Construction is underway in the city of Southampton for a new state-of-the-art indoor climbing centre offering 25,000 square feet of world-class climbing. As its centrepiece Parthian Climbing Southampton will house a carbon copy of the Olympic bouldering wall that will feature at the 2021 Tokyo Games. This will be the only wall of its kind in Europe ahead of next Summer's Olympics.
Designed and built by the official Olympic climbing wall supplier Entre-Prises, the centre will include extensive climbing walls allowing visitors to enjoy bouldering, roped climbing; both top rope and lead; auto-belays, and even the new Olympic discipline of Speed Climbing where climbers can duel against each other in a race to the top. For those in need of a mid-climb pit stop to refuel, the centre will also have a cafe and shop stocked with the latest gear.
Whilst experienced climbers can leap straight onto the brand new facilities, those taking their first steps into the sport will be able to access expert instruction and coaching from some of the most qualified and experienced instructors in the UK. Parthian Climbing Southampton builds upon a long legacy of nurturing climbers to develop in the sport, with all ages able to access the National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme (NICAS) within a passionate and inclusive environment at Parthian Climbing's existing centres in Manchester, Reading and Harrogate.
Parthian Climbing is the new brand name for the Climbing Centre Group who have been enabling climbing for everyone since 2005 and the Southampton site will offer cutting edge facilities for a new generation of climbers in the region.
CEO of Parthian Climbing, John Dunne says: "We are hugely excited to share news of our new Parthian Climbing venture that brings together our existing centres with a new state-of-the-art venue in Southampton. Our team is passionate about all elements of climbing and look forward to welcoming new and experienced climbers to enjoy our new centre at Adanac Park."
Steve Hilton, Director of Entre-Prises UK says: "The Climbing Centre Group has led the way for full service climbing walls for nearly two decades and we are delighted to be working with John and the team in creating the most exciting climbing project in the UK as they enter a new chapter with Parthian Climbing. It is a really exciting time for Entre-Prises with our walls featuring at the upcoming Olympics and we are proud to bring some of the magic of the world's biggest sporting event to the UK."
Indoor climbing is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK over recent years due to its ease of accessibility and friendly and inclusive climbing community.
All Parthian Climbing centres comply with the latest Covid-19 health and safety guidelines. The venues are spacious, well-ventilated with extensive hygiene measures to ensure participant wellbeing.
The centre is expected to open its doors to customers in Spring 2021 and will be recruiting now to fill new job positions. Those interested can find out more information at www.parthianclimbing.com.
Comments
Wow, that looks nails with all those blank walls. The holds must be incredibly small as I just can't make them out!
AHA, at last. I've been wondering for years when MCC were going to sort their shit out and get a brand. Much as I despise marketing bullshit, it was so obvious that they needed to change from three seemingly unrelated brands into one decent brand that people might recognise. Like, to take the obvious examples "Awesome" and Depot.
And now indeed after years of losing ground to them, they have named it......
How beautifully apt.
The move towards standardisation is interesting. I am not sure how replicas of Olympic problems relate to the core customer base though. I fear this could become a pretty feature to state at and say "wow".
There won’t be copies of the problems they will be climbing at the Olympics (that would sort of defy the point of the bouldering comp!), they will just have panels that are the same design as those appearing in the Olympics. Nothing to stop these being covered in easier problems alongside some comp style problems.
Having had a go on the speed wall at Warwick, I will pleased to have a speed wall closer to home. I was no way near to any sort of competition time, but it's surprisingly good fun!