UKC

Hi!
Are there any climbing walls or boulders in London, where you don't have to pay any admission? Or where you pay just small change..? Thanks for any suggestions. I am short of money but I'd like to keep climbing... Cheers!

In reply to Winncent:

Regents canal walls? Go old school.....

In reply to Winncent:

Haven't done most of these, but my suggestions:

- Get a part time job at the wall where you get free climbing and have to work as little as possible
- Pretend to be a member of staff and casually walk in
- Get a fake student ID
- Say you're just there to watch you're friends, then walk in and climb anyway.
- Try and win a free pass
- Get super friendly with the staff/chat to the staff on your way in and distract them from asking you to pay
- Enter the wall via the back door

Again.. just ideas!

In reply to nniff:
Regent canal walls? Where exactly is this spot? What area? Regent canal is quite long...
Thanks.

In reply to Rachel Slater:
Very constructive!!! :-D I'll think about it Thanks. (at least part time job like this would be helpful for sure)

In reply to Winncent:

Fairlop boulders in East London

In reply to Winncent:

There used to be some climbing at a place called Parkland Walk which was a disused railway line from Finsbury Park to Hampstead.The climbing was on the brickwork and went up 10-15 metres or so. There were sculptures sticking out of the wall and you could top-rope from the railings.

There was also the Sobell centre nearby which was cheap and cheerful. That was in the mid 90's so not sure what's there now but worth a try.

In reply to Winncent: I heard the shard makes a decent climb

In reply to Winncent:

4 or 5 (smallish ) boulders in ST Lukes gardens, Sydney St next to the 5-a side pitches.

In reply to Winncent: fairlop!

In reply to Winncent:
Some tips:
youtube.com/watch?v=u2zg23N5zXY&

Otherwise, Fairlop is a good shout.

In reply to Winncent:

Surely there's got to be some kind Londoner with a homemade woody willing to help out?

Then again with the price of housing in London I expect any spare garage/room may be rented.

In reply to Winncent:
youtube.com/watch?v=u2zg23N5zXY&

In reply to Winncent:

There used to be some boulders in Shoreditch Park that were specifically for climbing on. Not sure if they're still there.

In reply to Winncent: Fairlop Waters boulders (http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=15763) are nice for a day out when the weather is good. They're made of concrete, but there's a nice variety to the problems. There tend to be a lot of kids about at weekends though.

The Shoreditch Park boulder (http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=9490) is good for working a couple of problems over lunch, but the rock is brutal compared to plastic, and the problems are harder than Fairlop.

Those were the two places I hung out when I didn't have any money for wall membership.

In reply to Winncent: dude, its a bit south west of the centre but white spider need full and part time staff... Advert just posted on Facebook this afternoon. Might be just the thing.