The club's purpose is to provide opportunities for people in the Sligo area to enjoy climbing and develop their climbing skills. One of our main aims is to build an indoor climbing wall in Sligo.
What we Do
We do bouldering, top roping, trad climbing and sport climbing. Outdoor at crags and sea cliffs in Collooney, Glencar, Mullaghmore, Donegal and further afield. Indoor at Gortatole in Belcoo, Foyle Arena in Derry and Awesome Walls in Dublin.
We hold outdoor occasional public events where beginners can try out climbing, announced on the club's Facebook page. Or you can just join the club. It's inexpensive and will give you plenty of opportunities to climb indoor and outdoor.
Why Climb?
Climbing has physical, mental and social benefits. It builds physical strength and endurance. It can act as a form of mindfulness helping you to focus solely on the now and leave behind the stresses of everyday life. Through climbing you can develop a more positive mental attitude by overcoming phantom fears and achieving things you may never have thought possible for you. Climbing is also very social because climbers of all ages support and encourage each other rather than being in competition. And climbing is safe. Studies show that injuries are less common than in other mainstream sports such as basketball, sailing or football.
What does Sligo Climbing Club do?
We meet regularly for different types of climbing. Most of these can be done both indoors and outdoors:
Bouldering. This is low level climbing (5 metres max) without ropes but with safety mats to protect falls.
Top roping. Higher climbs where you are secured on a safety rope so you can’t fall.
Trad climbing. Traditional roped climbing where you place small anchors (nuts and cams) in cracks in the rock as you climb, clipping the rope to them to catch you in case of a fall.
Sport climbing. Like trad climbing, but the anchors are already in place, permanently bolted to the wall or the rock.
Members climb regularly and use the club Facebook page to post suggestions and invitations. In addition, we have regular club outings on the first Sunday of every month which is a good place for members to get to know each other. Ideal for new members or people thinking of trying climbing with a view to joining the club. Non-members can guest in at up to three club events before having to join. Details of the next club event can be found on the Facebook page.
Who Runs the Club
Meet Our Current Committee Members
Dan
Secretary
I’m Dan, the Secretary for the climbing club. I was introduced to climbing about 10 years ago in my native California, where my college roommates and I would go bouldering around the San Francisco Bay. Someday I’ll make it back and finally get on Yosemite’s big walls, which I somehow missed the entire time! When I’m not honing my relatively new trad climbing skills in Ireland’s northwest, my favourite place to climb is definitely El Chorro in Spain, where I’ve made a few repeat visits to get on some bolted sunny limestone. I also help coach the youth club with the Hanging Rockers up north in Fermanagh.
Henry
Chairperson
Hi, I’m Henry, the club chairperson. I started climbing back in 2003, and since then, I have managed to have many climbing (some sketchy) adventures of the Trad, Sport, Ice, and alpine kind on four different continents Climbing took a bit of a backseat during the pandemic, so I am keen to get back out to meet the members of the club, both new and old. When I am not climbing, I can be found bossing it on the bbq
Gavin
Equipment Officer
Hi I’m Gavin , I share equipment duties with Peter. I helped start the club along time ago and have been involved ever sense . I am a lover of all styles of climbing and have climbed all over Ireland , Spain , Yosemite , morocco. Looking forward to lots of club trips this summer
Piotr
Equipment Officer
Hi I am Piotr, I share equipment officer duties. I started climbing about 3 years ago. I like hiking and trail running so climbing seemed like a nice outdoor challenge. After a few training sessions I started really enjoying it as it’s both technical and physical. Goals for this year are to improve on trad climbing.
Jenny
Social Media Officer
I’m Jenny, the social media and GDPR officer. I also help with events and general running of the club. I’m quite a fan of being outside. On rock, on land, on water, in bog, on a trail, in a tent, wherever nature is. I’ve been climbing for five years and am really loving bouldering at the moment. I’m a ‘for-fun’ climber, you wouldn’t see me going for spooky trad but I do love a seaside crag such as Cruit! My dream climbing spot is the Dolomites and I’m super pumped to get climbing outside much more this year.
Yosef
Access and Development Officer
My name is Yosef. As the clubs Access and Development officer, I am passionate about opening up new routes and new crags. I am from Canada and have been living in Manorhamilton since 2020. I love to try hard at all types of climbing, though I’m never as good as I wish I was at any of them 😛 I’m always excited about meeting new climbers and exploring new places!
Juan
Membership Officer
Juan here. Eternal beginner. Enjoy specially Trad, and the fact that I feel scared but have to keep moving up. Living in Ireland for the last 8 years. In love with its mountains.
Lara
Introductions Officer
I’m Lara, climbing for about 3 years. I love hiking and also do a bit of trail running, and when I discovered rock climbing in Sligo, it felt like another amazing way to be in and connect with Ireland’s outdoors. No big goals climbing wise, my only challenge is to keep developing safe skills to enjoy it as a hobby and share it with others. I will be looking to train for RCI this year in order to help other new members (especially those without climbing buddies) get on the rock safely with regular top roping evenings.
Ríona
Events Officer
Hi, I’m Ríona, the club events officer. I’ve been climbing for many years, but I’ll always remember the day I saw the climbing wall in college up in Dublin and thought “how can something so fun and colourful be for adults?! I’m in!”. I’ll dabble in trad and sport but I’m a boulderer at heart. What can I say, I lack endurance and I like wearing beanies. I’m passionate about developing climbing in our beautiful county, and increasing accessibility for all potential climbers in the region to be able to take up the sport.
Luke
Treasurer
I started climbing 6 years ago and quickly fell in love, finding my poetic muse in trad climbing, although sometimes I’m more of a faller than a climber! Nonetheless I live for the experiences and places climbing takes me and find myself googling crags far too often.
Where Does Sligo Climbing Club Climb?
One of the main goals of the club is to organise group events and introduce new members to climbing. Another one of our main aims is to build an indoor climbing wall in Sligo for club members. If all goes to plan, we hope to have our own wall in operation in the coming years. At first, this will be bouldering only but our longer term aim is to get a bigger space and extend it to make an indoor roped climbing facility.
It may look like the bouldering wall at Galway Climbing Co-op. And eventually like the Gortatole Outdoor Education Centre in Belcoo, Co. Fermanagh which we regularly visit.
We love climbing outside though. Ireland has a huge range of great rock to climb on and some of it is close to home in Sligo. Take a look at some of the awesome locations we go to.
Sligo Climbing Club Equipment
The club has a range of equipment that members can use. Climbing can be expensive if you have to buy all your own equipment, so we provide a lot of the basics for members to use until the time when they want to invest in their own kit. We have ropes, helmets, harnesses, shoes, and all the gear needed to set up top rope anchors for safe climbing.
