Team building in Southampton: The team day nobody tries to get out of.
Bouldering is climbing without ropes or harnesses, on low walls over deep mats, so there is very little to learn before you start. Almost nobody on your team will have done it before, which is the point. Our instructors run the session.
Why climbing
Why it works for a team.
Everyone starts level
Hardly anybody has done it before, so the newest starter and the person who signs off the expenses begin in the same place.
You solve it together
Every climb is a puzzle. People stand at the bottom working out the moves, then cheer each other up it. It gets a quiet team talking.
Nobody is left out
The easiest climbs have big holds and big footholds, and nobody has to go higher than they want to. You do not need to be sporty.
How it works
Simple to arrange.
- 1
Tell us about your team
How many of you, roughly when, and what you want out of it. Ring us or send a message.
- 2
We send a plan and a price
Tell us how many are coming and how long you would like, and we will quote.
- 3
Sign the waivers and turn up
Each climber fills in a waiver online before the day, with a short safety video in it. Wear anything you can move in. Our instructors show everybody how to climb and how to come down safely, then run the session.
Afterwards
The café is the other half of it.
The café is in the same building and open whenever we are: coffee, cake, hot food and somewhere to sit and argue about who got highest.
Want somewhere to sit together afterwards, or food for the group? Tell us what you have in mind and we will quote.
Work Christmas parties
A Christmas do they will still be talking about in January.
If the usual meal out has run its course, bring everybody climbing instead. It is the same idea as a team session: our instructors, no experience needed, and the café afterwards.
Tell us how many of you there are and the dates you have in mind, and we will quote.
Only a few of you?
A handful of colleagues do not need a session of their own. Book onto the same induction, which is 25 minutes with a coach, and stay and climb for as long as you like afterwards.
Good to know
The practical bits.
Where we are
Unit 4, Imperial Park, Empress Road, Southampton SO14 0JW. Ten minutes from the city centre.
Parking
Free and right outside. Register your cars on the tablet by the front desk when you arrive.
Showers
Showers and changing rooms on site, if you are heading back to work.
What people ask before they come.
What is bouldering?
Climbing without ropes, on walls that are not too high, over deep padded matting. No harness, no belaying, no partner needed. That is why it is the easiest form of climbing to start on your own.
Do I need to be strong?
No. The easiest problems are big holds and big footholds, and they are there to be walked up. Strength comes from climbing, not before it. Technique and reading the wall get you further than pull-ups.
What if I am scared of heights?
Plenty of our regulars are. The walls are low, the matting is deep, and you never have to go higher than you want to. Tell the coach on your induction and they will keep you low until you are ready.
Am I too old or unfit for this?
No. Bouldering is problem solving as much as it is strength, and you climb at whatever height you are happy at. We have regulars in their seventies and people who came in having done no exercise for a decade. Older and Boulder on Tuesday and Thursday mornings is a gentle way in.
What should I wear?
Anything you can move in. Leggings, shorts, a t-shirt, whatever is comfortable. Climbing shoes are £3.50 to hire, free with any membership, and we have them in every size, so you do not need your own.
Tell us about your team.
Ring us or send a message, and we will come back with a plan and a price.