Blog

These shiny mats are a real treat for this week's project. Padded joins cover the gaps when they're in use, and when they're not they fold neatly against the wall. Not to mention the nice soft landing from the top of the wall!

"The climbing wall has been a massive success. All the children love it from the 7-year old Year 3s up to the nearly 12-year old Year 6's. We have a class rota so that everyone gets a fair chance to use the walls but even this causes problems because it means that each of our 12 classes only get to use it about once every 3 weeks. Our supply can't meet demand! All the teachers have taken it in turns to teach their children a number of games and activities they can play in order to get the most use and fun out of the walls and our School Councillors monitor the way it is used and come up with suggestions from time to time. In summary then - it's been a great investment for the school providing fun and structured activities for everyone, and we anticipate this continuing for many years to come."

I just invested in this 14kg breaker... that is, a giant electric concrete breaking machine! To be quite honest I was expecting it to be about a third of the size. This one wouldn't be out of place digging a trans-continental tunnel. Despite this, I am looking forward to testing it on a school playground tomorrow!

As rain brought an end to an exceptionally warm weekend in Sheffield, hundreds of spectators arrived at the Climbing Works for the UK premiere of the Reel Rock Tour. Six fresh new films from an epic winter ascent of Gasherbrum II in Pakistan to a nine-year old tearing up the bouldering scene both indoors and outdoors in the US, with slacklining tricks, night-time ascents and a bit of "healthy" speed-climbing competition in between.

If the feedback from the crowd was anything to go by, this year's efforts surpassed the last - luckily there are further showings coming up in Dublin, London and Bristol, as well as further afield. Check out the link above for more information!