Location: Harrison Rocks, Birchden Woods, Groombridge,
Near Tunbridge Wells, East Sussex, TN3 9NJ (Approx)
Date & Time: 10th July 2016 at 9.45am
Offer: 2 climbers together £49 or single climber at £25
Session length: 3 hours
Parking available: £1 per hour, £4 all day
Extreme Ventures Website or  Extreme Ventures Facebook 

Our Thoughts

Our initial thoughts  were full of excitement, “oooooh finally we’re going rock climbing!” However, what we had pictured in our minds was completely different to Saturday morning’s reality. For some reason, we were both under the impression that we were going to be climbing the typical man-made wall with multi-coloured holds placed strategically from top to bottom. Oh boy…were we in for a surprise!

Firstly we got lost and ended up on someone’s private driveway. Unfortunately the sat nav can only guide you to the general area which corresponds to the postcode. However, a quick call to customer service got us back on track and at our destination within five minutes.

Upon arrival, we handed over our consent forms and began our safety induction. Our instructor for the session was called Brett, who told us exactly what we needed to know and the plan for our rock climbing adventure. As a group of six, we collected our helmets and safety harnesses, then began the trek into the woods.

As we hiked to our  climbing destination, we both started to question how far these rocks were and  why we were walking through thick thorn-filled bushes. As we walked up paths which appeared to be going up what seemed like mountains (maybe a teeny weeny exaggeration), we both stared to get a little  nervous. After about a 10-15 minute walk we finally  arrived at our climbing area and believe us when we say we were very very surprised. Check out  the video below to get the full low-down.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFk2bCcEKSo&w=560&h=315]

When we got to the climbing area our first realisation was that we had actually signed up to climb natural rocks, then our second realisation was that it’s too late to change our minds as we’ve come this far and have already paid! 😂 So after a few tips from the instructor, we took a deep breath and got to it!!

We are proud too say, WE DID IT!  As you can see from the photos, we even climbed all the way to the top, of course not without a few bumps and struggles here and there. We definitely learned that it’s not as easy as it looks and the intermittent rain showers didn’t help!

The session really does use up a lot of energy, so after all the fun and games we were both ready for a nap. Nonetheless, we definitely had an amazing time accomplishing something new!

We would highly recommend everyone to try it at least once.Whether you’re the adventurous type or simply ready to push yourself out of the all too familiar comfort zone, we’ve got extra vouchers for the same offer. Don’t be shy, leave a comment below or drop us an email if you would like to give outdoor rock climbing a go.

Overall experience rating: 

Until our next post continue to Taste, Experience, Laugh and Live life to the absolute fullest.

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