Who's excited about Gravity?
Seeing as I haven't climbing indoors for a few years and its miles from my house I'm not particularly. Having said this I think it will probably have a profound impact on the irish bouldering scene, probably serving as a HQ of sorts. The impact of the co-ops is plain to see. Plenty of people getting out regularly, all friends. At least it seems to be, I spend most of my climbing time solo.
Will there be a defection from the co-ops to Gravity? Will Gravity kill the co-ops? It would be a pity if it did but its probably an inevitable step. Maybe the pity is that the co-ops didn't spring up 10 years ago.
I just looked through their website and I noticed that they haven't explicitly said that it will be a bouldering wall - as opposed to a roped wall. I'm assuming it is bouldering only. I wonder how this will go down with the non-climbing masses?
I look forward to checking it out. I hope that they will host a round of the IBL. Be interested to hear the prices.
Gravity will be bouldering only. It should be open to the public within a couple of months. It will have well over 750 square metres of climbing surface, making it the largest climbing wall of any type in Ireland as far as I'm aware. The website isn't being updated very regularly at the moment whilst we keep our powder dry, but there should be a stack of stuff to get everybody excited on there by the end of the month. I'm 99% certain that we'll host a round of the IBL - it would be daft not to. Thanks for the mention on your blog. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThanks Percy.
ReplyDeleteLooks like it'll be a great addition to the Irish scene. With your guidebook, and Gravity, it paves the way for a big increase in the number of boulderers. I've seen it for myself being based in Sheffield! Whether they all go outdoors is another story, but maybe that's a good thing :)
ReplyDeleteAs for the other bits of climbing, be interesting to see if it influences extra people taking up route climbing.....
I'm hoping also that at least one of the Co-Ops survives - they serve a different purpose to a big commercial climbing gym so hopefully interest still stays strong.
I think the survival of the co-ops come down to the cost of membership of Gravity. If the co-ops are significantly cheaper then they will survive.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the new wall alright, it should be pretty damn cool! But I think I'll be staying in the coop. It flls a slightly different niche I think. One of the main benefits being 24hr access. Unless gravity opens til 10 or 11pm it won't be much use to me for training after work. And there is always the cost aspect.
ReplyDeleteThough having said all that, my defection to the new wall could well be based on the quality of their coffee facilities....
what's a co-op?
ReplyDeleteA co-op is a members only bouldering wall. Members pay a monthly fee and have 24/7 access. There are two in Dublin. Both very decent plywood bouldering walls with tons of holds and lots of different angled sections.
ReplyDeleteokay, cheers!
ReplyDelete