UKC

Has anyone else visited this new wall? I went with my family tonight and we really enjoyed ourselves. I am not sure it would have enough hard problems to entertain wads for too long but at my punter level it was great and also good for family members who hadn’t climbed for a year to have some inventive routes that weren’t just jug ladders.  Our vertically challenged teen appreciated that the easy problems weren’t too reachy, but neither did they say ‘kiddy circuit’ all over them!

Staff were friendly as well. Definitely going back.

I was a bit underwhelmed actually, I had kind of hoped it was going to kill of KK but actually it was small, expensive and not open during the day which didn't suit me. I had hoped there might be somewhere to get a coffee, didn't think much of the route setting (for all its limitations KK is actually quite good) and I went with a small kid and it was a total non-starter.

I know this sounds really negative and I can see they are trying (the music is a massive improvement on the other place) but I was just really excited by the prospect of something better than we had and I don't see it is actually that much better and quite a bit more expensive. Maybe I've just been spoilt by London Centres and Cafe Kraft.

I'll probably alternate between the two now but I'm glad I didn't buy an annual membership in advance.

First impressions: I thought it was generally good. It's expensive - like, in the same ballpark as the big London roped walls for a medium-sized bouldering venue - but apart from carping about my personal preferences for wall-angles[1], I can't think of that much that they could have done better with the building that they've got.

Compared to KK there's more space, better music and generally more climber-friendly vibes. They also do shoe hire, which is going to be a massive bonus for clubs and groups.

The routes were good, but I generally find the setting interesting at KK too.

Overall, it's good but I'm not sure how well it justifies the (significant) price premium over KK - I'll probably keep going to both for the variety, but I think in the long run, where I end up most will depend on how busy each one ends up being.

[1] okay - a bit more variety of angles, particularly some sort of cave, might have been nice.

I think they have done a good job with the space - there is lots of variety and the building is light and roomy.  It seems they are still setting up so hopefully time will bring more routes (it felt quite sparse) and further training facilities.    

That said, i'm not sure I can get over the price - especially as the website suggests these will go up again in the near future.  Charging London lead wall prices for a small bouldering venue is a bit cheeky, but perhaps rental/ set up costs force their hand?

As I can train off peak, I think I will be staying at KK for now as they have better angles/ walls for training as a means for outdoors - I was really hoping the new centre would have a proper circuit board...  

Interesting on the price issue which seems to be the main one from other posters (my gripes were probably due to personal circumstances and inflated expectations) I was chatting to a mate from Colchester where a new bouldering venue has opened (and looks excellent). Their introductory offer for annual membership was £225 which is a massive difference. It was for one day only on the opening but still!

Well, if you were hoping for Ratho or the Castle then I can see how you might be disappointed. But I thought it was pretty obvious from the pre-opening stuff that it was going to be a bouldering wall about two or three times the size of KK, so I'm not sure what else you were expecting?

FWIW, they seem to be planning to add some sort of cafe in due course. Also there's a suspiciously Moonboard-shaped panel with no holds on at the moment, and I think they've got a general plan to get a few more circuits up over time.

I wasn't expecting a lead wall, just somewhere to hang out and get a drink. Most of the disappointment comes from the fact that it isn't that much better than KK and it is quite bit more expensive with the implication that it will be getting more so. All they have to do is;

1. Sort out the pricing 
2. Open during the day (the 6.30 mentioned would be great but I appreciate that is tough)
3. Add some sofas, wifi and ideally somewhere to get drinks and possibly food (I'm not bothered about anything other than drinks myself but it might help cover the costs)

I'd be perfectly happy as I would rather go there than KK. I cancelled my membership there in January in expectation but at the moment I can't bring myself to buy membership at Rainbow Rocket because the prices are high but the service isn't there yet. As soon as it is I probably will. 

KK is certainly cheaper, but I had already ruled KK out for family trips because they don’t do shoe hire and I don’t want to buy 3 pairs of shoes that will be outgrown the next time I manage to get them away from the computer (some months). So for me, yes the door price is surprisingly expensive, but still much cheaper than taking them to Harlow or the Castle when you add in the train fares.

Of course if we go more often, the kids could get into it enough to be worthwhile buying shoes, in which case we could start going to KK. It would be ironic if the opening of Rainbow Rocket caused us to become regulars at its competitor!

Ah, okay - I'm not too bothered about somewhere to hang out or whatever because I tend to turn up, climb fairly continuously until I can't climb any more and then go home / to the pub. As it is, I'm basically quite pleased that there's about four times as much climbing space in Cambridge as there used to be, which will hopefully mean  that neither wall gets as uncomfortably crowded as KK as been lately and also the the people at KK might have some encouragement to up their game with regards to things like shoe hire, music and air-con...

Yeah my partner and I had kind of hoped it might be the sort of place we could chill out as a family taking it in turns to watch or climb with the kid whilst the other has a bit of time to climb but I can't see it really working like that. I suppose that would be the case for quite a few walls anyway. Also, I tend to go during the day because of family commitments so the additional space isn't so much of an issue for me. I do hope competition ends up benefiting the consumer.