History

Climbing has long been the preserve of outsiders; the weirdos, the obsessives. But as the climbing industry caters for a broader market and mass appeal, walls and gyms today are becoming gentrified. Brand new brightly coloured holds, WiFi, yoga classes, posh coffee. Yet at the back of an industrial unit in Sheffield lies a reminder of a simpler age. A time when the aforementioned obsessives wanted nothing more than a few holds on a plywood board in a dusty room to pull down on. That time was the mid-1990s, when bouldering was poised for global stardom, to take its rightful place as an equal alongside its trad and sport counterparts.