Plas y Brenin in Capel Curig is the UK's National Mountain Centre - there are a whole host of activities provided here such as mountaineering, climbing and canoeing training. This review relates solely to the indoor climbing wall there. It only costs £5 to use the wall which is really reasonable. I suspect this would increase significantly if you needed an instructor as well but one of our group was a qualified climber so we didn't need one. If you need to hire any equipment they have an on-site hire shop. Some of my friends had harnesses and ropes that we could use so we only needed the climbing shoes (£3 for hiring these) then it was off to the wall. Having never tried it before I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. Whilst we were there one of the centre's instructors was giving a comprehensive one-on-one training course and the guy looked to be really enjoying it so I decided to go for it. Once securely attached to your rope there are quite a few routes you can attempt, some being obviously far too advanced for absolute beginners like me. After a couple of hours climbing and abseiling back down we were all knackered but thoroughly enjoyed it - I'll definitely try this again at a local centre in Manchester. Tip: There is a vending machine you can get soft drinks or bottled water from (£1.20 for water), but consider bringing your own to save cash - climbing is thirsty work! read more

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An excellent outdoor centre - the best I've been to. Excellent rooms, excellent food, excellent food choice, excellent instruction and tuition. A great experience. read more