recognized quite a few faces from Marple and I think one or two from Warrington.

The routes were nice for me, lots of 4's and 4+'s - not many (if any?) 5's and then there were hard 6's. Some of the routes I climbed felt like they were set by someone taller than me, but that's no bad thing. I think it'll be even better when the bouldering is open and the price is akin to other similar facilties - the 12 quid membership is for life, so if you come 10 times you've saved that. The big main lead wall is high, high and looks like it'd have great views of the beautiful ceiling and the stain glass windows from the top... but there are a couple of more slabby things which I liked... there aren't that many featury type things - it's mostly flat.

2 things I especially liked were the music and the lighting, it wasn't that harsh strip lighting that can burn your eye balls as you're trying to watch your climber and the music was really good (modern Indie and Kate Bush) but it wasn't very loud so you just got glimpses of songs and could still hear yourself talk, there was a bit of noise from the on-going building works, but that'll soon be over.

I don't think they're aiming at the kids parties type market, as there weren't many slopey slabs and really easy routes... but again I don't think that's a bad thing.

The cafe area is nice, and the shop is a little Cotswold (with a sale on Nuts if you get there quick). They do a decent sized mug of tea although I think charging an extra 30p for an organic tea bag instead of a regular one is a bit cheeky, and the toilets are lovely and clean (shower curtains might be a nice idea for the future)

Also, it's in a bit of a rough area, so they have a chap on the carpark as security, I thought that was a really good idea and there is plenty of space to leave a bike inside.

All in all I had a lovely night, the staff were friendly, the man himself was there keeping an eye on things and I think once the dust settles it'll be a nice place to go if it's raining outside, which is what I want from an indoor wall.

Good luck to them, Ali x

In reply to Alsion Bnod:

the bouldering should be open this week