Catherine had taken the kids to Clip n Climb Cramlington a few months ago as part of a Rainbows trip. For the Rainbows visit the centre was booked out as a private hire. Both Abigail and Imogen loved it and were desperate to go back. So we needed no persuasion to go back, when our friends The Speeds came up from Great Yarmouth to visit. This time we were visiting as 4 climbers as part of the crowds.
Clip n Climb Cramlington
Clip n Climb is a climbing wall experience that updates the climbing wall concept. The walls are not just rock-work with over hangs and realistic crevasses to traverse. Here the Climbing Walls are acrylic back boards with brightly coloured themed designs.
Entrance is priced according to your age. Under 8s are £8, while 8 – 17 year olds are £12. As we both had a child in each pay zone it was £20 per family. 18 years and over can also climb for £15, which might be a fun option, but in the school holidays I think a 37-year-old would just stop the fun for the young ‘uns.
We’d booked in for the 2.00pm session, which meant we had to be in the briefing room for then. The longer we waited in the room the more nervous the kids were getting. Catherine had decided to grab a table to gain a viewing point, for when it was climbing time. As it was peak Easter Holidays time, tables were scarce and so was walking around space!
The Red and White pillar in the middle is the Leap of Faith, which costs an extra £2.50. You need to get a token for this. While we were waiting a young lad started to climb the Leap of Faith. We could watch this through the glass frontage on the room. It was a treat to see him build up the courage to climb the tower. Then edge along the little wooden “diving board”, then psyche himself up to leap at the white and read punch bag. He must have tried to jump 8 times without lifting his feet off the platform.
Our group leader arrived, gave us the safety briefing, harnessed up the kids and it was time to climb.
As I’d not been on the last visit I was in amongst the action. Helping Abigail and Imogen, while Chris and Jaime (The Speeds) helped their two girls (Emily and Mollie). As you can see from the photo above, the climbing walls look as exciting as the soft play next to it.
Imogen started on a wall that was stainless steel with plastic pipes hanging off it. Visually I thought it looks amazing with the lighting inside.
Abigail, tried many walls, but instead of climbing to the top, her approach was to get about 8 foot off the ground then leap off. The harnesses are connected to a safety winch that lowers you to the ground slowly.
Emily really got into the climbing and reached the top of many walls. It took a little time to get the confidence to reach the top as these walls are really high.
Clip n Climb Cramlington Video
We decided to try to record the experience. I’d bought some head cameras and thought it would be interesting to see the experience from the kids point of view, but it was nearly all close-ups of the wall!
So, we edited up the following video.
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