UKC

Redpoint are thrilled to announce a major new climbing centre for the Worcester area.

The new centre is a collaboration between local climber and polar adventurer Andy Harvey and the team from Redpoint Climbing Centre in Birmingham.

The search for a suitable venue has taken several years and on 4th March 2015 planning permission was granted, giving the green light for the construction of Redpoint Worcester to begin.

The building has a footprint of over 1600sqm making this the largest Redpoint wall to date. Well positioned for public transport links, there is also tons of free parking.

The world’s leading climbing wall manufacturers, Walltopia, have been working hard on the designs and are ready to start manufacturing the walls at their state of the art facility, ready for installation in the coming months.

Phase one will include over 1000sqm of climbing surface with a roughly 50/50 split between roped climbing and bouldering.

Inspired by years of climbing all over the world, Redpoint is well known for incorporating inventive shapes and angles into their centres so climbers can expect creative top roping and lead climbing facilities. There will even be enough bouldering to be a bouldering centre in its own right.

Added to this there’ll be a comfortable café, viewing gallery, changing facilities and the friendly atmosphere Redpoint regulars have come to expect.

Redpoint Worcester will be opening in 2015 and from now until the launch you can find information and follow the progress at http://www.redpointworcester.co.uk

Join the mailing list via the website to enter a prize draw to win a year’s free climbing.

We are all rather excited!

In reply to Redpoint Climbing Centre:

Sounds like this will blow Vertical Limit out of the water!

In reply to james.slater:

Martley, Gloucester and Evesham might all be a bit concerned too.

Shame it's not Redditch as would be more central than Worcester but it's exciting news

In reply to Redpoint Climbing Centre:

I'm very happy about this. I like Redpoint. And I live near Worcester.

In reply to Chownsy:


More central to what?

In reply to james.slater:


I guess that depends on whether or not Redpoint try to fit a quart into a pintpot like they have in Brum ;(

The building is 1650 sqm, plus a mezzanine of 338 sqm.

Phase one will use 1175 sqm plus the mezzanine.

Phase 2 will use the remaining 475 sqm

We should have the pictures of the rendered designs from Walltopia in the next couple of days which'll give a better idea of the layout

In reply to Redpoint Climbing Centre:

Judging by the postcode on the planning application this is going to be less than 1/2 a mile from Vertical Limit.

I'm torn because it would be great to have a better climbing facility in Worcester but with it being so close and the 'Redpoint Model' being so successful it is clearly going to have a massive impact on VL and more than likely put it out of business. Is this fair? Have RP had any discussions with VL?

I don't see it having an overly large impact on Martley and Evesham as they are climbing walls in successful sport centres.

In reply to dingbat46:

Dont understand why Redpoint need to discuss anything with VL! We live in a competitive market where competition will force both centers to improve service levels! You never know, VL may reduce their entry price and improve the service because of this move, thus giving you a cheaper sessions!!

In reply to Redpoint Climbing Centre:
Good to see something of quality finally come to Worcester and the Worcester area, looks as if you boys and girls are going to be spoilt.

In reply to dingbat46:

It would be sad to see a wall go out of business but Vertical Limit is probably the worst wall I've ever been to. I've tried bouldering there but found the setting poor, with an over reliance on knacky moves and friction paint. And the combination of dirty holds, poor lighting and having really similarly coloured holds on the same bit of wall just made it hard work to even figure out what I was supposed to be climbing!

I'm in Worcester quite a bit for work so I can't wait for the new Redpoint. Hopefully it will save me having to drive to Boulder Central to get some midweek training in.

In reply to dingbat46:

Vertical Limit is awful - the only worse wall I've been to was the old wall at Exeter University sport's centre. They've had years in which to improve and make a decent go of it, but have rested on their backsides as the only wall of any size in the area. If they ran a decent centre, Redpoint wouldn't be coming to Worcester - the city's too small to support two good walls.

In reply to Redpoint Climbing Centre:

Fantastic news for Worcester and the surrounding areas.

Great to see that private organisations are investing in the City and providing another sporting venue for not only the local people but also the growing number of students at Worcester Uni.

Good luck to them

In reply to climbingpixie:

Below about v4 I've always thought the setting was pretty dire, good above that though. Be sad to see them go (but not enough to not get a redpoint membership!)

In reply to whenry:

To be fair VL has improved a lot over the past few years, at the start of last year they doubled the size of the bouldering area, they're currently replacing the non-climbing areas (new changing rooms, new reception, adding a cafe), and even before the redpoint announcement were in the process of buying the unit next door so they can expand the wall. In my opinion the route setting's generally pretty good these days as well. If you don't like routes that use friction paint why not climb on the half of the wall that's smooth?

It does seem pretty cheeky of redpoint to put their new wall right next to the existing one.

In reply to Redpoint Climbing Centre:

I personally am pretty excited about this and think it'll be great to see another wall in Worcester. If you look at the Red Point Worcester's Facebook page, the designs look great, the shapes of the walls look like they belong at a Red Point climbing centre and the bouldering looks vast. All in all I have a very good vibe about this project.

In reply to Redpoint Climbing Centre:

I think this looks like a great project. Worcester is a really central area and there are a lot of climbers around as well as all the uni students. The uni also has a popular outdoor education course. I will be dropping in for sure