Last Updated on 14 November 2023 by Colette
This post features gifted experiences
Bank holiday Monday morning saw me driving to The Climbing Hangar at Liverpool Matchworks with Ben and Chloe to try out a bit of bouldering! Ben has always loved climbing – he’s constantly up trees, climbing on walls and generally being up where he probably shouldn’t. Chloe, on the other hand, is more cautious. She does like to climb trees, but she doesn’t really like heights. She likes to feel in control and safe (and frankly who doesn’t?)
Ben has tried a couple of climbing walls in the past (there’s one at Beyond and I think he did one at Chester Races last summer!) but Chloe has never been bothered really. However, we tried Clip & Climb last October half term and once she got over her initial fear, and realised she didn’t actually have to climb any higher than she wanted to, she learned to trust her safety harness and had a whale of a time so I was confident that she’d give her bouldering session at The Climbing Hangar a good go.
Our pre-booked indoor climbing session at The Climbing Hanger started at 11am, we arrived just before this and were greeted by John who checked us in and directed us to complete a waiver to say that we have acknowledged and accepted the risks of indoor climbing and have read the rules around using the facilities. (You can actually complete this online before your session so I’ll definitely make sure I do that next time to save time!)
Whilst I was filling in the forms, John sorted the kids out with their climbing shoes (shoe hire is included in your session fee) and then we popped their own shoes into an open locker. There are toilets, changing rooms and showers available (though the showers are currently not in use due to Covid restrictions).
Once the kids were kitted out in their climbing shoes, John showed us around the facilities. He explained the colour coding system, demonstrated how to climb and what the rules and guidelines were for using the walls to make sure they kept themselves and other climbers safe. (Mainly this involved not running, not jumping off walls, being really aware of what was going on around you and sticking to the middle of the mats when you were walking around in case someone nearby fell off a wall and injured you!)
Both kids absolutely loved their climbing experience – Ben was in his element and quickly graduated from the easiest “grey” routes up the walls to the trickier “green” routes or even some “orange”. He seemed to morph into some sort of spiderman-esque creature scaling the walls quickly, pushing up with his legs, finding places for his fingers and generally solving the problem of how to reach the top of the wall. Chlo was slower and more considered, she took her time to work things out, to find her feet and develop her confidence – but as the session went on she got higher up the walls, nailing “grey” paths and moving onto some “green ones”.
After about an hour and a half, it was clear that they had had enough. Their arms ached, their fingers were tired, their concentration had dropped off and they had stopped reaching the top of walls. It was definitely time to take off their climbing shoes and try out the delicious looking locally sourced offerings in the cafe! (Chloe fully recommends the Jammie Dodger blondie, and Ben certainly enjoyed his Oreo brownie too!)
Both kids were absolutely buzzing at the end of their session and before we’d event left the building were talking about when they’d be able to come back!
We love that the walls at The Climbing Hangar are refreshed on a rota every 7 – 8 weeks which means there’s always something new to get your teeth (or perhaps that should say fingers and toes!) into. New routes (or “problems”) up sections of the walls are created and tested by experienced climbers (“route-setters”) every Monday – so if you’re climbing regularly there should always be something you’ve already had a go at and improve on as well as something new to tackle. John explained that some of the members will be climbing four and five times a week so it’s especially important to keep things new and interesting!
Where is The Climbing Hangar?
There are Climbing Hanagers in London, Swansea, Plymouth and Liverpool. Whilst this review focuses specifically on The Climbing Hangar Liverpool Matchworks which is at The Matchworks, 40 Speke Road, Liverpool L19 2RF, lots of the information is relevant to other locations!
How old do you have to be to climb?
Junior climbers at The Climbing Hangar, Liverpool Matchworks have to be age 7 or over (meaning poor Amy missed out by a measly 2 and a bit months this time – but of course this gives us a good excuse to come back!) however The Climbing Hanger, Liverpool Sandhills has a dedicated space for younger climbers aged 4 – 6 years.
How much does it cost to climb at The Climbing Hangar?
Sessions at The Climbing Hangar must be pre-booked and the price includes rental of climbing shoes. Kids (age 7-14) are charged at £7.50 and must be supervised by an adult (strict 2:1 kids to adult climbing ratio so if Amy was actually old enough to climb, Dave and I would both need to be there to keep an eye on them!) Students and concessions are also priced at £7.50 with adults (15 and over) charged at £9.50.
