What is the difference between bouldering and rope climbing?

Do I need a partner to go bouldering?

No. That is the main practical difference. Rope climbing usually needs a trained belayer holding the other end, so you need to bring someone or find someone. Bouldering you can do entirely on your own, and plenty of people do.

• Walk in any time we are open - no booking for individuals or small groups.
• It is a sociable sport even when you arrive alone, because everyone is working on the same problems.

How high are the walls?

Ours are 3 to 4 metres, over deep padded flooring. That is the height the whole sport is built around - high enough to be a real climb, low enough that coming off is part of it rather than an emergency.

• The induction covers how to land and where not to stand.
• There are 2 auto-belays if you want to climb something taller.

What is an auto-belay?

A device at the top of a taller wall that takes in slack as you climb and lowers you gently when you let go, so you can rope climb without a partner. We have 2, and they are free with entry.

• Staff will show you how to clip in before you use one.
• A harness for the auto-belay is available here - you do not need to own one.

Which should I try first?

Bouldering, almost always. There is no technique to learn before you start, no equipment to be checked out on, and no second person required. Most people who end up rope climbing started on boulders.

• Climbing shoes and chalk are here to hire.
• The waiver is online at thehold.studio/waivers-code-of-conduct.

Is bouldering harder than rope climbing?

Move for move, bouldering tends to be harder, because a short problem can pack in difficulty that a long route has to spread out. But the entry point is lower: the easiest problems here are set for people who have never climbed.

• Our colour tags run yellow, green, blue, red, black and purple.
• Start on yellow whatever your background.