Depot Climbing in Greater Manchester is a sizeable bouldering gym in Trafford Park, Greater Manchester. Depot seems to be one of the more popular bouldering gyms in the area… Is this because it is good, or is it just big?
Depot is a chain of climbing gyms in the UK currently with six locations. Being from Manchester, I had to try it out. If I visit any of their other sites, I will write separate reviews and give them a link below. So if you are looking for thoughts of others, I’m sorry I can’t help with that right now. Read this post to see if Manchester is one you’d like to visit. This gym has no top rope and is only bouldering.
Depot Manchester Climbing Center Costs and Hours:
Prices according to their site as of May 2022
- Adult – £11
- Concession – £9
- Shoes £3.50
- Annual Membership – £5
Costs with Annual Membership
- Adult – £9
- Concession/ Under 18 – £8
- Under 5 £4*
(* With an adult who is also climbing, £8 if the adult is only supervising)
Please note: concessions are students with a valid student card/proof they are a student and over 60’s.
Open hours:
- Monday – Friday – 06:00 – 22:00
- Saturday – Sunday – 09:00 – 21:00
Depot also offers other membership deals; I don’t want to fill this post with them. For all the pricing info and opening hours, check out their site.
Depot Review
I spent about 4 hours here. I know that a lot, but with indoor rock climbing, you get many breaks so you can go longer. I will also organize this review as my day went from check-in to leaving and talking about its good and bad points.
Checking in
Getting there, the check-in process seemed okay, It wasn’t super quick, but it was my first time, and I had to set up my account, so I think it would be even faster the next time I visit as that is all set up. I think it helped that I completed the waiver online before I arrived. I recommend you do that to save time. Luckily I have my shoes, and I’m a student, so it cost me £9, giving me access to the centre for the day.
The Climbing
The Good
The main thing I noticed as soon as I walked in was the sheer size of the place especially compared to where I usually climb (Substation). Here at Depot, there are a lot of walls in different styles; overhangs, slabs, vertical, etc. Having so much room means they can spread out routes more, so the walls aren’t loaded with holds. This makes it loads more accessible, as other courses aren’t in your way. They have an entire comp wall with about eight problems for you to try.
They also have a back room which has a cool long cave. Here you can work on your endurance and technicality. I only did one route here, so I don’t have much to say about it. The route was 6bf; you were curious. The moves weren’t complicated, but being on an overhang for so long is tiring and gives a crazy pump.
I want to add that I love the fact they have a substantial functional area with scatter boards, LED boards, free weights, campus boards, fingerboards ETC. I like that they have this as it means you can train more than just climbing which adds enormous value if you live close. I pay £40 a month to climb and a further £40 a month for my gym. Whereas the gym here has everything you need for some excellent training, other than climbing.
The Bad
Now, it wasn’t all good; there are two things that I didn’t like about Depot Manchester. Firstly, the number of times I was in a problem and people just jumped on it. They could have said, “Do you mind if I jump on? Which would be fine. I know it is a public place, but I have a bit of respect. Especially if I’m about to walk into a problem and someone jumps on it. It must have happened on 80% of the routes I was working on.
Secondly, the grading is very confusing. I saw maybe two A4 posters with their grading system, which I overlooked for a while. Even once you know the grading system, it doesn’t help much. There is a lot of overlap with the colours. So that makes it not that helpful. I don’t know if there is an app (if there is, it’s not advertised), but there is no way to know what level any route is, even on the comp wall. The only fence with grades is the cave in the back corner and the LED boards in the training area.
Overview and Opinion
Reading through the whole post, you will see that it’s not all good. I believe that the good ways the bad. The value for money with the size of the centre and the added weight area is amazing. The routes, however, not knowing the grades, seem to be set nicely. I will be back here as I do love the facility. I recommend checking it out f you are in town or live close to it.
For me, it’s a 35-40 minute drive, so It’s a bit too far for it to become my local, but I’ll come back when I have the extra time to travel.
Disclaimer: This is my opinion of Depot Climbing, Manchester. The Depot hasn’t paid for this post.
