BEN - Ben Friar with you on BBC Essex. Let's talk about something else now, shall we? And this is to do with Olympic success. A lot of stories in the newspapers today regarding a massive increase in the number of people who want to climb as a result of Toby Roberts claiming gold last month. There's been increased interest at the Rock Up climbing centres, which includes the Lakeside Centre. Let's speak to the marketing manager at Rock Up, who joins me now. Hi to you, Jack.
JACK - Hello.
BEN - Hi. What do you do at Rock Up?
JACK - So Rock Up are specialising in climbing that is accessible for all ages. So we're very much there to be the introductory step into the sport. In contrast to other climbing gyms, all of our walls are run by auto-belays, so they have a system that doesn't require anyone to be on ropes. It automatically catches climbers when they fall, so it makes it perfect for getting kids involved in the sport.
BEN - And you say sport because, I mean, it wasn't really on the agenda, was it? When I was growing up, the only things I could climb really was a tree, nothing like the set up we see now this is this is really taking off isn't it yeah i think for the people for the last like five years or so before the most recent olympics it's been one of the fastest growing sports in the world so yeah there's just more and more eyes on climbing every day
BEN - And is it people coming to keep uh fit or or have a have a proper go, serious competition?
JACK - All of the above really. Climbing, contrary to a lot of other sports, climbing is a workout for the body and the mind at the same time. A lot of people think when they first come to climbing that they're just going to be working their fingers only. But you use your entire body. It's a sort of cerebral exercise as well where you're solving problems and you're overcoming fears and you're building confidence. You're challenging fear of heights. You might be pushing past boundaries you didn't know you had. And then the sense of satisfaction afterwards is, I think, what keeps people coming back more than the actual physical exertion of it.
BEN - I mean, it is dramatic, isn't it? You watch it at the Olympics and they're trying to get up and press the button in five seconds, something like that. I mean, is that the exact thing you can do at RockUp?
JACK - A version of it it, yeah. So we have speed climbs at our centres. They're not as tall as the ones we've seen at the Olympics. The Olympic ones, I think, are about 15 metres tall, and our ones are about half that, so better for an introduction. So, yeah, it's interesting to watch.
BEN - And when it comes to the surge itself, what are you seeing? I mean, you know, the Olympics and the six-week holidays, it must have just been pretty crazy, was it? You know, almost as soon as Toby Roberts got his gold, was it...
JACK - Yeah, so luckily climbing has been on the rise anyway for the past few years. So we were involved in the in the previous Olympics in 2020, but we only had one representative from the UK. So we saw some growth from that, but yeah, it was really the most recent Olympics where we had three competitors make it into the final from Britain, one of which obviously being Toby Roberts, the young climber who ended up winning gold. From that, it was really the cherry on top in the growth that we'd seen. So I know Toby Roberts in particular had something like 20,000 extra social media followers in a single day, and most athletes were seeing 300% more followers in the weeks leading up to the Olympics. So there's millions and millions more eyes on the sport. And they're great representative as well. And that's one of the things I think is so special about climbing is the type of athletes that are representing the sport on the world stage. They're all about positivity. They're all about pushing boundaries. They're all about physical and mental health. So they're great ambassadors. And I think a lot of the young people that are seeing climbing now for the first time are being introduced by such good representatives. And it just helps them get involved.
BEN - Well, can it be for anyone, Jack? I mean, can someone in their mid-40s have a go or...?
JACK - Yeah, absolutely. There's no age limit on climbing. We don't have an age limit in any of our centres, as I know most places don't. There's obviously some physical barriers that some people might have to get past. But really, climbing, you're only really up against yourself. So as long as you have the ability to get on a climbing wall, you can do the easiest thing in the world. You can push yourself and try and go harder. But yeah, there's benefits in it for all body shapes, all ages, all abilities.
BEN - I'd like to see how long it would take me to press the button. Have you got to press the button one at Rock Up?
JACK - Yeah.
BEN - The kind of things that they do in four seconds in parallel. I'd like to see how long it would take me. How high is it?
JACK - So ours are eight metres tall. So on average, I think someone, if they've got a decent level of physical ability, they're probably going to press the button in about 30 seconds or less. So with a little bit of training from our team, they'll probably be able to get down to 10 seconds, sometimes even quicker than that.
BEN - Yeah, well, I don't think you'd have to worry about that. Jack, thank you. This is Jack Elshaw, a marketing manager at RockUp. A big surge in the number of people climbing. I'm not actually that surprised because it's gripping stuff, if you pardon the pun, particularly watching Toby with his gold and also the speed climbing. You know, one slight hesitation costs them, and some of them are decided by, what, thousandths of a second. So those in pursuit of climbing and promoting climbing, very much enjoying that success.