Tackle the Wall Reach Outdoors runs an indoor climbing wall at Parkfield in Paignton and there’s a weekly open climbing evening on Thursdays from 6.30pm. Anita Newcombe went along to give it a go!
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fter parking behind the Parkfield centre off Colin Road in Paignton, I meet Senior Instructor Abi Hone, who is busy checking in climbers of all standards. The Parkfield wall has 18 fixed ropes and over 60 climbing routes offering grades of climb for beginners right through to expert climbers. Abi introduces me to Apprentice Instructor Chloe Whitehurst and then gets me to complete some paperwork that will allow me to have a go this evening. Helmets are available, but the climbing wall is considered very low-risk, as there’s little that can fall on you here. So helmetless but strapped into a harness, I am ready. The climbing harness consists of a strong, adjustable waist belt with leg loops and a belay loop. I tighten all the straps to get a good fit and I am ready to climb. The safety rope will be tied to my belay loop before I start heading up the first route. I’ve been watching a few other people scoot up the various routes with apparent ease, and now it’s time for me to have a go. Abi shows me how to tie a figure-of-eight knot plus the stopper knot that is used to secure the rope to my belay loop. I am buddied with someone I’ve just met called Steve and he’s going to be belaying me. That means he is responsible for controlling the safety rope to stop me falling; it seems like the ultimate expression of trust (but Abi is keeping a close eye on things). 38 | April/May 2020
Anita and senior instructor Abi Hone
There are various routes that you can take on each section of the wall and these are denoted by climbing hand holds in different colours. Some routes are easier than others but once I get on the wall I stop noticing the colours and just climb, putting my hands and feet wherever I can get a good grip. Not all the holds are easy. There are big, fat holds in which you can put your whole hand, holds with tiny little edges that you can grip only with your fingertips and many other ones of various shapes and sizes. I put my feet wherever they feel most secure. Gradually I am inching upwards – this is epic! Once at the top it starts to feel quite high – quick glance down – eek - and I’m staring straight at the wall again, which bizarrely feels safer. Ok it’s time to head back down. Abi tells me to lean out from the wall, (I’m held securely by the safety rope) and place my feet flat against the wall. My climbing buddy Steve is now gradually giving me some slack in the rope so that I can walk backwards down the wall. Soon I am down with my feet firmly back on the ground. Now it’s time for me to have a go at belaying. There are various kinds of belay device and the one we’ve just used for my climb, Abi tells me, is called a bug. Reach Outdoors use different types of device for teaching purposes so that climbers are familiar with the main ones. But this time we are going to be using a different belay
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