Best climbing/bouldering wall in London?

May 8, 2008 11:19 AM

ClimbingFilter: I'm looking for the best wall for bouldering/climbing in London, for preference one with some long traverses for fitness training.

While a bigger venue is better, this being London it's probably not possible to ask for something that isn't always full. A smaller venue with fewer holds but where you can actually spend some time on a problem would be better than a bigger venue where you have to queue. Some idea of when's the best time is also good. Location-wise, I'm north east, but I'd be prepared to go out of my way for a decent wall. Any ideas for outside bouldering would be wonderful, but I realise that's a slim chance.

posted by YouRebelScum to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

There was a really good place over in Mile End I used to go to some number of years ago. This may be the place - it looks a bit more polished than I remember though.
posted by azlondon at 1:07 PM on May 8, 2008

I'm in Oxford and haven't climbed in London myself, but my friend there absolutely loves the Castle climbing centre near Finsbury Park in North London. It's supposedly huge, cool, and it also actually looks like a castle! (Even though it isn't really one, the history of the building is rather interesting).
posted by Kirjava at 1:39 PM on May 8, 2008

Seconding Mile End, (azlondon has the right link) it's my local gym. Not so good for routes but great for bouldering. And now it's sunny there's lots of lounging/heron-spotting to be had by the canal afterwards.
posted by freya_lamb at 1:59 PM on May 8, 2008

2nding the Castle, which at least used to have a section dedicated for traverses.
posted by genug at 3:04 PM on May 8, 2008

I'll third Mile End. I used to climb there all the time when I was doing a semester abroad at Queen Mary college, which is just across the canal from it. As freya_lamb says, a great bouldering area, but the routes are only so so. If you're looking for traverses, though, I think you'll find it to your liking. When I would go in there in the afternoons, there used to be a guy who would just do laps around the bouldering cave, over and over again.
posted by Inkoate at 6:02 PM on May 8, 2008

Response by poster: Great: thank's guys. Guess I'll check them both out. Both easy to get to from my digs.
posted by YouRebelScum at 2:25 AM on May 9, 2008

It's a _long_ time since I went there but I used to go the Sobell Leisure Centre which has a couple of different walls.
posted by southof40 at 2:28 AM on May 9, 2008