Getting members into the gym during the sunny days of summer has always been a challenge for climbing gyms. But if there’s one thing that has the power to lure customers inside it’s the power of the prize.
A recent article from iClubs.com highlights the many ways health clubs are enticing members into their facilities. The article states:
Whether the prizes are nutrition bars, water bottles, free tanning or personal training or even a month free membership, the prizes can be relatively inexpensive and will be appreciated by members. All it takes is a little creativity and some effective marketing to entice members to take part in a contest or special promotion. These contests and incentives will encourage your members to come to the club, get results and more importantly, refer their friends and family.
Some climbing gyms are already using these tools to garner attention and create customer loyalty. One example is Pure Bouldering Gym in Colorado Springs which is offering a free punch pass for their 300th “like” on Facebook.
While we all like “likes”, they may not lead to getting people through your doors. Offering fitness-based contests is a great way to get new climbers excited about climbing and keep long-time members excited about that night’s session. One example that has been used by recreation centers and as a fund raising strategy for special events is a “climb Everest” contest. Climbers compete against each other to see who can climb the height of Everest (29,029 feet) first. Because this type of contest is not about how hard one climbs but is about how much one climbs, it’s a great way to get new climbers into the gym. If Everest is a bit too intimidating, other climbs like Half Dome (8,839 ft) and El Capitan (7,569 ft), or the total height of all the climbs in your local crag would work as well.
Another fitness-based contest many gyms have used is the “first ascent”. The contest goes like this: once a route or boulder problem has been set a prize is given to the first person to come in and “send” the route. All grades should be represented and different prizes can be awarded to male and female participants. This contest is especially good after a competition when spectators have seen many competitors trying the route, have all the beta and are excited to jump on the “Finals” routes.
Make sure to post on-going results in the gym and encourage members to post their results on social media, which will keep your members engaged and may entice new customers into the gym.
As far as prizes go, the most enticing may be cold hard cash. The Durham Climbing Centre in the UK set a special problem with a £50 ($76) bounty. They even created a video of pro-climber and routesetter Gaz Perry sending the project, giving the beta to all those interested in giving it a try. Not only does this get people psyched about going into the gym to try the route themselves, it creates a buzz in the gym as climbers and spectators eagerly wait to see who will claim the bounty.
Also remember to keep an eye on your current annual and monthly memberships. Pulse Climbing in Australia teamed up with a local gear shop last summer to offer $650 worth of climbing gear to one lucky customer that signed up for a membership in the month of June. Offering gear or technique class as a prize to customers that sign up for a membership can be a great incentive for those day-pass climbers to take the plunge into a monthly or yearly membership.
Some gyms may be reluctant to give prizes to get people into their gym — isn’t this a cheap trick that is only used by struggling businesses? In a word: no. Humans have a deep-seated desire for games and contests; according to CNN more than 50% of Americans gamble or play the lottery. The psychological power of contests has been used by businesses in every sector, including the health industry, to create excitement about their company, attract new customers and rev up their existing customer base. With these types of contests, it’s a win-win for your gym.
The Seattle Bouldering Project in Seattle, Washington is America’s largest bouldering-only climbing facility. Like many gyms in the US their routesetting program was good, but nearly two years after their grand opening the routesetting program felt a bit stagnate and needed some updates, perhaps with some help from an outside source. But unlike most other gyms the SBP owners were determined to do something about it.
So, earlier this year co-owners Andy Wyatt and Chris Potts put a world-wide call out for a new Head Routesetter. After interviewing several US-based routesetters with good credentials they still felt like they were not getting the caliber of setter they wanted. That’s when Tonde Katiyo showed up. After reviewing Katiyo’s resume — which includes stints on several World Cup setting crews and numerous gigs helping to train national teams in Asia — and holding several lengthy interviews over Skype, the partners decided to fly Katiyo from Paris to Seattle. This would be an on-the-job interview to that entailed setting a local on-sight comp with the SBP routesetting crew.
