About Climb Newcastle

3 guys passionate about climbing... ...met on their travels in the glorious county of Northumberland.

Managing Director & Former World Champion Andy Earl Andy Earl requires little introduction. One of the most successful British climbers on both rock and plastic, Andy was British Bouldering Champion for 3 consecutive years from 2003-06 and competed for Great Britain at international level for several years, culminating in winning the 2007 World Cup event in La Reunion.

Company Director Chris Graham Dr Chris Graham was a British Bouldering Team member for five years, representing Great Britain at several international events and reaching a top 20 international position and a podium place at the 2003 British Championships in Edinburgh. Outdoors in Northumberland Chris has left his mark with several significant first ascents and repeats up to E8 and 8a+.

Company Director Darren Stevenson Darren Stevenson has competed at national level and climbed at the highest levels world wide, onsighting up to E6 on grit, ground up of E7 and bouldered font 8a. Darren is a widely published photographer with front covers of On the Edge and use in various manufacturers advertising campaigns. He now works offshore as a rope access team leader and NDT technician..

Deep in a Forest... Andy, Chris and Darren visited the forest of Fontainebleau at the start of 2007 to show the French how to climb.

...deep in a Carrefour... In a Carrefour hypermarket in the forest of Fontainebleau, the guys decided that Newcastle deserved a world class climbing facility and that they were the perfect team to deliver it. When they returned to the UK they went in search of a building to fulfil their dreams...

An Old Swimming Pool Climb Newcastle signed a lease on a dilapidated swimming pool in Byker that had closed its doors some 2 decades before.

Construction Photo Gallery View some pics from the construction of Climb Newcastle in this photo gallery

Opening Day Climb Newcastle opened its doors to a delighted climbing community.

Climb Newcastle Opening Photo Gallery View some pics from the opening of Climb Newcastle in this photo gallery

The WBS Phenomena The 2008/09 Winter Bouldering Series was the UK's biggest ever climbing competition with a model now replicated across the country.

SBO becomes the ASBO... and the rest is history In 2010 the spring boulder open became an annual event, with a record turn out at ASBO 2010 making it one of the UK's biggest ever one day climbing competitions. The rest is history, the ASBO is the king of our events calendar each year.

The Dark Ages Late in 2010 Andy was left in a coma after suffering a stroke routesetting with the Climb Newcastle team. He would go on to make a remarkable recovery and returned to work in his original role late in 2011.

5 years old Climb Newcastle celebrated 5 years with the last of an annual birthday competition and the centre's busiest year to date.

Expansion to 2 Centres Climb Newcastle announced that they will be opening a second centre in the city.