The Climbing Works is now registered as a Learning Destination with The Children's University. This means all children who come to The Works can gain points for their Learning Passports.

What is a learning Passport?

The Learning Passport is a nationally recognised award scheme that encourages children and young people to take part in learning activities out of normal school hours.  Research by the University of Cambridge indicates that keeping a record and celebrating participation in these activities through the Children’s University has a big impact on success at school.

There are lots of fun and exciting activities taking place outside of normal school hours in different places across Sheffield where children and young people can collect learning credits. These credits will be added to the ones children collect in school to earn Children’s University Awards. To collect these credits, they need a Passport to Learning.

How can your child get a Learning Passport?

Great news!  During the month of February 2012 only, all Sheffield children and young people can get a Children's University Passport to Learning for Free (normally £2 each) by going along to a Learning Destination and taking part in an activity.  Don't miss out - get your Free passport now from Sheffield libraries and start collecting your learning credits at The Climbing Works

To find out more about Learning Passports and other Learning Destinations here.

If your child already has a Learning Passport and climbs at The Works then please email michelle@climbingworks.com so your child can be put on the Learning Destination register and start earning points straight away.

If you would like your child to participate on one of our after school kids clubs then find out more information here

Climbers are known to be a suspicious lot so it was rather a surprise to see a massive crowd of competitors at Round 3 of the Evolv Bouldering League that was held on Friday 13th January. The only unlucky thing that occurred for any competitor was the realisation that Percy & co had set a rather hard set of blocs for this round.

Dave Barrans did his usual thing of turning up and basically flashing nearly all of the problems leaving every one else wondering what other excuse they could make as the bloc was no longer impossible....nor was it sizest. Dave cruised the mens cash problem and would have walked away with the £125 cash if it wasn't for that pesky American Alex Puccio. Alex dispatched both the Men's & Women's (supposedly a harder bloc than the Mens) cash problems and walked away with a tidy sum to spend on her travels home.

You can see the full results of Round 3 as a pdf here and the total scores after 3 rounds as a pdf here. We score the best 3 out of 4 rounds to decide the winner of the Evolv Winter bouldering series so its all to play for in the final round on Friday 17th February. We will announce the winners of the Evolv prize draw tomorrow so keep an eye on the blog to see if you've won a pair of Evolv shoes (only open to those who handed their scorecards in. Unlucky for the large amount of non hand-ins. Make sure to give yours to reception next time!)

You can also view a full gallery of images from Round 3 on our picasa site here>>

It's the start of the year and everyone will be down the wall trying to work off those extra few ounces/pounds/stone. So that means all of the walls should be changing their routes and problems. That means they have loads of holds to clean.

So to help out our fellow wall owners we have negotiated a discount on our latest order and being the nice chaps that we are we are passing the discount on to our customers.

So until the end of the BUCS (Universities Championship) on 17th March 2012 we are offering 10% discount on any orders up to and including 5 tubs. And to reward our loyal customers orders of 6 or more to a single delivery address will get 20% discount.

Orders of 1-5 tubs can be done online.

To order 6 or more you need to give us a ring (0114 250 9990) as our website can't cope with variable discounts.

The railway bridge at the bottom of Woodseats Road opened last night. Hurray!

It is still traffic light controlled but at least you can get in and out of The Works without the massive diversion and queues.

Apologies for the delay in getting these up on the website. Remember round 3 is on Friday 13th January (unlucky for some possibly...)

Round 2 results>>

Overall results after 2 rounds>>

The ever popular adult improver sessions

The Adult Improver sessions have returned back around to the beginning of their 8 Week session blocks with a different focus topic each week. All the dates and session are listed below:

week 1 – 4th Jan - Movement and Balance

week 2 – 11th Jan - Route Reading

week 3 – 18th Jan– Footwork              

week 4 –  25th Jan - Arêtes and Volumes (Advanced Improvers - Slopers)

week 5 – 1st Feb – Crimps

week 6 – 8th Feb - Steep Ground

week 7 – 15th Feb – Slopers                      

week 8 – 22nd Feb - Challenge Night      

Ideally beginners (those who have just completed the adult induction or have very limited climbing experience) will start from week one and work their way through the different topics.

Once you have completed all the topics you should have a good understanding of the basic fundamentals skills for climbing. This will then help you work through our coloured circuits.

Each focus topic will be advertised at reception and on the website so if you are climbing up to Font 6b+ and would rather not complete all 8 weeks, you can to join in on any of the topics you feel you would like to learn and improve on.

At the end of the 8 weeks, we will then go back to our first topic. Of course if you miss a session you can always return when that topic is due to catch up!

The work on the bridge at the bottom of Woodseats Rd is not finished - the bridge was due to re open today but work has been stopped due to the high winds.

We don't know when the road will be open again so you will need to look at alternative routes to get to The Works.

From Abbeydale Road the options are either:

- get onto Little London Road from Broadfield Road - accessed from the lights near the Broadie

or

- go down Langdale Road, which is opposite Carter Knowle Road, turn left at the end and then right onto Little London Road. Langdale Road is however a one way street so you can't get back to Abbeydale Road this way, you will have to go down Little London Road and back to the Broadie lights to get back onto Abbeydale Road.

We will keep you posted as to when the normal access is open.

Last November The Climbing Works held a friendly bouldering competition organised by Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) for the paramedics that operate in the Yorkshire area, the event was open to participants of all abilities from complete beginners to regular climbers.

This year YAS are looking to hold a similar event during the summer and would like all local emergency and NHS services to be involved. We know many members of The Climbing Works are among those who work in these services so if you are interested in participating please leave your details below.

The format of the comp hasn’t been decided as of yet but will probably be a teamed and individual competition.

We are now taking BOOKINGS for the very popular children's session SPIDER MONKEYS which returns to its usual Saturday morning slot on the 3rd April 2011

These sessions are for 7 - 9 year olds and ideal for children that have little or no climbing experience and want to come climbing on a weekly/fortnightly bases or for those who would like a one off taster session.

Sessions are run by our qualified instructors and focus on the basic FUNdamentals of climbing, learning balance, co-ordination and strength skills through games, challenges and of course, lots and lots of climbing.

Session details:

Sessions run from: The first Saturday in April - last Saturday in October

Time: 9.30am - 10.30am

Cost: One-off session - £8 per session

           Book monthly   -   £7 per session

All costs include equipment hire, to book a place or for more detail please contact reception on 0114 250 9990

For Easter Holiday events please click here

This week saw a new 41 problem Wasp circuit go back up onto the circuit walls at The Climbing Works. This gives you 11 circuits to play on, from Font 3 to Font 7c. The competition wall is currently getting built and you can keep up to date on that progress on our blog and view pictures on our picasa album. The wall will re-open at The CWIF on 5th March 2011. Make sure to register asap to avoid disappointment.

Latest circuit topo>>