Blue Spider Climbing — Local services in Guildford

10 years ago Craggy Island was a good climbing wall, but not any more. They have failed to keep up with the other walls that have opened in the area since and fallen into a bad decline. Craggy Island desperately needs to get professional route setters in, the current setting is dire and the grading is all over the place (they have always graded harder than other walls but these days it's just become nonsense). The whole place is filthy and needs a really good clean. There is rarely soap in the toilets. Most of the lockers are broken and can't be locked ( this has been the case for many years now). The boulder mats have had it and really need replacing. And i'm aware of at least 2 incidents of quickdraws failing on lead routes, once the draw came loose and fell off the wall and once when the sling snapped (apparently caused by it rubbing on a hold and wearing through, so bad/dangerous route setting then). The whole place is suffering from total neglect which is a real shame as it used to be such a good place to climb.

Response to Craggy Island reply: Route setting: You were criticised when you only had one route setter that is true (and you claimed you would get regular guest setters in but this never happened), this has only changed now as he left and I believe you were unable to recruit a full time setter so have been forced to set in house and now bring in freelance setters (who you previously claimed were unable to set to the standard you require in defense of your only having one route setter). I have chatted with staff there on a number of occasions regarding some of the in house route setting and the issues are well known to you. On the plus side you do seem to have stopped Marv from setting routes which is very much appreciated by all, all staff and customers alike knew his setting was no good.

Cleanliness: Of course climbing walls can be very dusty etc, that is the nature of things. The floors in the kitting up areas look like they haven't been cleaned in weeks or even months though, ,they really are filthy and there is no excuse for that.

QD failures: Maybe only 2 in last 15 years but both have occurred in last couple of years not years apart as you claim in your response.

I'm not surprised Craggy membership is growing, climbing is gaining in popularity right now. The wall is nowhere near as busy as it used to be though, where do you think all those people who used to climb at Craggy have gone? The other walls in the area are always much more popular and yet you still think you are keeping up with them? For a new or beginner climber Craggy is adequate for their needs but for anyone else you are totally outclassed by the others. This is not just my opinion either I have spoken to many who share these views and some even refuse to climb at...

We enrolled our 7 year old on a beginner's course starting October 2016 in Guildford. He had been there once for a birthday party and had really enjoyed his experience. So with excitement we arrived and were told to sit in the upstairs coffee area waiting to be called. No one called and so after 5 mins after the start time we wandered downstairs and saw the kids already getting kitted out. We told them there were another 4 families waiting to start on the same course as us, still upstairs. There was no apology or rush to get them down. Our son got kitted out and they all started to try the small taster wall. I then heard my son cry and went downstairs. Apparently he got stuck a few times on the wall and told me he had called someone over to help him progress but no one came over so started to cry out of frustration. Not sure if there was a safety talk at all. So I managed to convince him to progress and they were then split into teams of about 7 or so. My son was given the adult wall, not the child beginners wall and because it was very forward slanting he was totally put off. We then talked to the instructor to see if he could be changed into the other group so could start on the beginners wall but this was refused because the other kids already knew each other, had their own kit and so were clearly favoured. I asked if anything else could be done but the instructor said no and besides they were over subscribed, I.e more than the allowed number. So how does that happen for such a safety conscious sport? How can you put a child off so much and not be willing to help out more. By that time my son was very put off. We returned to reception and told them what had happened and there was no apology. They did agree to an instant refund. Bet they were glad to get rid off us to meet their safety numbers. A year on, my son still remembers the bad experience. Such a shame that a professional company can so destroy a child's confidence. We went to the Surrey sports park climbing wall and you could really see the safety difference. They were very patient, and told us that you can never overbook people on the system because once the maximum capacity is reached it does not allow you to book another name. Our son tried this but was so put off by the craggy island experience (we made the mistake of going on the same day to try and change his experience) so he lacked the confidence to go up the wall, besides their walls were slightly trickier for a beginner. At the birthday party at craggy island he was the first to get up the entire wall, even faster than his class mate who goes there every week. We saw a real talent but now is...

Disappointed with my experience today. Can't compliment the man in the Rock On shop enough for being patient and knowledgeable but went to the climbing section and had a polar opposite experience. We go to the desk for help and ask about how climbing works there for people who haven't climbed here before and was met with silence from two staff members until one decides they are too busy eating a Greggs pizza to help so leaves her colleague to explain. The wall only lets you climb if you pay a £20 induction fee per person which takes 30 minutes unless you can pass a test showing proficiency with harness and belay device. We explain we only want to boulder so won't be using the harness and belay device but they say the rules are rules. I attempt the test and pass well enough to "be considered a climber" but not well enough to supervise others as I didn't tuck away the harness properly at the waist. I ask again if this level of experience is enough to supervise just for bouldering but still no; staff member was quite unsympathetic. We'd travelled far to see this place as we were all members of other climbing centres and regular boulderers but decided to leave after this unpleasant interaction.

I suggest that if you need a proficiency test to let newcomers boulder for health and safety, make it a health and safety test for bouldering. It made as much sense to test us on harnesses and belay devices for bouldering as it would to test someone on knife safety to buy a...