Climbing Walls and Bouldering in Brighton

High Sports Brighton

High Sports Brighton opened in 1994 inside the Withdean Sports Complex in the north of the city. Its walls reach 13 metres, with around 50 roped lines for lead and top-rope climbing from f3 to f8a+, four adult auto-belay lines and five more in the RockBox area for children from age four. Bouldering is split between a downstairs area for all levels and an upstairs mezzanine aimed at harder problems and training, with a Tension Board 2, a spray wall and a woody. Ropes are set on Wednesdays and Thursdays and bouldering on Fridays. The centre is home to Brighton Climbing Club and the University of Sussex mountaineering club, and it hosts Climb As You Are, a monthly LGBTQ+ social.

Boulder Brighton

Boulder Brighton has been open since March 2013 on the Victoria Road Trading Estate, about five minutes' walk from Portslade station. It has more than 1,000 m² of floor space and up to 200 problems at a time, on vertical walls, overhangs, slabs, a roof and cave section, a comp wall and a top-out boulder known as the Duck. A new area is set most weeks, and since January 2026 it has used off-piste setting: problems can use any hold colour and carry a tag with a broad Font grade. There is a 40° MoonBoard, an upstairs training room and a café with locally roasted coffee. Pay-as-you-go sessions should be booked, as peak sessions often sell out.

Adur Outdoor Activities Centre

On the River Adur in Shoreham-by-Sea, Adur Outdoor Activities Centre is a family-run outdoor centre with a 10-metre indoor wall of 22 panels and more than 60 roped routes from 4 to 7b. Competent climbers can drop in once registered, and adults belaying their children climb free. Public access can be limited when large groups are booked.

Prices

In October 2026 an adult peak day pass cost £14.50 at High Sports, £13 at Boulder Brighton and £12.50 at Adur, with off-peak weekday entry from £9.75 at Boulder Brighton. Monthly memberships cost £50 at Boulder Brighton (minimum three months), £65 at High Sports and £60 for a one-month pass at Adur. A multi-site membership covers High Sports and its sister wall, Volume 1 Climbing in East Grinstead.

Beginners and children

At Boulder Brighton, first-timers book a First Time Climb session, and children aged 7 to 15 climb with a supervising adult. High Sports runs one-hour tasters, half-hour auto-belay inductions and a weekend beginners' course that signs you off for independent rope climbing, plus learn-to-lead courses, NICAS clubs and a junior squad. Adur has 90-minute tasters, a two-hour induction course, junior clubs in half-term blocks and Boulder Buddies, small, quiet sessions for children with special educational needs.

Further afield in Sussex

Volume 1 in East Grinstead is a bouldering-only centre with more than 200 problems reset weekly, and The Ordinary Climbers in Polegate, near Eastbourne, has top-rope climbing, bouldering rooms and a cave (booking is essential).

Climbing outdoors

The nearest rock is the Southern Sandstone on the Sussex and Kent border, north of the Downs. Harrison's Rocks, owned by the BMC, has over 380 climbs from 2a to 6c on outcrops up to 12 metres. The sandstone is soft, so climbs are top-roped from fixed anchors with a non-stretch belay rope and sling, and the BMC publishes guidelines for climbing there. The Ordinary Climbers runs outdoor trips to the sandstone for its members.