UKC

I'd like to take my 5yo niece bouldering at a wall in Bristol. She's never been before and I've never been to any climbing walls here - where should I take her?

I would go to Bloc, loads of room, bright and airy, good coffee, parking OK  ( go round the back through the coffee roasters unit). They have a clip and climb section as well with fun stuff for the kids. 

Thanks.

I’d take a child to Flashpoint or TCA over Bloc any day of the week. There always seems to be some sort of visible risk whenever I’ve gone there. Flashpoint is also a shared space with Freedog, so it’s kind of geared up for 5 yr olds a bit better than TCA in my opinion. 

Go to Flashpoint/Freedog though and surely any self respecting five year old will walk past the boring climbing wall to the massive room full of trampolines? 

Morning Campers,

May I be so bold as to suggest TCA's The Arc in Chippenham. Definitely not in Bristol but not far. It has a boulder room geared towards kids, another boulder room and a roped wall with 6 auto-belays in case that takes your collective fancy. There's also a skatepark and an excellent playground outside too. In our house, we call it 'the family wall'. Our two sprogs (5 and 8) love a bit of an Arc Grand Tour.

Having said that, we had a very nice time at TCA Mothership in Bristol last week (great cake), and several problems for the kids but it did all feel.more grown up and less kid-tastic than The Arc, if ya know what I mean.

Chur, Team

Joyce

I've not climbed in Bristol for a couple of years but TCA and Flashpoint were the better climbing walls, depending on which side of the city you're on. 

Having said that, if it was for a kid I would be inclined to say that Bloc was better. 

You won't go too wrong with any of them though; all good walls with lots of climbing. Maybe go with the one which is least annoying in terms of signing up/day passes/signing kids in (because it can be outrageously time-consuming and expensive for a one-off).

I climb regularly at TCA as an adult but think it's pretty poor actually for a 5 year old (I have a 5 and 3 year old), lots of it is steep and very few problems where they can reach between the holds.

Bloc is a bit better, more slabby/vertical, some circuits for shorties, and a small section focused on kids.

Redpoint has a bouldering section which is great for kids with some easy traversing and a children's tunnel inside the wall. There's not loads of it but it's plenty for a visit. There's loads of easy top roping if you have a childs harness and plan to do that. 

Visible risk? I'm intrigued.