If your kiddos have a head for heights, are up for a challenge and fancy trying their hand at an action-packed new adventure sport, then we have just the thing for you: Clip ‘n’ Climb has come to Singapore! Originating in New Zealand, this climbing theme park is the first of its kind here, and with a staggering 19 colourful walls for your small Spidey’s to conquer, this is one indoor activity you need on your radar. Doors opened just last month, so we sent Tracy Tristram along with two harsh critics (her kids) to try out try out this new rock climbing in Singapore opportunity by scaling some walls, hanging off ropes, and test their bravery on the lofty heights of The Triffid…
The kids have been off school for months already (okay days: but it feels like months) and the endless cries of I’m bored have begun (and that’s just me), so when I was asked if I wanted to check out a new indoor climbing adventure just down the road from our home, we were so there.
We arrived at Tampines Hub (which is a little tricky to find as the building isn’t yet totally completed, which sends SatNavs into a frenzy) and into the HomeTeamNS activity centre: home to a whopping 19 themed climbing walls suitable for climbers from 10kg and up (thankfully I was just about heavy enough…) A safety brief and harness instruction session were first up, followed by demos on how to secure yourself into the TruBlue automatic belay system on each climb – a magnetic braking technology that ensures tip-top safety for all climbers plus ensures a controlled descent on your way back down.
As I had to assist my two climbers (Rafferty, age four and Angelica, age nine), I didn’t get to do any climbing (that’s my excuse and I am sticking to it), but the kids had the best time testing their strength while scaling seriously cool walls. Raff refused to let his short legs stop him, and although Angelica is scared of heights, the instructors were fantastic in encouraging her to accomplish what she could. A lot of the walls require logic and puzzle solving skills to be able to climb (especially the Donkey Kong wall), so this distracted her long enough from thinking about how high she was.
The walls all have their own difficulty rating, so my kids stuck to the easy levels (which still looked pretty damn high and hard to me!). Favourite climbs of the day included The Twister: a colourful puzzle wall that looked like an abstract staircase, the Ladder (self-explanatory) and also the Tetris-themed wall which was perfect for smaller climbers. Unfortunately neither of them managed to climb The Triffid (a more difficult Jack and the Beanstalk based climb) or the Dry Ice Wall (designed like an ice mountain where climbers use ice picks to scale to the top – my kids didn’t have the body strength for that yet).
Would we go again? Absolutely! Our 90 minute session flew by, and the kids made themselves and their mum proud with their accomplishments. This is a fun-packed, challenging activity that the whole family can try out together – plus it makes for exhausted kiddos at the end of it. Next time I might even give The Triffid a go myself…
Clip ‘n’ Climb, HomeTeamNS Tampines, 51 Tampines Ave 4, #03-03 Tampines Hub Singapore 529684; www.hometeamns.sg
