The Project Climbing Centre — Attraction in England

Decided to visit with my partner as we were down visiting family for the weekend. At first we were looking forward to it because there are some unique features here that aren't in our local gym such as the top-out wall. However, we felt let down by the atmosphere and lack of organisation of the routes.

There were no staff in the hall supervising which meant there were a LOT of unsafe practices. Children were running around under climbs people were doing, and parents were walking around on the mats in trainers ignoring what was happening.

I also had to ask another climber to move out of the way as I was about to fall off a tricky climb onto him! This made it very hard to focus on what we were doing as we were always worried about falling onto people who seemed oblivious that there were people on the wall. Similarly at one point we went to top out, but a child standing on top of the wall prevented this from being able to happen, and people below meant it was difficult to climb down, creating a very UNSAFE situation.

There were also people walking around the mats with glass bottles of water, which was also disappointing since we had to answer a safety questionnaire before entering. No staff were about to supervise or instruct people of good climbing practices.

The climbs themselves are interesting and I enjoyed the variety of walls and environments to climb around on. The Project has a very unique layout which supports interesting routes. It's just unfortunate that we didn't feel safe committing to or completing certain climbs due to the surrounding environment. Similarly the lack of start holds or grades made it hard to judge a climb's potential; which felt unsafe as there was nowhere to safely fall.

I would recommend this place as a fun family day out, but would not recommend it to people who want to go somewhere to climb safely and seriously. The ONE member of staff I saw on site was very friendly and welcoming, but the place could definitely benefit from...

I do not recommend to have a deal with this troubled company. There is absolutely no respect and care for their clients. Starting with the website clearly designed by an incompetent person, ending with the lack of the space where you can comfortably change your clothes for yoga! You won’t even have the space to sit down to comfortably change your shoes. All you have at your disposal is a cold and dirty floor where there are pieces of ground fell off someone’s shoes right in front of your face. And you will see such dirt during every lesson! Feel unity with nature and relaxation when pieces of dirt stick to your hands, and a “caring” trainer invites you to put your dirty hands on your face. Yoga trainers... there’s nothing to say here, watch a few lessons on YouTube and you’ll know more about yoga than these trainers. And be very careful when creating an account, because you will not have the opportunity to change anything! You won’t even be able to see what data you sent and where you made a mistake; you won’t even be able to see and change your profile photo yourself! You simply send your personal data into the unknown and have no control over it anymore. And after you suffer for a month, you must spend another month in the same torment and mockery of your nerves! BE CAREFUL: You will not be able to cancel your membership until you are charged for the next month! Yes, yes, without your consent, they will sell you another month of membership that you do not need. I don’t even want to talk about equipment, old yoga mats and other little things... This company is trying to do everything at once, rock climbing, yoga, aerial gymnastics, etc., but as a result you simply get poor services for which you will be forced to pay again without...

For me, the project meets my expectations in every way. As a casual but regular climber, I appreciate the regular resets and varying difficulty of the climbs, as well as the various events they host there, like the annual UV Halloween party. The community is helpful to newbies and friendly to more advanced climbers, and I make the commute from Winton, Bournemouth, often by bike, to be a part of it.

The cafe serves high quality hot and cold food to climbers and non-climbers alike and while I have noticed quite a bit of inflation in brownie prices over the last 2 years there are still items on the menu which I would consider well worth the cost. It overlooks the climbing centre itself and is fully equipped with sofas for post-climb relaxing.

The inclusion of a slackline in the climbing centre has been a recent fascination of mine, and the open area marked by the green mats is always a useful reminder to warm up before the climb. They also include a small area with a pull up/dip station and a couple other bits of bodyweight equipment. It's everything you would want a climbing centre to be.

Overall my only real complaint is the price of the brownies in the cafe, and I only feel that was because they're really good brownies and I wish I could afford them more often. If you're a climber within 45 minutes ride of the project, all I can say is that there's no reason not to at least try it, especially if you're under 18 and can climb from just £5.

P.S. The rental shoes are not by any means uncomfortable but I would still recommend buying your own if you...