"I hat’s not you!” I’d tried to pull a fast one by showing my colleagues a photograph of me two-thirds of the way up a climbing wall that seemed to me at least half the height of Everest.

The picture had been manipulated – I was in fact only a couple of feet from the ground and, knowing my fear of heights, my workmates smelled a rat.

I’d gone to experience what must be one of the most exhilarating pastimes, under the watchful eye of expert climber David Holmes – who actually could gain the height on the towering, 14 metre-high indoor wall which I pretended to have climbed.

A member of the University of Bradford Climbing Club – which is open to the public – David is passionate about climbing, heading out to tackle rock faces across Yorkshire whenever he can.

Cow and Calf Rocks, Arncliffe Crag, Caley Crags, Brimham Rocks – he is never happier than when he’s gripping the side of a cliff face, feeling for finger and toe holds.

“I’m addicted to climbing – it is exciting and challenging, and keeps you fit,” he says.

I stand in awe as he grips the underside of an overhang on the artificial cliff faces. The idea of clinging to one of these overhangs – both close to the ground and higher up – makes the hairs on the back of my neck prickle.

Yet, despite supporting his own body weight, David, 29, clings like a limpet, using every ounce of energy to ascend. I feel exhausted watching.

We’ve travelled to Leeds Wall in the city’s Gelderd Road, for an afternoon among the lunar-like structures that reach from floor to roof of this cavernous building.

The club members generally practise at the University of Bradford Sports Centre, which has its own climbing wall. At present the sports centre is undergoing refurbishment, with a planned reopening next May.

The realisation that I’ve got to have a go on the wall leads me to consider feigning illness. I did, in fact, have a bad back, so I wasn’t planning anything too ambitious.

Climbers have to wear special, flexible shoes. Mine felt about two sizes too small, but, I was told, they should feel tight around the toes to aid gripping.

I’d been assigned to the children’s wall, with foot and hand-holds emblazoned with the letters of the alphabet. Even moving along the wall horizontally was, I found, quite difficult. You can’t always reach the holds easily and have to stretch your arms and legs.

I climbed a couple of feet, and tried to imagine what it would be like near the top. It was too awful to contemplate – but I could see how thrilling it would be were you properly trained, and skilled.

I could see how much fun it would be too for children who, I was told, often visit the wall for birthday parties.

“Look ahead and work out where you can go with both hands and feet,” one of the instructors told me. I had to admit, it wasn’t as easy as it looked and I found transferring my legs over particularly difficult.

I was relieved when I had crossed the stretch of wall and attention again turned to David, who was preparing to make his way towards the stratosphere.

A combined studies student at the University of Bradford, he joined the club – which has about 30 members – two years ago and climbs as often as he can.

He enjoys ‘bouldering’, making short climbs without a harness that is typically practised on large boulders – hence the name – or at the base of larger rock faces.

“Shipley Glen is a good spot for bouldering, so is Caley Crags near Otley,” he says. “It is good for training. You can make moves without the danger element, and build up your confidence for bigger climbs.”

David does not confine his climbing to Yorkshire, venturing to well-known climbing hotspots such as Tryfan in Snowdonia and small climbs in the Alps.

Incredibly, he is scared of heights. “I like scaring myself. I like to push it,” he says, adding: “I wouldn’t say I was scared of heights, more of falling from heights.”

He stresses that, so long as the climb is executed properly, with the right equipment and support, you should be safe in the event of a fall.

To ascend to the lofty heights of the wall, David ropes in – to use an appropriate pun – Leeds University student Dave Williamson. Wearing harnesses, the pair use a technique called belaying, in which one climber controls the rope fed to another. By using this method, the one climber can hold the entire weight of his colleague by using relatively little strength, and can prevent a long fall.

“The belayer has to keep his eyes on the climber all the time,” David tells me, as he dips his hands into a small chalk bag attached to his belt, to keep his hands dry.

Once he has returned to the ground – in a move rather like abseiling, the pair swap roles and Dave, who has been climbing for around eight years, takes his turn.

I can’t look as he approaches the overhang – there is seven metres of overhang at the wall – but he manages it without pausing for breath.

David has brought along fellow student Michelle Scott who, like me, is visiting a climbing wall for the first time. “It looks quite high, but also exciting,” she says, eager to learn more. “I’m keen to have a go.”

Michelle is clearly happier on the wall than I was, and comfortably moves along it.

I get through the afternoon without falling. David tells me how, three months ago, he fell 18ft while climbing in Shipley Glen. “I landed on my crash pad,” he says, referring to the foam pad climbers place at the base of boulders. “I twisted my ankle. It was painful, but I got a free pint out of it at the Old Glen House.” Before I go, David opens his rucksack and shows me a number of books showing the bestclimbs on different types of rock in Yorkshire. He also has an autobiography of Joe Brown, one of the greatest names in British climbing.

“You get addicted to it,” he says, before heading back towards the wall.

The University of Bradford Climbing Club has climbers of all competencies and welcomes beginners. For more information visit ubu-climbing@bradford.ac.uk. To join the club and use the university facilities, membership of the Athletics Association is essential. For details contact Katie Moore at ubu-soa@bradford.ac.uk. For more information about the Leeds Wall ring (0113) 2341554, visit theleedswall.co.uk, email info@theleedswall.co.uk