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 THE Welsh International Climbing Centre at the Taff Bargoed Centre in Trelewis boasts one of the biggest and best indoor climbing walls in Europe.
The centre provides a complete range of instruction courses from total novice to experienced climbers, taking you higher than you ever thought you would go.
There is also a bouldering course and a challenging cave complex, the first artificial cave complex in Britain. The complex is extremely realistic with a stream way, waterfalls, stalactites and a maze of passages for you to explore.
The centre also has one of the highest rope courses in Britain, which incorporates abseiling, cave ladders, cargo nets, Burma bridge, Indian rope bridge, tree trunk and zip wire all 55 feet off the ground.
Competition climbing has its origins in the former USSR where speed and alpine climbing competitions were first held.
In the 1980s rock climbing standards reached a level where interest developed beyond comparing the difficulty of rock climbs to organised competitions to directly compare the skills of climbers.
Various forms of competition were tried including in 1985 the first international difficulty competition held near Torino, Italy; then in 1989 the first world cup series was co-ordinated by the UIAA.
The advent of indoor climbing facilities made the sport accessible worldwide and today the UIAA and International Council for Competition Climbing (ICC) promote, develop and regulate international climbing competitions.
Events are judged on difficulty, where the person who climbs highest is the winner; speed, where the person who climbs fastest is the winner; or, in bouldering, where the person who completes the most problems is the winner.
The judges in competition climbing use simple timing equipment and videos to record the athletes and ensure that rules and safety procedures are being followed.
Despite the hazardous appearance of competition climbing the culture of safety awareness in mountain sports has ensured an excellent safety record.
The competitions take place on specially erected climbing walls sometimes outdoors but usually in large indoor arenas and exhibition halls.
More than 6,000 spectators watched the finals of the 2001 World Bouldering Cup and European Youth Championship.
UIAA-ICC events only take place on artificial walls both for sporting reasons and to avoid any chance of damage to the environment.
This decision has greatly added to the popularity of artificial climbing walls in towns and cities.
Worldwide many thousands of people take part in local and national competitions being organised by 52 member associations in the UIAA.
The continuously updated world rankings for international competitors have 183 female and 197 male high-performance athletes listed.
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