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The Blood is the Life: 26-4-2011
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 10:00 am-
Interesting speculation about what might happen after the referendum
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
Rokt Climbing Gym: first impressions
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 01:58 pm
So, the new climbing wall in my home town has opened its doors, and yesterday me and my dad finally got around to having a look round. They have only opened phase one so far, and well-over half of it is still a building site. Of the bits they have opened so far, though, these are my favourites:
The silos are being opened one by one as they get finished; they're 22 metres high, and we poked our heads through the hatch of the first one and watched someone climbing it. It looked amazing. The bouldering rooms are complete, and AWESOME; the whole floor of each room is one big boingy crashmat, and the walls are custom painted by local graffiti artists - including one with a big Wile E Coyote on :D Oh yeah, and the music yesterday included Hayseed Dixie's version of Walk This Way. So, all-in-all, it's already pretty goddamn amazing. And that's without even going into the huge comfy leather sofas in the chillout area, or the decking outside with a gorgeous view down the river (will have to take pictures of this and post them), or the friendly and helpful staff. Or the 50inch plasma telly in the chillout area which is reputedly going to be used for film nights...
And that's just phase one. We peeked behind the tarpaulin at the building work going on on the 28-33 metre lead climbing wall, and the 27 metre competition wall, and the both look like they are going to be v cool too. This is a place built by climbing enthusiasts, for climbing enthusiasts, and it's RIGHT ON MY DOORSTEP. I couldn't be more excited if Alan Rickman was whispering sweet nothings in my ear...
Another good thing is that once you're accepted by the management as a competent adult (which I am, after filling in a form and doing a little test) you can supervise other people climbing, including children from the age of 5. You can imagine how excited Holly is about this. They also hire out gear - rock shoes and harnesses and such - for anyone who doesn't have their own. Like Holly, for example.
The one problem I have with it (and this is a truly Yorkshire gripe) is the pricing structure. It's Leeds Wall prices rather than Huddersfield Wall prices, and for somewhere that's still largely building site, with no usable lead wall and only a couple of topropes I call that a bit steep. Also they only have pay-per-climb prices so far, and no monthly membership system. I'd love to be able to just finish work, think
The silos are being opened one by one as they get finished; they're 22 metres high, and we poked our heads through the hatch of the first one and watched someone climbing it. It looked amazing. The bouldering rooms are complete, and AWESOME; the whole floor of each room is one big boingy crashmat, and the walls are custom painted by local graffiti artists - including one with a big Wile E Coyote on :D Oh yeah, and the music yesterday included Hayseed Dixie's version of Walk This Way. So, all-in-all, it's already pretty goddamn amazing. And that's without even going into the huge comfy leather sofas in the chillout area, or the decking outside with a gorgeous view down the river (will have to take pictures of this and post them), or the friendly and helpful staff. Or the 50inch plasma telly in the chillout area which is reputedly going to be used for film nights...
And that's just phase one. We peeked behind the tarpaulin at the building work going on on the 28-33 metre lead climbing wall, and the 27 metre competition wall, and the both look like they are going to be v cool too. This is a place built by climbing enthusiasts, for climbing enthusiasts, and it's RIGHT ON MY DOORSTEP. I couldn't be more excited if Alan Rickman was whispering sweet nothings in my ear...
Another good thing is that once you're accepted by the management as a competent adult (which I am, after filling in a form and doing a little test) you can supervise other people climbing, including children from the age of 5. You can imagine how excited Holly is about this. They also hire out gear - rock shoes and harnesses and such - for anyone who doesn't have their own. Like Holly, for example.
The one problem I have with it (and this is a truly Yorkshire gripe) is the pricing structure. It's Leeds Wall prices rather than Huddersfield Wall prices, and for somewhere that's still largely building site, with no usable lead wall and only a couple of topropes I call that a bit steep. Also they only have pay-per-climb prices so far, and no monthly membership system. I'd love to be able to just finish work, think
I fancy going for a climband be able to walk in and go for it without having to scrat about to pay the entrance fee. That said, I'm sure that there will be a monthly membership system set up at some point if there's enough demand, and then I'll just have to go to CEX and sell another load of stuff so I can afford to get it...
Rokt Climbing Gym: Second impressions
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 07:29 pmWent and actually had a play on the bouldering walls at Rokt today. My cuticles are rammed with chalk and my forearms are aching, and I feel great. NEED to improve fitness quite a lot but...
( Here are some pictures: )
We met the two guys who own the place (Hello Leigh and Euan!) who had already read my previous blog post, and they were just as lovely and friendly as the rest of the staff.
And then we went to Sainsbury's, cos, you know, fooooooooooooooood...
( Here are some pictures: )
We met the two guys who own the place (Hello Leigh and Euan!) who had already read my previous blog post, and they were just as lovely and friendly as the rest of the staff.
And then we went to Sainsbury's, cos, you know, fooooooooooooooood...
