What is it?
Climbing originated as a practical activity used to move up steep terrain, but it has developed into a multifaceted pastime over the years. It's now practiced as a sport, a recreational activity, for exercise and as an explorational tool, with many people taking holidays to visit naturally good climbing areas outdoors.
What does it involve?
At a base level, climbing consists of using either apparatus or your own body to ascend something otherwise inaccessible. The methods of climbing can vary, and often depend on the type of material one is climbing on, such as ice, nets, ropes, boulders, mountains, trees and buildings!
Why do it and what are the benefits?
Climbing involves a lot of movement, so is great for exercising the entire body! It also improves physical coordination and a whole host of mental attributes such as determination, spatial awareness and concentration.
What equipment do we need?
Trying out climbing generally involve travelling to a specialist venue or hiring an instructor to take a group out into the real world, so it's rare that you will need to provide equipment! However, you should always check with the provider beforehand, and its a good idea to make sure your students are wearing appropriate clothing for the weather and the activity.
Who is it suitable for?
The development of indoor climbing walls can allow young children the opportunity to have a go at climbing in a more suitably controlled environment than outdoors, but in general, all ages should be able to have a go at climbing!
Costs?
Taster climbing lessons shouldn't be too much per person, with a decent price generally between £10-20. Full day experiences or a course of lessons will vary a lot more, so check out the venues around you thoroughly.
Issues/Things to think about? (unsuitable for age groups, medical conditions etc)
Indoor climbing ranges are reasonably safe with good supervision and medical assistance on hand, but going climbing outdoors could be riskier if you may suddenly need help with a student's medical needs - bear the needs of your group in mind when deciding what kind of experience to take them on!
How do we include?
There is a rising culture for disability within climbing, and many establishments now have assistance for those with physical and learning difficulties to help them have a go at climbing. Including everyone should be reasonably easy if you can find a venue that can help you!
Doing it abroad?
Mountainous countries will have more natural climbing areas than the UK - an outdoors foreign climbing experience will be exciting for interested students!
Main website:
http://www.ukclimbing.com is the main source of information for UK climbing, but be sure to check out individual venue websites for their specifics.
We are Southampton’s only public indoor rock climbing wall with everything needed to challenge and excite new and experienced climbers of all ages.
Come and climb the 6m high wall with 19 top ropes and over 60 professionally set routes, plus a separate bouldering room with loads of challenging problems to solve.
At High Adventure we offer a wide range of outdoor activities and our professional and dedicated team are here to help you get the most from your visit. Whatever you’re interested in: outward bound, corporate events, adventure centre, outdoor centre or activity holidays we will tailor our activities to suit your needs and ensure that you achieve exactly what you want to gain from your experienc
Beaumanor Hall is a Victorian country house located in Woodhouse, Leicestershire. Set in 34 acres of idyllic countryside, Beaumanor has been run by Leicestershire County Council since the 1970s and offers a whole range of facilities.
Planters Sky Trail Adventure is a high ropes adventure course you wear a cool full body harness and slingline to help you conquer your fears, experience high level thrills and get to the top of our 30ft two-level rope, bridge and beam course.
Based at award winning Planters garden centre, on the border of Staffordshire and Warwickshire (just outside Tamworth).
Thornbridge Outdoors is run by a dedicated team of staff with many years experience and great enthusiasm for the benefits and wonders of the outdoors! Our approach is to find out what you need, understand your objectives and then apply our knowledge and experience to meet your expectations.
Herts Young Mariners' Base has the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge demonstrating high standards in all outdoor adventurous activities. The centre boasts many years' experience of running fun, safe, challenging team building, land and water based activities for schools, colleges and youth groups, with many groups returning year after year.
Outdoor Activity site offering wide range of childrens adventurous activities. Junior Quad Bike Treks through 175 acre woodland, Paintball (aged 8+), High Rope Tree Trekking, Super Swing, Climbing, Target Shooting, Low Rope Challenge Course, Raft Building. Holiday Activity Days, Children's Birthday parties.
Prince's Trust centres currently offer the Fairbridge programme, which is an individually tailored personal development programme combining one-to-one support and group activities.
