Climbing Wall | Lakewood Lodge

CLIMBING WALL

Test your physical and mental strength on our 11-metre man made outdoor Climbing Wall. Follow one of our trained instructors just a short walk from the Lodge and have the chance to push your limits, whilst being watched by our friendly sheep.

Before getting to the heights your instructor will teach you all about bouldering and spotting on our practise wall, giving you a chance to build trust with your team mates. A perfect chance to merge your problem-solving skills and strength together and start the path to becoming a great climber. Who will be the first one to make it to the end of our bouldering wall? This is a perfect time to get some handy tips from your instructor! Ask them all about your foot placement and how to use your strength in the most effective way.

Once everyone is all warmed up its time for the exciting stuff, the vertical wall. Before getting to tackle this obstacle, you’ll get the chance to learn how to belay for your team mates. Belaying is a technique you use to keep tension on a climbing rope, keeping the climber safe. Here at Lakewood Lodge our method of teaching this is called ‘V to the knee, 1 2 3’. Learning this with our experienced instructors will test your listening and memory skills. All of which are important tools used to keep your climber safe. To really understand how to belay, participants must familiarise themselves with the equipment involved. Most importantly, our belay devices which are called gri-gris. Your instructor will place your hands in the correct position on the ropes to get you started. Then to begin belaying you must pull down with your left hand and up with your right simultaneously. This feeds the climber rope through our belay device as they climb. Your right hand then moves down to your knee to lock the rope in place. Using a one two three motion the belayer then moves their hand back up the rope towards the climber. Ending with their hands back in the original position. The belayer will continue to do this until their climber finishes climbing. Belaying is the most important role whilst at our Climbing Wall, you will get the chance to have one on one tutoring with your qualified instructor until you have mastered the job.



Once everyone is fully confident with belaying its time to get started. One person gets clipped into our belaying devices, one person gets clipped into our backup belaying device and one lucky person gets to test all the skills they’ve learnt and climb. Our climbing wall has two sides, every climber will start off on the easier side to get used to the wall. You will use your problem-solving skills to figure out a way to climb up onto our tricky ledge on the first half of the wall. Then communication with your instructor and your team mates is the key to figuring out a way to the top. See if you can support each other as a group, to make sure everyone pushes out of their comfort zone and rings the bell at the top of the wall.

Once everyone is confident with the wall, your instructor will open up the second side as well for even more of a challenge. There’s no ledge to have to deal with, but you’ll need all your leg power and grip to push yourself up with these small holds. The more you push yourself, the more fun things you’ll get to do on the wall. Try racing your friends to see who can reach that bell first.

At the end of the session the staff at Lakewood lodge want you to leave itching to climb again, with the knowledge and skills needed to do that. You’ll leave with belaying skills, climbing techniques, communication skills, and confidence. Maybe you’re facing a fear and trying something new, maybe you’re practising something you already know. Either way you’ll leave our Climbing Wall with something.


SKILLS MATRIX