I think we have officially gone to almost every wall in London now, after a quick search online, we realized that we had one left and that was The Climbing Hanger in Fulham. After a visit we have deemed it to be ‘The Most Boring Climbing Wall In London’.
The reason we had left this one till last was because of the journey it took us to get there. The entrance is through a driveway a short walk away from Parson’s Green Tube station. In amongst workshops and warehouses, it’s almost hidden if you don’t know where you are going because there is no sign outside.
After filling out the registration form online all that was left was getting our membership card (but alas) we didn’t! There is no membership card, there is only a small card they present you with, telling you that you get three climbs for £7.90 instead of £8.50 (This is with a discount for promo) then you can pay £5 (Instead of £10) for the yearly membership. This entitles you to monthly or quarterly membership and a free cup of tea on sign up!
It wasn’t the cheapest climb for the usual £8.50 (off peak) £12.00 (peak), it’s one of the more expensive walls in London.
The reception is basic to say the least, chipboard and salvaged chairs (it would seem) the staff however are helpful and quite friendly.
The changing area is basically three bits of chipboard with a rail and curtain, that’s it! Plus it’s right next to the front door (So its cold and very exposed) The shop is also very underwhelming, there is two rails of T-shirts and 10 different shoes.
Down the side of the ‘shop’ there is a small toilet, the toilet was really high! you needed to use the baby step up to get onto it.
So what about the climbing wall itself? Well like the rest of this place it was a mess and unfinished.
On the top level half the wall was blocked off because someone had started route setting, ladder put up, sheet on floor and holds, screws, drills strewn all over the floor and then given up and gone home (it seemed) This rendered the Moon Board and half of the top floor unusable.
There is one long flight of stairs that connects all the floors.
The middle floor is a bit of a ‘What do we do with this space’ kind of place. There is obviously a wall or supporting beam in the middle of it, so they have tried to make an arch out of it, but all that they have made is a dark cave and an odd ridgey slab. But credit to whomever sets the slab routes, they have tried to make the most out of a awkward wall, if a little bit easy, the V4-V6 were too easy – I mean I could do all of them!
So to the ground floor,
There is one room with a large central boulder, it is mostly overhanging but there seems to be more to do.
This is where the problem is with the wall, everything is V2-V6 and we mean Everything! Though there are difficult problems in the V5/V6 grades, they tend to be just doable or not at all. There is no accuracy in the setting. They do do the typical pink/red/orange etc right next to each other so us colorblind people cannot see.
I think this is the first wall that whilst climbing a route I got bored and couldn’t be bothered to keep going, this wasn’t just one route it was all of them. There was no variation, strangeness or real challenge, in the sense of you just needed a tonne of upper body strength and no real footwork.
After only 90 minutes of climbing we looked at each other and came to the conclusion we had tried/done it all. We were more entertained by the guy opposite who was making a chair with a Mig Welder, so we decided to leave and go in search of coffee.
3/10
Climbing Moss 