Bear Rock Bouldering

Home turf. I first climbed in Bear Rock when I was about nine at a friend's birthday party in Primary School and I think I haven't been able to get it out of my head since.

Follow this link  to find out about membership costs.

Pros:
Very well staffed so it feels very safe in there.
If you are a club member you can hire all the gear on club nights.
I hear the overhang on the comp wall is a good one but I am yet to reach that level of climbing.
For rookies like me there are still loads of options for toproping and leading. There are also now auto belay options.

Cons:
The bouldering wall is quite small, see my expertly done panorama, so it is one where you really have to watch out for climbers falling from the sky.

I spend most of my time in the bouldering room. Hours between meetings? Boulder. No bus home for a while? Boulder. Fancy having a sit down somewhere soft? Boulder. Want to be social for a bit? Boulder. Got a problem I just can't stop thinking about? Boulder.

fresher's bouldering competition

On the 30th April, Warwick University Climbing Club held a Bouldering Competition in the Bouldering Room at Bear Rock Climbing Centre on campus. The competition was for everyone fresh to climbing this academic year, and so the one time I have worn the Fresher badge, as calling myself a Fresher at 24 has always felt a bit off to me.

There were 20 new routes set for the competition, and the grades weren't listed so you didn't know whether you were on a VB or a V4. The good thing about this is that you might climb a V3 and not realise it, the bad thing is that there's a chance you could fall of a V0 without knowing.

I arrived promptly at 4 o'clock to begin. I was handed a score sheet and was informed that a member of the exec would have to watch me climb and fill in the score sheet. Panic sets in.

It was busy right from the beginning, so a lot of added pressure with a queue of people waiting to try the routes, and someone literally judging you.

With the unknown grades its very easy to get in your own head too much and overthink what could be a very easy route. There were eye level holds I just didn't see, I didn't give myself enough time to plan the routes, and I found myself making the routes a lot harder that necessary.

When going for a regular climbing session, a mere dab as you start, or a foot slip, an accidental foot on the wrong hand, are all not. big. deals. Pick yourself up and start again, no harm, no foul. But the amount of points you can achieve goes down with each attempt in a competition, which makes you about 27 times more frustrated with yourself for a tiny mistake.

At the end of the competition a list of the grades of the routes go up and you peek through your fingers at them - 'That cannot have been a V1!!' and then 'Oh look didn't take me too many attempts for that V2!'. A real rollercoaster.

Then the results go up. And I did ok. Because I turned up. And I gave it a real good go.

The Ballroom, Coventry

The Ballroom is dedicated bouldering centre in Coventry's city centre. It opened in 2017 and they are consistently resetting routes and undergoing developments.

How to get there:
If you are driving I would recommend parking in Salt Lane Car Park. If you are a Coventry local, get the 11 bus and get off at ___, and if you are coming from further afield, get the train into Coventry and do the 10 minute walk from there as a nice little warm up.

Pricing
How much are you going to have to fork out? The Ballroom is great for beginner boulderers as you pay the £3 membership, £3 to hire some shoes, and then you can pay as you go from there. While there are deals and monthly/yearly memberships, available for purchase, if you don't plan on going very often, or are so new that you don't want to commit to a whole year up front, The Ballroom has you covered.

Facilities
Shop - you can buy shoes, chalk, chalk bags, finger tape, as well as refreshments.
Changing Room and toilets.
Seating Area, benches and comfy seats, with a bookshelf of various climbing books to keep you entertained if you need a break, or are meeting someone there.
There are lockers, and also open cubbyholes, I use the latter and have never had any trouble with this.

What's inside?
Upstairs traverse wall, and children's traverse wall.
Cave
Bridge
In the main room the walls are quite a bit higher than in the bouldering room at Bear Rock Climbing, I have found this is good for working on your fear if you are a little bit afraid of heights.
Wall on incline

podcast/radio recording

raw breakfast with elena and aamena

common climbing misconceptions

1. You can/need to wear gloves
2. It's all about strength
3. It's an expensive hobby
4. You have to be outdoorsy
5. It's easier if you are taller
6. Climbing is a sport/hobby for men

on falling

When you learn to climb, you will learn how to fall. To be signed off as a competent climber you will know how to fall safely. Yes, there is such a thing.

A Top Rope fall - you will barely move in a top rope fall. Your belayer shouldn't have given you much slack with the rope and should have you fairly tight, if you let go of the rope, barely anything will happen. However you should still remember to bend you knees and try to kick off the wall, rather than face planting it and bruising all your limbs.

A Lead fall - A lead fall is slightly different, if you fall whilst lead climbing, you fall to where you last clipped. So the closer to the clip you last quickdrawed into, the less you will fall. To keep your fall as safe as possible, make sure you don't back clip on the way up, try to warn your belayer if you have time,

Everything will be fine if you have a belayer you can trust.

A Bouldering fall- you have a pretty soft landing, so this is arguably the least scary - case in point in the video above. Control it. Be mindful of anyone underneath you (on that note, when you're on the ground, be mindful of people climbing above/around you).

But I'm not going to tell you it's not scary. It is scary. You might scream. You're okay. You'll be fine. But definitely wear a helmet if you outside.

what to wear indoors

People wear all sorts, and sometimes they don't. A lot of men I see climbing forgo any clothing on their upper body.

Personally, I am a woman who is not crazy comfortable without having a lot of my body on show, and I climb better when I'm not worrying about any wobbly bits being in full view. So this post is reflective of that. Above anything, it is important that you can move all of your limbs and that you feel comfortable.

I like to wear a support vest than I can tuck into my leggings, with a looser t-shirt on top. And of course my uber stylish Boreal Jokers, full post on the best beginner climbing shoes here.

Where do I buy my indoor climbing clothes from? I hear you ask...

For cheap and effective leggings and sports bras, Decathlon is brilliant.
For super jazzy leggings Society6 has some amazing ones.
Ivy Park at Topshop or ASOS used to have the best vests with a built in sports bra that I am waiting v impatiently for them to bring back.
T K Maxx sometimes has some hidden gems if you fancy rooting through their hideously put together displays.
Also shout out to my new love Oysho. Very fashun.
For my Midlands massive, you can score a pretty good bargain at the Nike Outlet store at Resorts World. (Just take the train to Birmingham International)

But PLEASE, if you have any recommendations for this shopaholic, please let me know! You can comment on this post, or tweet me @elena_joannides, send me an Instagram DM @elenajoannides, or track me down at uni, or send your answers on a postcard to my PO Box - Miss E S Joannides, haha just kidding I don't have a PO Box, yet...