After the comp the owners knew they had their setter, and Katiyo was excited about the opportunity. But a very big obstacle stood in their way: red tape. To hire an employee from overseas requires thousands of dollars in fees and relocation costs. On Katiyo’s side he needed to get married to his long time partner to pave the way for her and their toddler daughter to join him in the US. None of this was easy but the owners and Katiyo worked through the immigration process and in February 2013 Katiyo and his family moved to Seattle to become Seattle Bouldering Project’s newest Head Routesetter.
Luckily it seems that the effort is paying off. “Tonde has an amazing vision for what he wants to do here. There’s also a lot that he wants to do here,” says Wyatt. From building hundreds of new volumes to eliminating tape on the boulder problems to adding circuits, Katiyo has started to implement a number of radical changes to the routesetting program. At first the members didn’t know what to make of all these modifications, but it seems that the owners and Katiyo have found a way to remake their gym while keeping their customers happy.
Check out this original video from Climbing Business Journal to learn what Katiyo has in store for the Seattle Bouldering Project’s routesetting.
Video correction: In the video we state that Seattle Bouldering Project is 25,000 sq feet. In fact it is 35,000 sq. feet.
USA Climbing Routesetting has just announced the fall schedule of setting clinics. A much anticipated Level 2 clinic will be held at Climb Iowa in Des Moines, Iowa November 3rd – 5th. This three day clinic covers on-sight competition routesetting along with advanced movement theory and comp organization. Setters must apply to attend this clinic and with only 12 spots open it is sure to be very competitive.
The USAC Setting website states that, “we expect many applications, so please only apply if you have significant competition routesetting experience, and a sincere interest in setting for USAC Championship level competitions in the future. ” Basically this clinic is for setters that are looking to turn their skill into a possible career.
Also announced are two public Level 1 clinics. The first will be held at Upper Limits in St. louis, Missouri September 14th – 15th and instructed by National Chief Setter John Muse. The second Level 1 clinic is at the venerable New England gym Metrorock in Boston, Massachusetts October 3rd – 4th. This clinic will be instructed by International Routesetter Chris Danielson.
Both Level 1 clinics are open to the public but do have a few prerequisites like, 6 months routesetting experience and the ability to forerun 5.10 & V3. These clinics provide, “instruction for new and experienced routesetters alike, giving individuals an opportunity to learn and practice fundamental routesetting skills valuable for commercial and competition routesetting. ” One day is spent on boulder specific setting and the second on route specific setting.
USAC Routesetting is the US’s only organization offering routesetting instruction and sanctioned certification. To learn more about the program or to register for any of the clinics go to Usacsetting.net.
Photo: Crux Crush
More gyms across the country have women on their setting staff including The Spot, Seattle Bouldering Project, Mesa Rim, Vertical World, Aiguille Rock Gym and many others. At last years ABS Youth National Championship Nicole Girder was awarded her USAC Level 3 certification becoming the third female National setter.
But when compared to male setters, females still are not well represented in the routesetting world. One way to change that is to have good female role models, and one great example is Molly Beard from Portland, Oregon. Molly has been setting National level competitions for over 18 years and is currently the Head Setter at Club Sport, Level 5 National Chief Setter and USA Climbing Routesetting Certified Instructor. Her routes are the perfect example of what a technically perfect climber and consummate professional can put on the wall.
Crux Crush has a great new interview with Molly talking about being a freelance setter, keeping things fresh and the difference between indoor climbing and outdoor climbing. Here’s a taste of the interview:
CXC: Your job seems very unique to us, especially for a female. What got you into route setting in the first place?MB: I did some competing on my own and then began coaching a youth team in 1995. It was really obvious when the setting was good (as in equitable for tall or small, not bottlenecky, etc.) and when it was not. I got curious about how to set hard things that my tiny kids could reach, and so started to work on that concept by making routes for my team for practices. Near this time Tony Yaniro was in Portland going to school, and he hosted a setting clinic at one of the gyms. I was too poor to be able to attend, but asked him if we could trade: I would set for him for free at an upcoming Youth Regional Championship, if he would teach me. He agreed. I got completely worked, wrecked and schooled, and after sleeping a few days, was beyond psyched to learn more. I am constantly and profoundly grateful that he agreed to mentor me.
