Where do you meet?
We meet every Wednesday to climb indoors at THE CASTLE climbing wall in North London and encourage ad hoc meets on other nights at The Castle, at Mile End or Westway climbing walls.

What is the group like?
Our ages range from 20s to 50s, with a good mix of men and women. Everyone is friendly and relaxed, there are normally between 8 to 15 climbers at any one meet. We have climbers at different levels, you can chose to push your grade or just enjoy a casual climb. After climbing we go on for a drink in a local pub/bar. Recently Climber magazine published a personal view from one of our members - you can read it here.

What if I haven't climbed before?
We run quarterly indoor meets especially for those who are new to climbing. This is not instruction, just a taster. After that, in order to climb we recommend undertaking an instruction session with centres such as The Castle, where you will learn safe practices and be able to register.

What if I have climbed before?
If you can climb unsupervised you can join us on any Wednesday evening. If you are not registered at the climbing wall you will need to register on the evening. This will involve confirming you can fit a harness correctly, tie in, belay and hold a fall.

How do I join?
If you wish to continue climbing with us (and why would you not?), you should join NOT SO TRAD. This costs only £15 for the year (31.10.2009) and covers BMC club membership. Details of how to do this are on the JOIN US page.

What do I get for my membership?
We have a YAHOO group, where we email between members, post pictures and useful info. Each month you'll get a newsletter (here's an example) with details of recent and upcoming trips, news from members, photos, chat and safety tips. NOT SO TRAD are a club affiliated to the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), which covers some insurance and other stuff, as well as supporting climbing and the outdoor environment, and gets you a 10% retail discount in selected outdoor stores in the UK, subject to participating store policy. Links to the BMC are on the LINKS page.

Didn't you use to be GOC Southern Climbers?
NOT SO TRAD is a newly formed group, with membership formerly belonging to Gay Outdoor Club (GOC) Southern Climbers. We formed NOT SO TRAD and ceased our group GOC Southern Climbers, because we wanted to have a closer association and visible lesbian and gay presence within the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) We have close associations with members of GOC Northern climbers and GOC Mountaineers, and we meet them whenever possible.

Where do you climb outdoors?
NOT SO TRAD have a varied list of Rock Climbing trips planned for the spring through to Autumn. Details of trips for 2009 are on the CLIMBING page.

I'm interested, what do I do now?
Contact Nicola or Andres, details on the JOIN US page to arrange a Wednesday night. We meet prior to climbing usually in the cafe upstairs between 7 - 7.30pm.