WHEN you are looking for something different, challenging and confidence building with your children, the climbing walls at The Triangle in Burgess Hill are the answer. Arron Hendy found out.

Let me make one thing absolutely clear, I am afraid of heights. It never used to be this way, I’ve done lots of DIY and even made huge renovations to an old building in France working up a ladder. But after I hit the age of maybe 38 something happened and I became very frightened as soon as I went up a few feet.

So the thought of trying out High Places at The Triangle in Burgess Hill filled me with dread. Surely I was the worst person to try it out if we wanted someone to report back on how good it was?

And despite a fantastically reassuring tutorial and safety instructions from our fantastic guide Peter, I stood looking up the face of the wall in fear.

I knew exactly what to do and how to do it, but as I gingerly made my way up the wall about five feet high I looked down and had to give up.

But then something happened. I managed to gather some determination to concentrate on the wall and keep climbing without looking down.

A little higher with every attempt, I could feel my confidence growing and I was soon hitting the button at the top.

Don’t get me wrong, the youngsters around me were making it up with more speed and confidence, some as young as five making it to the top without fear, and with huge grins on their faces.

But I quickly felt fantastic and revitalised hitting the heights.

Each wall had different styles and shapes, making for a different challenge. One had different coloured slots so you could challenge yourself to stick to one colour.

The one with a stop-clock at the bottom was a great challenge for the teenagers and the see-through wall where you can climb face to face with someone is great fun too.

Bouncing back to the ground is absolutely exhilarating too. You have to let yourself drop away from the wall, then you can abseil down to the floor, which is as much fun as the climbing.

When we left we were all feeling great and planning to make a trip back sooner rather than later. And we’ll have a refreshing swim after the climb the next time we go too.

l High Places is at the Triangle, Burgess Hill:

Experience 16 climbing challenges - more than 20ft high.

Anyone aged over four can climb. Open every day

Book in advance or turn up and have a go if there are spaces.

High Places is unlike traditional climbing, the auto belay system (like an automatic safety rope) allows the users to simply clip on and go climb in confidence. There is no need for a partner, absolutely no experience necessary, full training is given. Sessions last up to one hour and 15mins. After a 30 minute harness briefing session, climbers will have up to 45 minutes on the walls.

Call The Triangle on 01444 876000.