Climbing high at Clip & Climb

This weekend I was looking for a little indoor adventure for the family whilst the wind howled and the rain came down, After a bit of deliberation we booked in for a spot of climbing at Clip n Climb.

Climbing of any sort is something that no one in the family had done before so we weren’t sure what to expect…I was nominated to climb with my daughter, a fearless 6-year-old daredevil who was so excited at the prospect, me on the other hand entered the centre with a little more trepidation!

The first thing that hit me on arrival was the sheer scale of the place and the bright colourful climbing walls, it looks fantastic! Ella, my daughter stood open mouthed which is a first, not normally a child lost for words. I think it may have crossed her mind that she bitten off more than she could chew!

We were greeted by Ellen, which was the best thing that could have happened! The brightest of smiles and a genuinely warm welcome. I’m sure she saw the worry lines creasing my brow and immediately set to explaining all there was to the centre, what we could expect and allaying any of this Mum’s fears. She also had such a nack with the kids, really engaging them. In fact, the more staff that we came across from our first intros, to our safety briefing and then to our actual session in the climbing arena were excellent, highly skilled and so friendly!

Our climb was with a mixed bag of other families. Ages ranged from the younger kids of 4 right through to a few teenagers and adults who all looked as daunted as I did! All were let loose following a harness fitting and safety briefing and demo where we learnt how to clip our harnesses on and off the climbing walls, staying safe within the arena and also how to dismount, basically a jump off the wall!

All the climbing walls are numbered 1-3, 1 being classed as the easiest, with 2 moderate and then 3 blooming difficult! So where do you think we both gravitated to on our first climb? That’s right, the 40 something went straight to a ‘No 1’ and the 6 year old headed to a ‘No 3’ which I proudly watched her scale, giving it everything she had to get up it. She moved from wall to wall irrespective of the difficulty egged on by the roaming staff on the floor who gave tips and advice. It’s worth noting, they gave me just as much help as the kids and before long I was scurrying up some of the easier walls like a rat up a drainpipe…ok, probably not that quick but it felt like a real achievement! Not the sportiest person, I might normally shy away from these kind of activities, passing the buck to my husband, but I am so glad that I didn’t on this occasion. I got so into the climb, just like my daughter, and couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed the hour’s climbing, I even got a sticker at the end!

It's not hard to see why Clip n Climb has a Trip Advisor Travellers Choice Award and is rated as excellent. It’s an attraction that is both challenging and immensely fun, we’ve not laughed together like that in ages! It was that good that as we were leaving we booked Ella’s birthday party in for next month. We’ll be back and seriously recommend to anyone looking for some family fun in the school holidays!

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