The Midleton Climbing Club are very attached to their climbing wall and this is where the members are to be found until the Summer arrives. The climbing wall is run by climbers, for climbers on a voluntary basis and is situated in St. Colmans Community College in the town of Midleton, County Cork.
For those who have not heard the term "bouldering" before, let me try and explain it. To "boulder" is to climb a short interesting route. How is it interesting? The only way to really know is to try a few routes yourself and see. When you have got to the top, how do you return to earth? You have two choices, you can either jump onto the luxurious Midleton foam mats or you can try to carefully reverse your moves. Midleton has excellent bouldering walls and from time to time national climbing competitions are held here.
No formal tuition is given because it is very straightforward but if you need any help there is always someone to ask. The beauty of bouldering is that you don't really need any special equipment and non-restrictive clothing and sport shoes will suffice. But if you want to make it easier on yourself, you may decide later to invest in rock shoes which help give extra grip to your feet and chalk which helps give extra grip to your hand's.
There is also a taller section of wall that can be used for lead-climbing by experienced and proficient climbers with their own suitable climbing equipment.
The climbing wall is open from the start of October to the end of May. During the summer months the club disbands and the members are scattered to neglected crags and lonely mountains (as it should be). From October to May, the wall opens from 7:30PM to 9:30PM on Tuesday & Wednesday nights.
Because the climbing wall is run by volunteers with no lease fees, the overhead costs are very low and accordingly membership fees are ridiculously low! However membership is mandatory!
The Midleton Climbing Club is affiliated with the MI (Mountaineering Ireland) and the bulk of the membership fee goes towards the MI affiliation fee. If you are already an MI member a special low rate can be availed of. On your first visit, you pay 5 euro and this is taken as a down payment on your membership fee, the remainder of which MUST be paid on your next visit.
Under 15s may climb with a parent/guardian's supervision. The full membership details can be discovered by dropping an email to midletonwall@yahoo.ie.
A level of insurance comes with membership through the MI (Mountaineering Ireland) affiliation, more details are available from the MI web site www.mountaineering.ie.
Driving from Cork city:-
For any queries, drop an email to midletonwall@yahoo.ie.