If you live locally and will be visiting the Climbing Hangar on a regular basis, you might want to consider a membership – at £26.99 a month, this flat rate subscription offers unlimited climbing at any time as well as a host of member bonuses and discounts – for adults you need to be climbing at least three times a month to make this good value, for children / students / concessions you’re looking at saving money after four sessions a month.
How long does a session last at The Climbing Hanger?
Climbing sessions should be pre-booked online and last for two or three hours depending on time of day and the day of the week – essentially peak times are shorter sessions so for the best value, during the day mid-week is the win! That said, a two hour session would have been plenty for Ben and Chloe!
The sessions are plenty long enough for you to rest between climbs and plan your next path up the wall – we saw lots of customers sat on the mats, eyeing up the walls and discussing how best to tackle them. (This isn’t something Ben and Chloe particularly did – they just tended to launch themselves up the wall and see what happened, working things out as they went!)
What is bouldering?
Bouldering is a form of rock climbing but stripped right back – so there’s no helmet or safety harness – this is about the shoes, chalk and a safety mat or crash pad. You can read more about the differences between climbing and bouldering here: Climbing vs Bouldering
What should I wear for my bouldering session?
Shoe hire is included in your session fee so your footwear is sorted – and beyond that I would say you need to be comfortable and not too hot. Ben and Chloe were wearing jeans – which didn’t hamper their efforts at all but we agreed they’d be better wearing leggings or close fitting trackies next time. Mostly people seemed to be wearing leggings and vest tops – essentially the sort of sports wear you’d expect for clambering around – nothing too loose that will get in your way, and nothing you’ll get too hot in! Oh and be aware you will probably end up covered in chalk too!
Do I need to have any bouldering experience?
As I mentioned at the start of the post – Ben and Chloe have tried a couple of climbing walls before but bouldering at The Climbing Hangar is a different ball game – there’s no harness to keep you safe, just a wall to wall crash mat (which John was clear to point out doesn’t ensure your safety!). So, of course there is some risk involved and it is your responsibility as the climber to manage and assess this.
At the start of your session (if you are new to The Climbing Hanger) you will be given an induction – essentially a tour of the climbing centre and shown how to use the walls. As I mentioned earlier, these are colour coded according to difficulty from the easiest grey routes to the yellow and pink routes which frankly looked they would have involved a touch of magic to be able to climb! No matter what your climbing ability or experience, you’ll find something to climb at The Climbing Hangar and staff who are happy to support and advise.
How is The Climbing Hangar complying with Covid restrictions
As you’d expect, the team at The Climbing Hanger have been working hard to ensure they follow the latest guidance from the government, UKActive and the Association of British Climbing Walls (ABC) around hygiene and safety procedures making sure that your visit is as safe as possible for you and the staff working there.
As I mentioned above, all climbing sessions must now be pre-booked to help manage the reduced capacity. (You must book a place even if you are only supervising.) The online booking system is super easy and makes it really clear when there are sessions available and how busy they are.
There is a one way system marked throughout the venue with a clear path marked on the mat too. Social distancing guidelines must be observed throughout the building – this means not getting too close to other people climbing as well! The reduced capacity means this really isn’t difficult to do at all – there was plenty of room for everyone when we visited.
As is now the norm, all visitors are expected to sanitise their hands when they arrive at The Climbing Hangar and there’s plenty of sanitiser stands throughout the venue to allow you to do this regularly. It is expected that climbers will use liquid chalk which contains 70%+ alcohol to keep all touch points and hand holds as clean as possible. And of course there is now an increased cleaning schedule and the centre is deep cleaned every night.
Whilst the toilets and changing rooms are open, the showers are currently not in use.
A biocidal shoe spray (proven to kill COVID-19 in minutes) is used to clean each pair of hire shoes before and after ever use.
Is climbing for me?
For me personally? Probably not, I’m quite happy to watch – but the kids? Absolutely. Ben in particular loved it and I think we’ve probably found him a second sport (cycling obviously being his first love!). A two or three hour session at The Climbing Hanger is really good value in my opinion and I absolutely intend to take the kids back – though if Ben wants to climb on a more regular basis we might have to find a local climbing centre as I don’t fancy a weekly 50 minute drive to Liverpool!
Phew, that was a long old post with a lot of information wasn’t it – hopefully I’ve covered everything you need to know but if you’ve got any questions, give me a shout and I’ll do my best to answer or find out!
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