Originally Fairbridge North Manchester, we became part of The Prince's Trust in 2011.
Striving to bring new opportunities to young people in the local area with our dedicated team of Outdoor Instructors and Youth workers.
We endeavour to provide activities that help to develop skills within a safe & supportive environment.
Dobroyd Castle is a 19th century mansion set high up on the Todmorden moors enjoying some fantastic views of the surrounding area and accommodated up to 285 children. The castle has both architectural and historical significance in the area.
The Ridge provides over 120 different climbs up to 9m and spread across four very different walls, so it provides a variety of different climbing experiences.
The youth club here is solely for kids who have had some training or climbed with parents and want to give it a go alone (under supervision) so the age is less relevant than experience and skill. Not for beginners.
Quad biking fun for all the family, quad parties, family sessions, quad ramble adventures and inflatable quad track hire. Bike sizes to suit from 6 years and up.
We have a selection of bike sizes from 50cc for the little ones with remote cut outs and lanyards, to 100cc for the bigger kids. We also offer 150cc and 300cc machines which are available in the family sessions.
Watermark Experiences creates unique and challenging river adventures for young people aged 12 to 23.
WE are a team of qualified professionals with unmatched experience of leading expeditions to the most challenging environments in the world. WE also run regular UK training courses in kayaking and other adventure activities.
Releasing Potential is a charity, based in Havant, which has been delivering outdoor education since 2001. We began by providing activities in schools to help marginalised young people develop social, emotional and practical skills.
Our aim is to enable young people to develop through taking part in outdoor activities in a fun and safe environment. This simple aim has led us to develop our Centre that rivals commercially run Centres in terms of both facilities and activity provision.
As we are a charity we are able to maintain excellent value for money.
Bring a group to spend a memorable day at one of our Centres, or we can come to you. We can also support DofE groups, BTec / GCSE and provide team building courses for young people or adults.
We provide a wide range of adventurous and challenging onsite and offsite activities to suit all abilities – including the Cube, climbing, archery, abseiling, team building and more! Our campsite and indoor accommodation make Moor House the perfect location for any event.
Radical Services provide fun, educational and stimulating care to young people, in small family style homes. We help them to reach their full potential, with a team of well trained staff, who care and believe that the young person’s voice should be central to the way they work.
Ulley provides students the opportunity to develop new skills in a Safe and Fun environment. Students are encouraged to grow and progress in a time and space that suits their needs, with Learning and Progress at the heart of all the programmes.
Reach Beyond Adventure, based in The English Lake District, offers outdoor adventure activities, organisational and business development, team building, management training, bushcraft skills and challenge events for individuals, teams and organisations throughout the UK.
The Kepplewray Centre occupies a large Victorian mansion set in its own grounds situated in the south of the Lake District National Park. We provide accommodation for those wanting to enjoy the spectacular scenery on our doorstep and also offer an extensive range of outdoor activities led by our enthusiastic instructors.
Based in the heart of Derbyshire and the Peak District National Park, Focus Activities is an innovative provider of quality outdoor experiences. Our team of high qualified, experienced and motivated staff create both an extremely supportive and challenging arena to allow people to extend their boundaries, build relationships and discover new skills.
We are totally passionate about one thing; when you are with Rough Edge, you will have the time of your life.
We run adventure trips in the UK and abroad.We supervise and assess Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Gold expeditions. We specialise in mountain navigation training to NNAS Gold standard. And we offer team building and challenge events for companies too.
Our fantastic location and team of dedicated staff enable us to offer a wide variety of activities for people of all ages to enjoy. Whether you are looking to host an action packed party or simply spend some time with adventurous like-minded individuals.
We offer a range of Adventurous Outdoor Activities for team building, recreation, outdoor education, development and training to voluntary organisations, individuals, families, adults, youth groups, schools and corporate groups.
The Bushcraft Company offer residential school trips with a difference, taking students into the wild and giving them real back-to-nature experiences they will never forget.
A 15-year-old boy fell 60ft over the edge of a cliff whilst on a geography school trip, miraculously only suffering minor injuries.