Climbing is for everyone

Climbing is becoming more popular, especially with the sport having its Olympic debut during the summer games in Tokyo this year. I had a chat with Chris Graham who is the co-owner of Climb Newcastle. We talked about his passion for the sport and how everyone can start climbing or bouldering – climbing without ropes or harnesses – at his two climbing centres The Pool and The Valley.

Chris himself started rock climbing when he was eleven years old. “I did a half-term climbing course at the local leisure centre and at one point I got hooked. I went to class every week throughout my school years and started climbing with people who were a little bit older than me who could drive and we used to climb rocks outside in Northumberland”, says Chris. While he was a teen, he also got into competition climbing on a local and national level. Chris even got selected for the British climbing team where he competed for several years.

At the time, the conditions for climbing in Newcastle were rather poor, so in 2007 Chris together with his two climbing friends Andy Earl and Darren Stevenson decided to open a centre in Byker. They found a neglected building that had been empty for 20 years and made a bouldering centre out of it. The Pool quickly gained popularity – not only by seasoned climbers but also by people who looked for a new way to exercise.

“Climbing is not only for people who are fit and strong, it’s for people of all shapes and sizes”, Chris tells me. “It’s a really good sport for you, both physically and mentally. It works almost every muscle in your body. If you think about it, your hands and feet are in contact with the wall and everything in between is working towards pulling you upwards.”

Chris himself still climbs, though he says that at the moment it’s mostly to put up new climbs on the wall. Route setting, as he calls it is not planned on a computer or spread sheet and more something you learn with years of experience.

Climbing is also a very social sport. “Especially since we opened our second centre in Ouseburn at The Valley, we really captured that social aspect by having more open spaces where people can watch and sit on top of one of the boulders”, he says. “Climbing has really grown in popularity and particularly since it was announced that we are part of the Olympics. Here, we continue to grow, we’ve got a lovely big building here at The Valley. We’ll put in new bits of equipment this summer to expand there and hopefully keep bringing people in for the sport”, Chris tells me.