Where to buy all your climbing gear in Edinburgh

So you’ve decided that it's time to make the plunge and buy your own climbing gear. You’ve borrowed from friends and rented from the climbing wall, but you’re done dipping your toe into the sport… you’re ready to become a fully-fledged rock climber. A fully-fledged rock climber with all the right gear.

To go with its many climbing walls, Edinburgh has several shops that provide high-quality climbing equipment.

Tiso - Commercial Street, Leith

Tiso is an Edinburgh outdoor sportswear institution, with their first shop opening in 1962. They now have two large stores in Edinburgh, one in the city centre on Rose Street and one on Commercial Street down in Leith.

Tiso really is a one-stop shop for all your climbing and outdoor gear, with everything from harnesses to helmets. While it can be a little bit on the pricey side, in the shop’s defence, it stocks some very high quality outdoor and lifestyle brands. Tiso also has a fantastic range of climbing books if you want to read inspirational mountaineering tales or focus on improving your technique.

Go Outdoors - West Harbour Road, Granton

In EdinburghClimbingHub’s humble opinion, GoOutdoors is the best place to get your climbing shoes. Not only are the staff extremely friendly and knowledgeable, they've also got a mini ridge that you step on when trying your shoes on!

If you’re buying multiple items, you should consider buying GoOutdoor’s members card. The card costs £5, lasts a year and will give you a discount on many of the items in store.Walking around the shop, you’ll notice that many items have two prices:

• The standard price: for people who don’t have a membership card
• The members price: for people who do have a membership card

Alpkit - Causewayside, Newington

Having opened at the start of 2021, Alpkit Edinburgh is one of the newer kids on the outdoor sports shop block! Alpkit Edinburgh is part of the wider Alpkit group, which has stores across the UK.

Unlike stores like Tiso and GoOutdoors who stock other companies merchandise, Alpkit exclusively sells its own clothing and accessories. Contrary to what you’d think, this focus on their own brand doesn’t limit their stock. Alpkit stock some seriously cool gear like enhanced bouldering jeans to matts and pads for your next outdoor climb.

Other places to get clothing and climbing accessories

GoOutdoors, Tiso and Alpkit should probably be your first stop if you’re investigating new climbing gear or looking for some in-store advice. That being said, they don’t have a monopoly on climbing gear. There’s plenty of other sports shops with wider remits you should also check out:

• Sports Direct: Whether you love or loathe Mike Ashley, you can’t deny that Sports Direct have some incredible prices. And let’s face it, if you’re looking to buy some t-shirts and trousers you’re going to scuff the heck out of anyway, Sports Direct is worth a browse. Sports Direct have multiple locations in Edinburgh including Princes Street and Fort Kinnaird.
• Decathlon: While not particularly famous for its climbing range, Decathlon is a fantastic all round sports store. Their Quechua-own brand in particular is high quality and reasonably priced. You can find their Edinburgh branch Hermiston Gait.
• Mountain Warehouse Anyone who goes skiing or hiking will know just how much of a god-send Mountain Warehouse is. If you’re going on a outdoor climb, their hats, jackets and thermals will keep you warm against the elements.
• Your local climbing gym: Don't forget that your local wall will probably stock some equipment and accessories. Alien Rock and Alien Bloc are a great source of chalk and chalk bags, while Eden Rock has its own mini climbing store in their reception.

Ready? Set? Belay! Now you’ve got all your climbing gear, here’s all you need to know about Ratho climbing wall