Yes, all centres have 30cm x 30cm lockers for valuables and pigeon holes for bulkier items like coats. You will need a small padlock for a locker, which you can bring yourself or buy at reception for around £5

For your safety while climbing, we don’t allow people to climb in outdoor shoes generally. We make exceptions for kids who generally can’t wear very tight fitting climbing shoes and also for expert climbers like instructors or routesetters.

Yes, all centres have private shower cubicles. You’ll need to bring your own towel though, except at Building One, where you can borrow a towel for a £2 fee

We sell a range of healthy energy and high protein snacks in the centres, as well as hot and cold drinks, but we don’t serve any prepared food.

If you ask at reception, our staff can recommend somewhere to eat nearby, and you’re welcome to bring food into the cafe area of the centre to eat if you like.

We don’t heat or cool the centres as they’re huge open spaces so they will get warmer and colder at different times of year.

In the winter we recommend layering your clothing, so you can add or remove layers as needed in between climbs. If you hear ventilation working, it is there just to provide clean air, not to make it colder!

In summer we turn on fans and open the windows and doors.

We recommend comfortable clothing that allows you to move freely like regular gym clothing. Because the centres are big open spaces, we really recommend layering up in the winter so that you can add or remove layers in between climbs as needed.

If you’ve never climbed before, we definitely recommend starting with an Intro Lesson. Rental shoes, chalk and your day pass are all included, and we feel that it gives everyone the best possible start. Aside from showing you how to make the most of the centre, we’ll teach you a few key climbing movement techniques that will definitely make your life easier on the wall.

However, if you just want to get started and feel like you don’t need or want a lesson, that’s totally fine and our online safety video will cover all the basics.

You’re also welcome to join our free Improver Sessions at most of the centres (check your centre timetable). These drop-in sessions are there to give you some extra confidence and create a great positive environment for all beginner climbers.

The climbs in our centres are set out really clearly by colour of hold and start and finish holds. To “complete” a climb, you try to only use that colour for your hands and feet.

Each climb has a grade, which tells you how hard it will be.

If you’ve never climbed before, try and complete all the easiest (V0 grade) climbs around the whole centre, then take a rest before trying the next level up (V1). Our grades go up to around V9, and we change climbs each week, so you’ll never run out of new challenges!

Yes, although climbing is really varied. You can have a relaxing climbing session on easier grade problems on less steep angles, or a really physically challenging workout on overhangs, harder grades or flexible moves.

It’s really up to you, what your health goals are, and how you feel on the day.

At first though you should definitely expect to feel quite sore muscles for a day or two after a session, especially around your upper body and your core!

The kind of climbing we do here is called bouldering - climbing without ropes up to around 4m height above soft matting. All you need are climbing shoes.

Climbing without ropes means that you have more freedom on the wall, and you don’t need to find a belay partner or wait for a spot on an autobelay machine.

Falling is a normal part of bouldering, and you’ll see how to fall in the online registration video, or in your Intro Lesson. We always recommend practicing a few falls at the beginning of each session as part of your warm up.

We have a team of routesetters who have all climbed for a long time and had specific training to learn how to create indoor climbing routes (also called “problems”).

Each routesetting day is planned out enough so that the problems end up being the right mix of climbing styles and difficulties. However the problems themselves aren’t planned out or made on a computer - they are down to the routesetters!

Our routesetting team comes in different shapes and sizes, and they all have different climbing styles, so there is a lot of variety in the climbs they set for you!

We reset one wall area every week in each centre. This means that between 20-40 new problems will usually go up in each centre every week, and all the climbs in a centre will get changed around every 8 weeks or so.

As part of a new set, all the old holds are taken down on the same morning and washed clean, ready to be used again another day.

You can find a routesetting schedule in each ‘Centre’ page on the website, and there is also a free app Toplogger which shows all the climbs in each centre, when they’ll get changed, and your personal climbing stats. You can download it here for IOS and Android.

Well-behaved dogs are allowed in the centres at off-peak times.

Dogs can't go in any of the training rooms or matted areas.

Any customers looking to bring assistance dogs are asked to email info@archclimbingwall.com before visiting.

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