Louth’s new climbing gym will ‘rock’ your world!

A brand new climbing gym will open in Louth this weekend - and it is guaranteed to ‘rock’ your world!
Darren, Heather, and baby Dougie at the Ascend Climbing Gym in Louth.Darren, Heather, and baby Dougie at the Ascend Climbing Gym in Louth.
Darren, Heather, and baby Dougie at the Ascend Climbing Gym in Louth.

The Ascend Climbing Gym, in North Holme Road, will open to the public for the first time on Saturday (November 23) after months of hard work from husband and wife team Darren and Heather Thompson.

During this hectic time, the couple also had a baby, Dougie, who has become the honorary ‘boss’ of the new business!

Darren and Heather said: “We will be the only rock-climbing facility within a 20 mile radius of Louth, and the only venue with dedicated bouldering facilities within a 40 mile radius.

Darren Thompson takes on one of the challenging bouldering walls.Darren Thompson takes on one of the challenging bouldering walls.
Darren Thompson takes on one of the challenging bouldering walls.

“The people of our community deserve access to one of the fastest growing sports, and with climbing seeing its Olympic debut in the Tokyo 2020, there is no better time to make this a reality.”

The new facility will focus on bouldering, which is described as rock climbing stripped down to its raw essentials, leaving behind any ropes or harnesses and instead focusing on safety mats on the floor below.

Darren and Heather had previously believed they would have to secure crowd-funding in order to pay for the purchase of the building, which was formerly the home of Woodthorpe Bodyworks Ltd.

However, thanks to a new arrangement, the couple are now able to simply rent the building from the owner, which has relieved some of the financial pressures and enabled them to open the new bouldering centre this year.

Darren told the Leader: “There has been a lot of interest, and we definitely feel a lot of pressure to make sure it’s all good for the opening weekend!

“We have broken up the opening weekend into slots, so it’s pre-booking only just for this weekend just so we can control the numbers.”

Darren added: “It still feels like I’m waiting to wake up, it’s like a dream to be able to finally open.

“At the beginning it was just a ‘what if’ kind of thing and now it has taken on its own life!”

The opening weekend will be split into 90 minute slots with a maximum of 21 people climbing during each session.

Slots are available on Saturday and Sunday, but booking in advance is essential.

Once the opening weekend has been and gone, the facility will be available for casual climbing sessions, groups, parties, team building and more.

In future, there will also be inclusive sessions for those with disabilities, autism, anxiety, etc. Contact the Ascend team if you wish to discuss this further or suggest ideas for the future.

• Call Ascend Climbing Gym on 01507 609988 or contact the team through their official Facebook page to book a slot.

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