Mental Health First Aid Aware

We're Brighton's independent dedicated bouldering centre. It's rock climbing without the hassle of ropes and harnesses, packed with fun, fitness and friends - it's easy to get into, and hard to give up.

It's an adult sport which can also be suitable for children aged 7+. Come with friends or come on your own, we can't wait to meet you.

What Is Bouldering?

Pure rock climbing

Bouldering is rock climbing stripped down to its raw essentials. Leaving behind ropes and harnesses and just using climbing shoes and a bag of chalk over safety mats, your challenge is to climb short but tricky bouldering "problems" (a route, or sequence of moves) using balance, technique, strength, and your brain.

You don't need experience or lots of expensive kit to have a go - making it really easy to get into if you've never tried it before.

The climbs are high enough to be exciting, but not so high that they're hugely intimidating. Using safety mats means that the risks of falling off can be managed, and leaving the ropes behind means that you are free to concentrate on the climbing, not the equipment. It's just you, the wall, and your friends on the ground egging you on.

Physical problem solving

Every climb, or "problem", has its own solution, and to successfully climb it you need to work it out. Depending on your body shape and personal strengths, your solution could be different to the next person's. If you're tall, you might be able to reach the next hold more easily on spaced-out problems - but find yourself cramped when the route takes you into the nooks and crannies of the wall. It all evens out in the end.

The key to the problem could be about how you position your body when you climb, or what order you put your feet and hands on the wall - or there might be a sneaky "toe hook" or one of countless other climbing techniques that suddenly takes the problem from impossible, to crushed. You might need to refine your technique before you can do it - or train some more and get stronger!