What that guy said, those greens are getting a bit on the slippery side and can sometimes make you fall in whilst "deep water soloing above the Mediterranean" :D

Nice routes!

loving the new red routes - good job!

The fingerprint signing in is great, but is there any chance that the computer could give off a sound when it recognises you? It might speed things up just a bit, and prevent the slighty frustrating blank stares between staff and the customer (who is trying to work out if their finger print has worked or not!!!!)

It might only be because I've signed up with a lumpsum payment, so don't need to pay each time, but I think it could be a useful feature for all.....

Paul.

I came up for the first time on New Years Day and I loved the place. The cleanliness and great atmosphere made me feel comfortable and improved my climbing. I'm only a beginner but everyone was very friendly and helpful. Thanks! Hope to come again.

Impressed with the wall overall - really good venue. Just a thought about the campus board section next to the circuit boards. This has real issues with the wall getting in the way of your legs (presumably partly why the hanging one got built?). I can see that you might want a board with the full 1-5-9 setup for stuff above 1-4-7, but for that the leg issue is even greater. Have you thought of taking out that campus section and turning it into a wide board? I guess due to space the angle would have to be limited, but it still could be a really good (symmetrical?) board at 30 degrees or similar. Given that it's already an area devoted to those wanting to train, you wouldn't take any space away from the majority of climbers, and those into their training would probably (I know I would) rather have an extra board (and maybe another freehanging set up with 9 rungs?) than some campus boards which are too awkward to be used much. Thanks, Alex.

I've visited Sarah a few times now for sports massage's and she has done my muscles a world of good. She sorted out a niggling elbow strain which has made my life much less painfull. I think it's fantastic to have a theropy room on site with helpfull people as it makes approching this side of things much less daunting for those not used to it. In my mind, much more useful than a shop or bar. Keep up the great work at TCA, you've created a great place to climb/train.

Loving Will's new red problems from the comp - good consistency in terms of difficulty, and some excellent technical little numbers that reward skill, and not just reach or grunt.

stef

Just a quick thank you really. The routes are great, there's always something up that gets me psyched to finish it. But it's really all the little touches that truly push this place up in my estimation. From the great sound system (although some staff members musical tastes are a bit so-so shall we say) and superb coffee and snacks create an atmosphere that really makes tackling the problems much more fun. The RSS feeds and the events calendar on Google calendar if only other centres were so technologically astute. But by far my favourite feature are all the free coaching sessions from professional climbers that have been organised (and thanks to the Google calendar they sync to my phone, so I won't be missing any!) which is just a fantastic opportunity. Thanks Paul and the rest of the team for all your hard work.

Any chance of advertising that the talks will affect your opening hours? Maybe put notices up the week before. Makes a difference when you're popping down at the end of the day to squeeze a quick session in and expect it to be open until the usual time.

Thanks!

Hey there, would just like to say thanks for the really good slab competition route currently up, was great fun :)
One important question though - why aren't there more slabby fingery balancy routes? I appreciate that for safety the walls need to be vertical at the very least, but on the few vertical walls there are in TCA fitting at least a few routes in wouldn't be hard as they don't actually take up much space! So this is a plea for more disgustingly fingery slabs in TCA, because for me ticking a tricky slab is what climbing is about.
Please hear me oh Gods of route setting,
Amen

Tom xD

I've just been in the hold store at the Academy, looking at all the lovely new holds Paul and Rich have bought for us to play with. Something to suit all abilities, from the meanest little crimps you've ever seen to some generous jugs. I feel really inspired to get setting on Monday. Thanks for the toys boys!

Just like to say Great music on Thursday night...

the facilities look great - just wondering if you cater for kids' birthday parties? Not sure if the walls are too difficult for novice 8 year olds but my son is very keen!

Cheers and look forward to coming along soon.

Dave

just wanted to say a massive thank you for yesterday. very well done to you all. it was a brilliant day for all present. the format of the comp was ideal for getting everyone invloved from the most recent novices to the elites to the super vets. but then that's what TCA seems to be all about. getting everyone climbing in a brilliantly positive and encouraging environment. the staff are always excellent and in a short time i've recieved so much excellent, free advice! having gaz around yesterday was brilliant. it was also great to see so many very young people climbing, and climbing happily with adults much older than themselves - maybe the rest of society could learn something from this. having a 12 year help me solve a problem is pretty impressive.

thank you for making us all feel so welcome - im very average, my other half is excellent and her mum is very new to climbing and yet we all get an incredible amount out of your centre - so much so that we drive 100 miles plus twice a week for the pleasure. this welcome is a stark contrast to some of your near competitors!

thanks again and keep doing what you do in the superb way you do it.

david.

Just wanted to say how much I enjoy climbing here. I have about 5 other centres closer to me but prefer climbing here. Everyones really friendly, the place is always clean. I make a 130 mile round trip to climb here and it's worth it. The coffee is good too. Nice one. I even got free entry as it was my birthday. Wow, a present from a climbing centre. Must be a first. Now I just need to move closer.

Alex

Many thanks to Rich for the loan of the bouldering mat and the suggestion to head of outdoors when we all forgot you were closed today.We had a fab time and are now all converts to the great outdoors.Will bring the mat back Thursday if that's ok as the kids are desperate for me to take them out again tomorrow.

Cheers,

Ali,Max and Poppy

Really enjoying the black and yellow circuits. They stand out from alot of the other circuits that have been set recently.

After being away from climbing for several years, both me and my partner have returned to the sport. And what a place to start! The Academy is a fantastic place to build up confidence and improve on your technique! We have now brought several friends who have been 'bitten by the bug' and want to know when they can next go along with us. Great routes and amazing staff, friendly, helpful and always there to help guide you with advice. The best place for beginners and seasoned climbers in bristol! Keep up the good work guys!

Please please please change the website background, its so hard to read and a depressing colour

Hey, I really like climbing here, but I would say I find it odd that you rate the routes in tech grades as opposed to v's. Also I'd praps like a few really difficult routes to give me a really good project to get my teeth into!

hi all climbing at TCA is good as ever

i must wish paul a very happy and fast recovery and hope he is fit and climbing again soon

HI to All,
I write this message from Iran , I really keen on bouldering and I do it in my country, I have enjoyed seeing your centre, In next month I will travel to Bristol for my education and I want to come to Climbing Academy to continue my exercises.

the new black problems are ace! plus the new core holds are nice and much more friendly to the skin than some other holds, please get some more of these!

Can't say enough good things about this place. What a fantastic environment and great bunch of people. A few things I would like to see though... being able to pay monthly by direct debit, open on Saturday evenings with some good music/djs (I understand drinking and climbing aint a good mix!), being able to subscribe to the events page by iCal. Keep up the great work all of you, and thanks.

Just a thought, and one I wouldn't suggest were it not for the contemporary nature of the facilities - why not offer some kind of touch screen route directory, like the ones you get to index shops in malls? It would be more in tune with everything else than the sheets currently on offer and would enable a really interactive way to browse routes...