‘Ascend’ climbing gym to step up the game in Lincoln

A family-run climbing gym for all ages in Louth has expanded into Lincoln, opening this Saturday, September 17 on Tritton Road opposite The Showroom at 10am.

Run by Heather Thompson, 31, and Darren Thompson, 35, Ascend Climbing Gym is already a huge hit with the climbing community in Louth, and the Lincoln branch will incorporate many climbing walls in one big centre.

The gym’s success has been in providing a “safe haven” for many people wanting to make friends and try a new sport.

Bouldering is rock climbing without the ropes (don’t worry, there are crash mats!), which means shorter, trickier problems and a workout for the body and mind.

Kevin Dent prepares to climb, one of the first to do so at Ascend Climbing Gym. | Photo: David Bosworth

Darren said: “Bouldering is more accessible than rope climbing – a lot people see rope climbing and think they can’t do the knots whereas anyone can come and try this.

“If they like this it can be a pathway to rope climbing.

“It’s got a really accommodating learning curve too, with all the boulders colour-coded by difficulty.

“The red hand grips are not far off a ladder, it just gets you up the wall and you feel like you’ve made it to the top, and as you go through the colours the difficulty progresses, and new moves are needed to tackle new types of holes.”

Kevin didn’t even break a sweat reaching the top, would you? | Photo: David Bosworth

There are also ‘caves’ where you can grip and climb across the ceiling if you’re feeling extra adventurous.

No special equipment is needed apart from climbing shoes which Ascend provides at £3 a pair (unless you bring your own appropriate shoes), and all that is required before you tackle the walls is for you to have a small safety induction.

Darren told The Lincolnite: “We’ve got quite a social thing going in Louth and we’re aiming for a hang-out atmosphere in Lincoln – we’ve got desks with power ports and WiFi for students to study and sofas and coffee tables next to a café area.”

Heather said: “The good thing about climbing is you can choose to go alone and work alone, or you can make friends talking about routes up the walls and problems.

“People come to our centre to meet new friends.”

Darren Thompson, standing next to the Arrow wall in the gym, part of a family business with his wife, Heather, who also run an Ascend gym in Louth. | Photo: David Bosworth

Darren said: “The social approach and the escape from the typical crowd atmosphere of, for instance, football games, attracts people to Ascend.

“A lot of the lads who come have found their home”.

Heather continued: “We understand the struggles financially on families all over the UK so we want to provide a venue which is family friendly for all ages, as well as cost friendly.

“Through lockdown we realised how many people needed climbing for mental stimulation as well as physical gain and how as a business we wanted to offer bouldering to the city of Lincoln.

“We have many SEN [Special Educational Needs] schools and groups access our facility and boast about how it has changed many people’s lives and we want to broaden this.”

One of the caves at Ascend – test your stickability. | Photo: David Bosworth

The gym will be priced at £8 for adults and £5 for children and on Saturday you can climb for up to three hours, but after this weekend one payment will get you a whole day’s worth of climbing.

Eventually there will be a climbing-based work-out area, which will be available to the public at a later date.

Ascend will be open on Saturday from 10am till 7pm, on Sunday from 10am to 5pm, then Monday to Friday from 10am until 9pm.

Children under 12 will need to be supervised by an adult.

Kevin climbing the Arrow. He made it look easy, and if you happen to fall, there’s crash mats ready to receive you. | Photo: David Bosworth

Kevin manning another wall, this time taking a tough route via the yellow hand-holds. | Photo: David Bosworth

The site of the new Ascend Climbing Gym, formerly Nationwide Repair Centre, opposite The Showroom on Tritton Road. | Photo: David Bosworth