38 Climbing
The Arch, Bermondsey
Enjoyment - 75%
Success - 35%
Will try again - Yes
First timer’s recommendation – Go with someone who’s been before, make sure you shoes are uncomfortably tight, and get some chalk for your hands.
I got a home gym chin up bar thing for my birthday last year which I have been using to try and keep in reasonable shape throughout the year. So it seemed a logical choice to try and use some of that improved but limited upper-body strength to try climbing. The Arch in Bermondsey is a pretty laid-back facility; turn up and sign a disclaimer and away you go. The highest walls seemed to be about three metres, so you couldn’t do yourself too much damage, but I liked the minimum fuss and prep. All the walls had colour-coded routes, with a ranking like you would get on ski runs, but with green being the most difficult. I started on the green spots, which was the easiest and went up through the tiger pattern, black and tried a blue, which was about medium difficulty.
I was there with my brother who has been going for a few weeks and said it was quite a satisfying sport as you improved quite quickly, as long as you gave yourself enough recovery in-between. What I also liked was the freedom to try different walls and routes, and there was a good atmosphere there and a wide range of abilities which meant that as a beginner you didn’t feel out of place (see gymnastics entry). The centre was packed on a hot September day and after just over an hour, with aching forearms and fingers we called it a day.
After surfing, this is the second of four new sports making an appearance in the Olympics for the first time in Tokyo in 2020; the others being karate which is on my list, and skateboarding, which I will have to add now to complete the set. Baseball is also making a re-appearance due to its popularity in Japan, so come the World Series and inevitable taster days, I will give that a try as well.
