The highly-anticipated new Awesome Walls Sheffield will open at the end of September, in time to host the British Lead Climbing Championships on the 5^th and 6^th of October. After inspection the BMC have announced that the wall is eligible for the new status of National Performance Centre (NPC). 

Dave Turnbull, Chief executive of the BMC said:

The 12.5-metre overhanging wall at Awesome Walls Sheffield will be a tremendous new facility for national competitions and top-end training; the competition wall is the primary reason for the BMC granting the National Performance Centre title. We look forward to the first major test for the new wall – the British Lead Climbing Championships on 5/6 October.

There is no other wall in England that matches the main wall for height and steepness, being 15 metres in height, overhanging by 12.5 metres and 23 metres in length. It’s planned that this area will always be set with hard routes – on the steepest section the grades will range from 7a+ to 9a. The competition area also includes a 'speed wall'.

The BMC established the National Performance Centre designation in 2012 to encourage the development of climbing walls capable of running national and international competitions. NPCs will be flagship facilities in British climbing and operators will work closely with the BMC and the GB Climbing Team to run the facility not only as a successful climbing centre but also as a high standard competition-climbing venue. NPCs will have an important role in providing training facilities for GB Team members and top-end climbers.

GB climber Ed Hamer, the first ‘Awesome Athlete’ to receive direct sponsorship from Awesome Walls, will contribute to the centre by running master classes and setting routes. On his first visit to the new wall, Ed commented:

‘It's the largest wall I've ever seen and I've seen quite a few from my travels! The opening in September can't come fast enough.’

We asked Dave Douglas, director of Awesome Walls, what the BMC accreditation meant to him personally:

‘To be able to build a climbing centre that addresses the requirements of the BMC's National Performance Centre was no easy task. It was stated that I should look at the examples of walls that have been built in Europe that already host the IFSC competitions. These walls in question are massive, and have been built by the local government – not privately operated like Awesome Walls Sheffield will be.

‘From the outset there was no guarantee that I would be given the title, but I knew that I had to give it my best shot and create a climbing centre that would not only tick all the boxes but more importantly stand the test of time for all climbers – not just the elite competition squad. We're now in the final stages of building what can be ultimately classes as a truly ‘Awesome’ venue – Awesome by name, Awesome by nature!’

As the wall speeds to completion, extra facilities have been added including two slack lines, with a third to be added later in the year, and a top floor mezzanine specifically for classes such as yoga and pilates, and stretching and physiotherapy.

Here are some more photos of the construction taken in August: