UKC

Hi, I'm Lincoln based. We have an indoor wall, though it's small and short and lacks expansion room (the setting is good most of the time, and the staff decent). I've heard the odd rumor over the years about planning for a purpous built facility but nothing's ever come to fruition. Is there anyway to go about attracting new investors? We have growing student population, so I imagine the city could support a bouldering facility, but Lincoln seems to regularly fall short when it comes to supporting such things.

The current wall is run by the YMCA and in my opinion is set back by lack of height and room to expand into, I don't want to see it go out of bussiness but at the same time think the city could be better catered for.

How long's a piece of string? If you mean an impressive high climbing wall, probably not, but there are many excellent bouldering walls about, and they can more easily make use of old factories and warehouses etc, that sounds far more feasible.

I suggest you get on a train (in a covid secure way) to London and visit Vauxwall East, Vauxwall West and Arch climbing wall building one l, to see 3 very different buildings used for bouldering gyms. While you are there make estimates of how many square feet they use and you can do some maths on commercial property costs back in Lincoln, on your train journey back.

I had more of a bouldering wall in mind tbh (ideally with a circuit board/training area). It's not something I am able to invest in myself, but was wondering if any parties were interested or had hear any rumours.

As for potential properties I think lincoln cost can be pretty high compared to Sheffield and every square meter of spare land seems to be dedicated to student accommodation atm.

Is that the wall at The Showroom on Tritton Rd. I was working in Lincoln when it opened, although I thought it had closed down and they sold the boards off. I obviously got the wrong end of the stick.

Unless things have changed, it was very quiet. We went a few times, but eventually started driving back to Sheffield to the walls. Concluded with changing jobs and moving back to the Peak. I’m not sure there’s the critical mass there to support a commercial bouldering wall over there unless the Uni is attracting a large climbing community. Maybe use the Showroom, and augment it by renting a small unit with mates and building a Schoolroom type training facility for yourselves?

I had a look at unit renting (so have others I believe), but with the annual fees + cost of building a wall / system boards soon make it prohibitive unless ran as a bussiness.

There are plenty of climbers (many currently drive to Sheffield and Nottinham for the Depot) though not that many who are actually serious about training.

Even Louth is better catered for as far as a bouldering facility goes! Oh and Newark is meant to have a bouldering, climbing and Olympic standard speed climbing facility ready for next year, which is 15 miles away but as of yet I don't know what the layout will be or how big it'll be.

From watching the York bouldering wall grow they do seem to be feasible where there isn't a big existing climbing population but where there are enough people and importantly younger people, students are great. Bouldering walls offer a very low bar to participation: basically a briefing, credit card, rented shoes and you're away. You can grow your own climbers so long as the early years operating costs are under control and there are enough existing climbers to see you through. As I see it the problem after surviving the startup is outgrowing the expensively custom fitted out premises making your site unattractively overcrowded and offering up your carefully cultivated clientele to a newer shinier start-up sized to suit the city's booming climbing community. Here they knocked through into a neighbouring unit at that point saving the cost of a full relocation and re-fit.

jk