UKC

I have heard slight rumors about a Sheffield company looking to set-up a new venue in Kendal, is this just pub gossip or any truth in the matter?

In reply to Zone H: hopefully truth?!kendal wall really needs sorting out, compared to alot of the newer walls e.g. works, climb newcastle etc its shit. I just wish theyd sort that dingy bouldering room out and change the routes on the main wall every once in a while,

In reply to rovers123:

Last time i was there staff told me that there are plans to spruce the place up. Extending the led wall up into the next floor and an extension housing an all new bouldering area.

I got quite excited until they said it'd take a couple of years altogether :0(

I was just thinking today that if someone came in with a better option Kendal would empty very quickly.

In reply to Zone H:

The rumours are true. work has already begun on the new bouldering area. it is a very exciting time for kendal wall. we are aware of the current limitations of our bouldering facilities and will be building a modern bouldering area to meet growing demand.

If you would like to have your say and hear about our plans we are hosting an open forum on the bouldering development after our bouldering ladder prize giving at 8pm on Tuesday 30th march.

With regards to the main lead wall. 5 new main wall routes were set last week and we have taken our route turnover down to approximately 4 months.

In reply to rovers123: I do not agree with your assessment of Kendal wall. It may be old fashioned compared to more up to date state of the art walls but it is the quality of the routes that counts. In my opinion the quality of the routes is consistently very good.

In reply to tomhull:

Hi Tom,

can i ask who set the routes for your leading ladder ?
I didn't enter the comp as i don't get down that often but they were a cut above the rest. I think nowadays people are more picky about walls as there are such good ones about with professional route setters.

Once you've visited a 'climbing centre' kendal does indeed look a bit old fashioned. However if routes of the quality of your leading ladder ones were across the board i for one would be well happy.

May be worth spending on that.

Still a nice wall with a friendly atmosphere though.

In reply to Zone H:

There is a load of picky nonsense on this thread, slagging kandal wall off for not being "modern" enough. It is still the best in its locality, there is always something to do there, if you have done everything, then you either; are superman or lack imagination.

When the entry fee rises due to the new developments, I can guess who will be complaining about it.

In reply to Zone H:

Kendal may not feel like the most modern of walls but that doesn't detract from the fact that it has most of what you need to train very effectively - long, very steep routes, short powerful routes, vertical or slightly slabby technical routes, bouldering of all angles from roofs through to slabs all on varied sizes and shapes of holds.

Okay it may not have a campus board and a 45 degree woodie but for the majority of us if you can't train well there somethings wrong.

Its also worth mentioning that the entry fees are very reasonable for a fairly big wall.

Having heard about the new plans for the place I'm suitably excited, even if it might take a while to finish all the work.

In reply to chris_j_s:


There used to be both at Kendal, does this show how backward "modern" walls are?

In reply to 3leggeddog:

Touchy !

1 person has slagged it off. I gave it some constructive criticism but pointed out i'm still happy to visit there. Everyone else has said it's good.

I'm failing to see the "load of picky nonsense".

In reply to biscuit:

A number of people set the routes at Kendal (including the rope ladder routes).

Most of the staff you see in the wall regularly route set, we also have regular routes from Max Biden, Johnny and Stella Adams. Our harder routes are set by Chris Plant and Ian Vickers.

Thanks for the feedback and constructive criticism, its really appreciated.

In reply to Zone H:
I generally don't like the routes at Kendal, I think that while sometimes there are some good ones, alot of the time they can just be boring. It is good for training if what you want to do is sport or trad climb as they are quite sustained generally.
The old bouldering wall was rubbish, and I am glad to hear it is being improved. It would be good to see a (good) 45 in there somewhere. I wouldn't go for a bendcrete style textured wall, but go for a creatively shaped wooden thing with volumes like the modern bouldering walls have.

In reply to biscuit:

My post wasn't meant to come across as touchy, I don't use/care enough about walls to be that bothered. I do however despair when I hear "rufty tufty" climber types complaining that a wall isnt comfortable/nice looking enough for them. Sure walls have improved vastly over their existence but do we have to be cossetted? It is only training after all, since when was tarining comfortable?

In reply to 3leggeddog:

Interesting questions.

Increasingly many new walls are spending money on being plush and having comfortable rest areas, coffee machines, internet access and smart fixtures and fittings. Warm and cleanliness are also a priority.

Mick

In reply to 3leggeddog:
It is only training after all, since when was tarining comfortable?

That old chestnut ;0)

For many it's not. Over Winter i use my trips to Kendal as performance days to see how my training is affecting my climbing.

If you've paid a similar amount to go somewhere that has a nice cafe, rest area, lots more facilities and it's a good temp and looks nice you do begin to see the differences.

I'm not one for being cossetted ( great word BTW ), my training is normally done in an old school dirty, dusty, dry stone wall + bendcrete, windowless wall off of the '80s, but you have to keep up with the neighbours or eventually custom will be lost.

I guess that's the reason Kendal are up grading as much as they can. Shows they listen to, and care, about their customers.

In reply to Zone H: It's worth remembering that Kendal wall is in a town with a population of 24000, while many of the newer bigger walls are in large cities. Kendal will never have as many customers as walls in cities, so it is harder to recoup the costs of big investment.

In reply to butterworthtom: I've got to admit I'm not a fan od the routes at Kendal wall. The wall its self is fine, its got the hight and steepness but on the few occassions I go there I find the routes generaly of a poor quailty. The standard of some of the harder ones in appalling.

In reply to Lord_ash2000:

Opinions always differ. Biscuit said above,

"can i ask who set the routes for your leading ladder ?
I didn't enter the comp as i don't get down that often but they were a cut above the rest. "

Those routes were set by Kendal Wall staff.

Some think the routes are great, others may not.

Go figure.

In reply to Lord_ash2000:


Probably blame that useless Darwen Weasel, Ian Vickers for that. Jeez, £120 a day and he's setting crap routes ANd he's an International Federation of Sport Climbing official route setter.

I blame the parents.

In reply to Zone H: I'd like to chime in to say that I'm usually pretty disappointed with the quality of the 6a-ish routes (that's all I climb at at the moment!) - I often find them a bit boring and seem to lack imagination.

I never used to think it was a problem as that standard seemed to apply to all the walls I'd visited...

...until I paid Boulderuk a visit! It's a bouldering wall but the problems are consistently superb and it made me realise that indoor routes really can be interesting and varied.

So now I compare the routes at every wall I go to to that benchmark.

I know routesetters are usually pressed for time. And Boulderuk is co-run by route-setters (including Ian Vickers), so it's a different situation for them.

It's good to hear that Mr Vickers sets the harder routes at Kendal - I didn't know that. It'll be a great day if I actually climb hard enough to sample them but I'm sure they are excellent.

Any chance you could have him setting the easier routes too???!!

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:


I have a consistent route quality policy.

If i can do it = great route

If i can't do it = crap route

Simples !

In reply to Zone H:

I've only been there the once but thought the bouldering was ok. I've certainly been to much worse walls.

If you revamped with a couple of steeper angles, more volumes and added a 45 board + campus board it would be plenty enough to suit most training needs.

I haven't been there on a winter evening, so imagine it could get quite crowded/hot in the boulder room?