THE old sports hall at Grimsby's Oasis Academy Wintringham was transformed into a scene from Planet Of The Apes as Lindsey Climbing Club members inaugurated their new climbing wall.
Members scampered up the 25-foot wall, which has been built for about £6,000 thanks to donations.
Among the donors thanked by club chairman Peter Pounds was the Grimsby Telegraph-backed John Ross Community Trust Fund which gave £1,000, as reported.
Guest of honour at the official dedication of the wall was climbing supremo Dr Andy Cave.
He swapped the peaks of the Himalayas and the Picos de Europa in Spain to join club members at the opening in the sports hall, and said: "The Lindsey club has always had a great spirit. For a club to have its own wall is special.
"Climbing gives people the opportunity to gain confidence. It allows them to travel and meet different people and opens your mind. As well as teaching teamwork it also builds self-reliance."
Mr Pounds, 66, who has trained generations of climbers since he founded the club in 1984, said: "We have done it. This is the only one in North East Lincolnshire. You would have to travel to Lincoln or Hull to climb on a proper wall like this."
He said the wall would not just be for school pupils but for local groups like the scouts, guides and even team-building events for businesses.
The chairman said: "This is a training centre and will teach people how to be safe."
He said the club, which meets weekly on Mondays from 7pm, could soon have two or three meetings per week thanks to the new wall, which has interchangeable holds to challenge climbers to ascend on different routes.
British climbing team coach Mike Lea, who is from Grimsby, said: "It is a fantastic facility. It will help more people get outdoors.
"Climbing is one of those sports in which you just get out and do it. It teaches lots of life skills. You get out there and egg each other on.
"It transformed my life when I started at 16 years. It gave me a direction."
