19 Feb 2025
A-level student Lucy Holbrook explains why she has taken to scaling the climbing walls at Westminster Lodge…
At least once a week, I find myself 10 metres above the ground, chalk beneath my fingernails, a gnawing ache in just about every muscle in my body, and a troublesome climbing problem that I’m intent to conquer…
The climbing wall at Westminster Lodge is hard to miss and encompasses full sized walls of 12 metres, as well as a seven metre feature pinnacle. Overall, the wall contains over 30 routes across 14 rope lines, including an auto-belay (an independently operated safety device).
The climbing centre provides a wide range of routes to suit those who have never climbed, as well as more experienced climbers, with all routes being reset around once a month.
Currently, the main wall offers grades 4+ up to 7a+, and the bouldering wall boasts grades V1-V6.
This area also contains a smaller bouldering wall where no harness is required, designed to test your climbing skills and engage the brain in smaller-scale problem solving.
Rock climbing is not only thrilling – it also benefits you in a multitude of ways.
This unique sport builds strength in the whole body and is an excellent form of muscle conditioning. Climbing offers cardiovascular training and enhanced flexibility as well as endurance.
On a more personal perspective, climbing can also help tackle a fear of heights and falling as you build confidence with the security of the safety equipment.
The dynamic interplay of movements not only strengthens muscles but refines hand-eye coordination, opening mental pathways that are unique to this sport!
The immersive nature of problem solving when climbing takes you away from daily stresses, with both mental focus and muscle exertion releasing endorphins.
Furthermore, climbers often encounter circumstances that require thinking out of the box when responding to the changing terrain: this amplifies creative thinking as well as building on cognitive flexibility.
I joined a rock climbing course at Westminster Lodge in September 2024 and have been climbing weekly for about five months.
I hadn’t done any regular sport activities for a while due to health issues – but once I was ready to reintroduce sports into my life, I knew rock climbing would be the perfect sport to pursue.
I had done irregular rock climbing when I was young, and my sister had also been climbing for two years and was eager for me to join in.
In all honesty, when I began climbing I found the experience quite intense: a mixture between pushing my strength to the limit, coupled with a natural fear of heights at the beginning.
One thing I have taken from climbing is that improvement is not linear, you will have good and bad days on the wall based on your strength naturally fluctuating day-to-day, as well as other factors like your energy levels.
But overall, my strength has improved massively, along with my muscular endurance and flexibility. I quickly became neutral to heights, and am no longer met with that head-spinning feeling when I look down from the top of the wall!
And for me, the stress it relieves is unbeatable: when you are up 10 metres high, eyes darting from hold to hold, clammy palms and sore wrists, this is a time where all your energy and stress from the week can be poured totally into something intricate and satisfying.
The extraordinary feeling of unique accomplishment when you conquer a climbing problem was a feeling completely foreign to me until I started climbing.
Westminster Lodge climbing wall boasts a wide range of trained climbing specialists, who are not only experienced but also passionate about the sport.
Personally, I have never done a sport where the learners and instructors have been able to become so immersed in what is going on around them – everyone is equally engrossed by their own rock climbing journey as well as the progress of other climbers.
The teachers are friendly and flexible, and give you independence and choice about how you and your group spend each session.
The climbing wall is very much a community – although a diverse range of people are on the wall everyone is interconnected through their interest in climbing. People using the wall outside of your group are always polite and respectful, particularly to new climbers.
Instructors are patient with you while you learn, however you should make sure to concentrate and actively listen to their instructions.
Instructors are also respectful of personal preferences. For example, when I started and I was nervous about coming down from the top of the wall, my instructor gave me the option to build up slowly or scrap going right to the top and instead make three-quarters up my personal peak.
I was eventually able to make it to the top from there regardless, but the lack of pressure was reassuring and made me feel more relaxed as a climber.
Sessions that the climbing wall offers include:
- Casual adult climbing (for competent climbers);
- Beginner adult climbing course;
- Private tuition (Small groups up to four people, all ages welcome);
- Tots climbing – NICAS Wild (ages 3+, focused on developing agility, balance and coordination);
- Junior NICAS climbing sessions (A level-based curriculum for children, teaching them to be confident on the wall);
- Women’s climbing (Aimed at females where fundamental climbing skills are taught).
Plus many more activities on the Everyone Active website: www.everyoneactive.com/centre/westminster-lodge-leisure-centre/the-climbing-wall-at-westminster-lodge-leisure-centre/
