UKC

Well impressed!

The wall is in a large sports hall run by Preston Leisure Services, clean and spacious, with a chill out area for Mums and Dads. No Muzak!

1. The steep big wall is about 30-35 feet with the usual insitu clips, lightly featured.

2. The featured wall ( 20-25 feet) has hangers so you will need your own clips. There are flakes, pockets, small and wider cracks that take gear.

3. The new wall is a wood + plastic holds affair ( about 20 feet), again equipped with hangers.

2 & 3 have ropes in place too.

They are 2 bouldering areas and a tiny-tots sector.

The grade spread range from 3 to 7 with most of the routes between 3 - 5, which makes it ideal for a beginning leader.

Costs: £1.90 for a first time registration fee, after that it's £3.85. There is a concessionary discount.

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. L - Lost in Space:

I like the new improved Preston Wall too. Much better than it was. I'm totally baffled by the grades though. They seem to be using a mixture of British technical grades and French grades and I can't figure out any logic to it. The grades on the new bits seem rather all over the place too.

They do still have some sections where you need quickdraws as well I think.

They have definitely made it better with those new routes though.

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. L - Lost in Space:

Thanks for the info - I live in Lancaster and I'm at uni in Preston so was thinking of checking it out sometime. I dont yet have a rope or any quickdraws (though I intend to get some for xmas) - is it still worth going at the mo?

In reply to grumsta:

Yes, there's enough lines with in situ ropes to keep you happy for a couple of hours (well, if you're happy to climb a range of grades, I suppose).

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. L - Lost in Space:

Chris, no! please ! no!! Preston gets busy already! do you think this post will stop you having to swim through huge crowds to get to the solitary vacant top rope?!?!?

Why don't you bang on about Awesome walls, send them over to the 'pool??!

There again, you are right, the facilities are excellent for the price...

In reply to rginns:

Pah! You have seen through my cunning ploy to keep people away from the damp green quarries!

ps To all - Please complain about the lighting! They may get round to changing the bulbs < Very Large Crossed Fingers>

pps The ceiling fixtures at the top of the routes are not sound! Do not grab! < Voice of experience!>

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. L - Lost in Space:

And for those who say they can't hand jam there are plenty of cracklines to go at...what you waiting for? But like Chris said, the lighting is poor so take your own carbide lamp.

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. L - Lost in Space:

I was considering taking my lad there for a bit of heavily supervised climbing on the bouldering wall. He's five. Are there any little slabs or areas with big holds that he can play on?

In reply to hutchm:

Yes and the landing is well padded.

In reply to grumsta:

ooh me too, dont know how to get there by bus do you?

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. L - Lost in Space:

Cheers.

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. L - Lost in Space:

shame there's no pictures on the database
http://www.ukclimbing.com/databases/walls/wallinfo.html?id=213
aw and thier site's down too

In reply to mark 7:

Just an old link I think

http://www.preston.gov.uk/leisure/Content.asp?id=SX9727-A77FA3D9

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. L - Lost in Space: ah so the large scratches at the top of the overhang are you then!! I see...

Valiant attempt to keep people away from the quarries, but alas I fear they may be heaving again this weekend **caugh..sideways look**

ps I was there last night and didn't really notice the lights being particularly bad??

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. L - Lost in Space:
have the bouldering problems changed in the last month do you know?

In reply to gnarlycharles:

Does the Pope boulder! Of course they have been changed! In fact, Dave McLeod, Tim Emmmert, Gaz Parry and Ian Vickers have spent hours setting up new problems that no one can do

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. L - Lost in Space:

I have been going there every wednesday evening during the winter for the last 14 years and have watched the room grow and grow.

Sadly Wednesday evenings are exceptionally busy.

The last month or so I have counted well over 100 climbers which is quite a lot for the amount of routes available.

In reply to The Lemming:

You mean "over 100" top ropers!

< Ducks>

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. L - Lost in Space:


The good thing about the room is that nobody cares.

However I do get pissed off by the boulderers who think that they have a god given right to make it to the top of the 5m wall and just then jump off in a heap at the bottem of the route.

I find that sort of antic as intimidating in a sort of I own this space and if you go below me I will land on you way. Don't these little darlings realise that to down climb a boulder problem strengthens their antagonistic muscles and make them better boulderers?

Gits

In reply to The Lemming:

They don't do it to me as I tend to leave my winter sharps at the bottom of the problems.

In reply to The Lemming:

Do they also not realise that doing regular 5m drops is playing with fire? Plenty of bad accidents have been caused by bad landings from a lot lower...

In reply to Jamie B.:


One did sprain his ankle.

With a bit of luck enough of them will break stuff and I can climb in peace.

In reply to The Lemming:
Don't these little darlings realise that to down climb a boulder problem strengthens their antagonistic muscles and make them better boulderers?
Possibly a pedantic point, but it doesn't - you use exactly the same muscles reversing a move as you do going up.

In reply to Jamie B.:

Indeed, there are still bits of my tibia and fibula lodged in the crevices of the bendcrete section at West View