The BMC is happy to announce that HarroWall becomes the first National Performance Centre to be located in London, and the fifth overall to be granted the title in England.

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is proud to announce that HarroWall Climbing Centre has been awarded the title of National Performance Centre for Bouldering. HarroWall becomes the first climbing centre in London to gain the prestigious title and only the fifth to be recognised as a centre of excellence for bouldering.

HarroWall opened in mid-February in Harrow in NW London and is the largest bouldering centre in the U.K. with a floor space of 40,000 sq ft offering an indoor climbing experience for anyone of any age or ability. As a National Performance Centre it has an exemplary range of facilities for existing and aspiring GB Team members as well as offering climbing activities for those new to the sport.  

Lakeland Climbing Centre (LCC) Area Manager Tom Hull summarises the reasoning behind the location and design of HarroWall.

“Every since we opened our first location in London at VauxWall four years ago, LCC has been on the lookout for a bigger site. When we found this building in Harrow, NW London, we knew we could create something special and we’ve pulled out all the stops for it. Buildings of this size don’t often turn up in London and so we jumped at the chance of building a wall that would meet the BMC National Performance Centre criteria, creating a facility in the process that London climbers would be proud of.

The site has excellent transport links with the Metropolitan tube line running right past the centre, allowing people to reach HarroWall in only 25mins from Baker Street in Central London. It’s also close to the M25, M40 and M1 allowing those from the South & Centre of England to have easy access to a National Performance Centre.”

Zoe Spriggins, BMC Competition Manager, adds  “The BMC are excited to award the title of National Performance Centre to HarroWall. As an NPC it met all our criteria to become a flagship facility for British climbing. It now offers all our London & Southern based GB team members a centre of excellence for training that allows them to be better prepared for when they compete at home and abroad. The BMC look forward to working closely with the HarroWall team to run BMC competitions at the centre as well as helping all our GB team members improve. It is great to see the arrival of even more fantastic facilities come to fruition that showcase the growth of indoor climbing and help get more people into the great sport of climbing”.

HarroWall facilities include:

• 3 huge bouldering areas including a 35m wide Competition wall,
• Numerous training boards: 45 degree woody, Moon Board, Circuit Board and Lattice board
• 10m long, 60 degree overhanging Power Tunnel
• 12 Krazy Climb elements and Climbing Hard Play area to attract children new to the sport
• 10 Auto-Belay lines for those who don’t want to boulder
• A Gym Mezzanine where anyone can work on their strength, mobility and stretch

Other National Performance Centres in the England include:

- Awesome Walls, Sheffield

- The Climbing Works, Sheffield

- The Depot, Manchester

- Oakwood Climbing Centre, Wokingham

You can find out more information about HarroWall at www.harrowall.co.uk

Instagram & Twitter: @harrowall

Facebook: facebook.com/harrowall

We want to say a big thanks to every BMC member who continues to support us through the Coronavirus crisis.

From weekly Facebook Lives and GB Climbing home training videos, to our access team working to re-open the crags and fight for your mountain access, we couldn’t do it without you.

Did you know that we've launched a U27 membership offer for just £1.50 / month? And with full membership from £2.50 / month, it's never been easier to join and support our work: 

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/join-the-bmc-for-1-month-U27-membership

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