The coolest of games

Ice-climbing enthusiasts who love first-hand experience of numbing cold and frozen waterfalls don't need to drive 50 km to China Mountaineering Association headquarters and wait for winter. A vertical wall at The Village Sanlitun is far more convenient.

Situated in The North Face (TNF) store, China's first indoor ice-climbing wall is a refrigerated unit running through the shop's second floor. The 8m wall is in a room that is set at a constant -12°C and is challenging to both novice and amateur climbers.

Pipes full of glycol behind the wall's face keep the wall frozen and the entire room is perfectly insulated, enabling the store to recreate freeze-thaw cycles and make it as realistic as possible.