Since I had a business appointment in Sunderland, I thought it would be a good idea to have a go at their climbing wall and to get Rach a few more routes for her log book.
The wall is down at the old Pallion ship yard and their building is one of the old ship building structures; very high and airy.
The climbing wall has an area of 900m2. The competition wall overhangs by a massive 8m, with two adjacent 6m overhangs. There are over 140 routes on the main walls, 90 of which are top-rope routes spread over 32 lines. Grading for the main walls ranges from F3 to F8a (French Sports Grade) or HVD to 6c (British Tech Grade).
We tried everything from 4a through to 5c and I must confess, they were bloody difficult, way harder than similar grades at Sheffield and Leeds.
Aido, the centre manager, tells me he likes to keep them tight so that when you transfer to rock there are no surprises.
All good and well, but the 4c groove I tackled felt like the 6b I fell off at Leeds with Dicko.
We'll be back.... but after a few 6bs....
Davie
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