My Passion with Simon Blezard: Getting to grips with a gravity-defying new challenge

It only started two months ago, but already I'm hooked.

Our IT director suggested I try it. I invested in a pair of specialist shoes, and I was away.

Now I spend a couple of evenings a week, and occasionally my days off, scaling the walls, and even the roof, of the new Depot Climbing Centre, at Stanningley, in Leeds.

The depot is the UK's leading indoor bouldering centre, located in a huge old bus yard handily just down the road from where I work in Pudsey – and it's packed with hundreds of climbing "problems" for you

to solve.

There are huge roofs and barrels, technical slabs and artes – every style of climbing you can think of – and the idea is that you just go for it and "free climb" with no ropes involved.

I've always been up for a challenge and I love the adrenalin rush of adventure activities like gorge walking, abseiling and canyoning – I'm that guy in the office that ropes everyone in for outdoor corporate away day pursuits in the Lake District or Wales.

To get started, all I needed was some specialist flat rubber-soled shoes with grip, and a short induction to show me how to climb safely. I didn't have any prior experience of climbing and, to be honest, I wasn't altogether sure at the beginning that I would really get into it.

The climbing walls are cleverly constructed with holds that are put in place to provide different routes for different climbers. Each route is approximately 30 "moves" long and there are a variety of "problems" of all grades and styles to make each route more challenging.

I began on level one, which is white, but I couldn't resist trying some of the harder coloured routes. I had no chance of holding on though, so I just fell off all over the place.

But gradually I began to get a grip of the technique and strength required, and started to learn how to pull my body into specific positions so that I could hold myself on one block and reach across to grab the next.

When I finally completed a route, I had such a sense of achievement that it made me want to push myself harder and harder, and now I'm on level four. That's not bad for two months but believe me it's a long way from level 10, the most advanced "black" route.

It's a relatively low -cost hobby – prices compare with a gym membership – and you can pay as you go.

Who knows you might become hooked like me and never look back – or down.