UKC

Hi all,
Quick question... 7 / 8 metre high lead / toproping climbing wall..would you bother?

In reply to BOOGA:
downstairs at the castle is about that, so plenty of people do.

In reply to BOOGA:

why bother with a 2 metre bouldering wall!

In reply to talon_guy:
Bouldering is different. Leading, I'm looking to pump out and climb to failure. Can that be done on a 7 metre wall? I havent climbed on one, just a mate was talking about a place and it struck me as being quite small for a roped wall.

In reply to BOOGA: Lead harder routes then? Personally I don't bother leading but stop at natural points to pretend to clip a quickdraw and have a fiddle about a bit to simulate having failed at clipping correctly. As on the rare occasions I do sport I have to place my quickdraws as I go.

In reply to BOOGA:

I don't know how high Keswick climbing centre is but it must be at least 7m.

I found it too small and squeezing the grade into the small route meant they really packed a punch. I got scared because the crux was so close to the ground I didn't have the guts to push it.

In reply to BOOGA: yeah?!
might sound pretty low but when the crux move is on a slight overhang and you have a minute pinch for your right hand,a two finger pocket for the left and naff all for your feet-getting to the top still feels bloody good!

In reply to BOOGA:

7 metres...that's bouldering at Mile End

In reply to BOOGA: No, I wouldn`t bother, but thankfully I live somewhere I only get desperate enough to go inside maybe one day a year.

In reply to BOOGA:

7/8m? I wouldn't bother!

In reply to BOOGA: its always possible to give yourself a good workout on a wall of 7/8 metres you just have to think a little and no these are not bouldering walls. quantity does not always mean quality, small can be just as good if used correctly.

In reply to BOOGA:

Depends entirely on how good the route setter is in my experience.
Many parts of my local wall are only 7-8m high; if the route has been set poorly then it can feel like it's over far too quickly, but if it has been set well then it packs a lot of moves in to the short height and can feel like it's twice the height.

In reply to Byronius Maximus:

7m can provide a great challange for novices.

In reply to grhgrant:

Absolutely; it can provide a great deal of challenge for anyone!

In reply to BOOGA:

it depends how many times you climb up and then down the same route!

7-8 metres....height of a lot of gritstone routes.

In reply to BOOGA: Depends what you go to the wall for I suppose. I would much rather climb outside but when I do go to the wall I still want some excitement/height/exposure so get very bored on a small wall.

I have the option to go to two walls near me, Kendal wall is much higher, I still get a buzz climbing to the top of the lead wall and it is good for endurance and strength. I have also climbed at Keswick wall but personally i find it pretty dull.

In reply to daveyji: You can't possibly compare climbing 7/8 metre gritstone route with a similar sized indoor climbing wall though can you!? I can't anyway.

In reply to CragRat11:

You probably could if the route setter was good enough.

In reply to timjones:
While you can't compare leading outside to inside you tend to get more sustained routes indoors. So in terms of "workout" I think grade for grade indoors is more strenous.
I recently spent a couple of months with no indoor climbing as I was outside a lot. When I then climbed indoors I found I had become weaker.
So yes it is worth climbing 7 metre walls indoors if they are well set.

In reply to daveyji: You are absolutely right, climbing indoors tends to be more sustained and gives you a better work out. With the exception of climbing on a steep sport crag all day which I suppose is comparable. But as I said at the start, it all depends what you go to the wall for, the enjoyment or the muscles, and I like to think that it is still possible to get some enjoyment out of a climbing wall.

In reply to BOOGA:

Erm, yes. What a strange question.

Just out of interest, how many walls are there that are actually taller than that, Ratho aside? Off the top of my head I've climbed at Alter Rock (Derby), the Warehouse (Glos), St Werburgh's (Bristol) and The Mill (Devon). Of those, it was only the taller routes at Bristol which used significantly more than half our 30m indoor rope to lower off.

In reply to BOOGA:

Err.... yes definitely. Many walls are only that high around here. It's fine. The routes tend to be have harder moves for the grade to compensate for the length, so you get a good work out. If you want longer routes for fitness, then people do laps.

In reply to BOOGA:

I'm not sure I understand the question, I definitely wouldn't climb that high without a rope but if there was a higher wall available I'd probably just climb that instead unless there were some particularly good routes on the 7m wall.

In reply to BOOGA: I am more forgiving of a wall being short on the basis that it is just training. I can't get too excited about routes of less than 10 metres and in the past tended not to bother with them. More recently however and because I am desperate to maintain my standard I have started treating short routes in the same way i.e. training. In my head I still don't consider them "real" routes.

Al

In reply to BOOGA:

Yep. If it was convenient. Might be easier as a top rope wall so route setters can pack in the hard moves and not worry about people decking out. I think there's some sort of standard/guideline about bouldering walls not going beyond 4.5-5m or so so insurance etc would get tricky for that.

In reply to BOOGA:

8m is bigger than a lot of the Grit. A well set, well bolted 7-8m wall making full use of moves off the floor and the final moves would pack in a fair bit of climbing. If you want to train stamina then climb back down or lower and repeat. Harrogate can't be much over 8m and that's an excellent wall.

So yes, I would bother but if I were designing a wall I'd try to find a space with 12+m to build into.

jk

In reply to BOOGA: Consider this, 6b+/6C lead climbing on a 20m wall feels safe as houses. That feeling of exposure from being real high, like climbing at ratho or awsome at stockport is kind of diminished for me by the cool knowledge that your fine if you fall! Replicate those moves just off the deck and your suddenly papping it! Don't get me wrong, you cant get the same work out from a small wall but you certainly can get a different one that isn't necessarily worth ignoring. Thats just ignorant, perhaps a little unimaginative. Especially when you consider the wall i think is being discussed costs only £4.50 entry with a £2.50 one off membership. Small stature has its advantages!

In reply to BOOGA:
I split my time between West View in Preston (8m lead wall) and MCC (23meter lead wall). TBH I don't get as much enjoyment from climbing the shorter walls, but the training benefit can be the same. I tend to lead one route, down-climb the next and top-rope up a third on the same panel. This seems to do the trick for developing stamina.

To get the same grade on a shorter wall they make the moves harder, which can be frustrating if like me, youre not an excellent boulderer, as I tend to get shut down on individual moves as much as get pumped if going for a single route; but if you're willing to drop the grade and do more reps in quick succession you can have a good beneficial session; so I guess my answer is short walls are not as fun but the training benefit can be the same: It just depends why you climb indoors.

In reply to BOOGA:

7/8 metre high rockface would you bother? - yes many thousands do, it's called Gritstone.