UKC

I climbed again at the climbing Barn in Bingley this week end,for thhe first time for a while .i mainly climb at The Depot and City Bloc.With all the kids in there its more like a wacky warehouse than a serious climbers venue.Has anyone else noticed this.Aso some of he circuits cover a wide range of grades.Why not have V0 -v7 eight different colours.Any thoughts west yorkshire climbers.

In reply to skint climber:

It's a business. The kids seem to be kept to certain areas which don't interfere with the serious climbers.

In reply to skint climber: What would you change to make it better as a serious climbers venue? Apart from the kids...

In reply to skint climber: In all fairness, weekends for the first couple of hours are the main 'kids' time. The clubs generally run for an hour or so after school etc. This leaves, in my opinion, plenty of time for other climbers to continue to enjoy the venue. You mention 'wacky warehouse': they try to encourage a fun atmosphere for the children (some of whom are as young as 6); the last thing they want is an in detail explanation of technical 'V' grades. Due to space issues and the kinds of customers who regularly go there, they can't really have so many different lines operating.

Currently, I think they are doing a great job with the resources they have, and hopefully it will be a good social place to meet and climb. If you want a serious training ground, then Sheffield or just buying 'Boulder Britain' may be a good place to start. Parties can be a tad noisy though...

In reply to skint climber:

Whatever. What would be nice would be a circuit wall - perhaps where the campus board is

In reply to skint climber:

It's always dead quiet when I go there.

In reply to skint climber: Thanks for all the comments about The Barn. Hans is right, the kids climbing clubs tend to take over the centre on Saturdays and Sundays until 1pm and then there are often birthday parties for those budding little climbers. The instructors try very hard to keep the balance of health & safety and crowd control versus "having fun" and, more often than not, we think we get it right. During the week, the centre has more serious climbers than children but, essentially, it was created to meet a need for family climbing. However, we do hope that everyone enjoys it. TCB