Ipswich will be home to the biggest Clip ‘n Climb centre in the world when it opens its doors this weekend.
Clip 'n Climb is launching its 216th centre at Ipswich's Ransomes Europark, boasting 42 challenges and Europe's highest dropslide.
The 13,500 sq ft centre, which is the first of the 53 UK centres to be built from scratch, will open on Saturday, July 6 following the £2.25million build which was completed by Brooks and Wood Ltd of Ipswich.
Speaking ahead of the opening, Josh Davey, a director at Clip 'n Climb Ipswich, said: "The beauty of Clip 'n Climb is that anybody can take part and you don't need to have any climbing experience. All you do is book online, turn up on the day and after a short safety briefing you will be climbing straight away."
As well as climbing equipment the Ipswich centre will boast a virtual reality room, with Paddy & Scott's taking prime place in the ground floor of the huge centre.
Read more: Coffee firm reaches new heights with opening of Clip 'n Climb Centre café in Ipswich"With 42 different challenges we are the biggest centre of its kind in the world, boasting Europe's largest vertical drop slide as well as a 'Leap of Faith' challenge which will prove popular for thrill seekers of all ages", added Josh.
The Clip'n Climb company started in New Zealand in 1995 and has really taken off in the last two to three years, as the sport of climbing gains momentum.
With climbing one of the four new sports to make its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Mark Patterson, another director at Clip 'n Climb Ipswich, added: "It's been a long wait over the last 12 months completing our Clip 'n Climb centre, but we are so excited to officially open to the public this Saturday.
"As the first purpose-built centre in the UK, a lot of people have worked extremely hard to get us to where we are today."
Mr Patterson says he has been deeply saddened by recent attacks in Ipswich, and wants to provide a place where young people can go and relax, rather than being out on the streets.
He continued: "We are really proud of the centre and the facilities that we now have, and we really hope we can engage the local community in climbing."
The new centre in Ipswich won't be Clip 'n Climb's first in the region, as it also runs a much smaller climbing facility in Cambridge and one in Chelmsford.
It will also be the second indoor climbing centre in Ipswich - joining Avid Indoor Climbing, which opened in October 2018.
You can book a session at the new Clip 'n Climb centre by clicking here.
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