CXC: What has it meant to be a full-time freelance route setter? MB: It meant I had to learn how to promote myself, which was hard to do! I really do not like talking about myself – doing a good job is what is important, and should speak for itself. But that is not how the modern world works. It also meant that I had to be willing to take risks in order to find work. Cold-calling gyms for work is pretty intimidating, but I had to learn to not take ‘no’ personally. It is very interesting being the sole female in a job like mine. I would very much have liked to see more women by now. It is utterly baffling and worrisome that I have not.
CXC: At their inception, the purpose of climbing gyms and indoor routes were to train for and mimic climbing outside. As the sport has progressed indoor climbing has strayed from its original purpose and in some critics opinions has become a platform for showing off wacky movement by the competitors. While this type of climbing is impressive to watch it may be widening the divide between indoor and outdoor climbing. What do you think this means for the future of climbing, both indoor and out and what are your thoughts on the direction and expectations of competition climbing?MB: I do not see this as a problem. If you look at climbing world-wide, gym climbing has already become an activity unto itself. Think about places where there is none-to-little outdoor climbing. Of course gym climbing becomes appealing. While I love to see what might be ‘new’ my ultimate goal is results. Ties suck. Bottlenecks suck. Shutting down an unusually small kid REALLY sucks. When I see these things I wince. When I am responsible for them I get angry. That said, I think comp climbing has begun to hit the ends of creativity with the current tools we have. I don’t really look at this as good or bad: it just is. It means that the tools we use will likely evolve further as people want to see more unusual things in comps, and I look forward to what that might look like! I’ll say it another way: cool moves are cool, but not at the cost of results.
Photo: UKC News
This September Sheffield, England will get the country’s largest climbing gym. At least that’s what is what is promised by Dave Douglas, owner of Awesome Walls. Their newest facility will be the company’s fifth gym in the UK. Just six months after opening their Dublin location, owner Dave Douglas is pushing hard to open this new facility as soon as possible.
Mr. Douglas told UKC News:
My initial thought was to start building as soon as possible to be open for Christmas 2012. Alas, this is not to be, a project of this size needs careful planning to make sure it’s a commercial success and not follow in the footsteps of two other major walls in the UK that were a bit too big for their boots!
The change of usage for planning permission has been submitted, several wall manufactures have been consulted and the plans are growing more exciting by the day. If we’re going to do this in Sheffield, we have to do it right.
Initially a two phase build was proposed but now this has been scrapped and we’re going for the full hit even though this will delay our opening a couple of months.
Assuming planning permission is granted by the end of September we aim to be open early 2013 but we have some serious work to undertake not to mention getting AWCC Dublin open on time!
Sheffield is the epicenter of UK rock climbing and already home to three other large climbing centers including the legendary Foundry, the Edge and Climbing Works Bouldering Gym.
This newest facility of Awesome Walls will conform to the British Mountaineering Council‘s new criteria for a “National Performance Centre”. According a BMC document, “The BMC has established this process to encourage the development of climbing wall facilities capable of running national and international competitions across England and Wales.”
Routesetter.com is pleased to launch ClimbingBusinessJournal.com!
Climbing Business Journal will provide complete coverage of the indoor rock climbing industry. CBJ will offer news of climbing facility openings, closures and expansions, along with industry best practices, product news, coverage of climbing events and legal issues relevant to the indoor rock climbing community. This site will serve professionals at commercial rock climbing gyms, bouldering gyms, recreation center and university climbing walls.
As the indoor climbing industry has grown climbing business professionals — climbing business owners and managers, climbing coaches, routesetters, rec center administrators as well as the designers, manufacturers and salespeople at climbing wall and equipment companies — have needed a convenient way to find up to date information about their industry. CBJ will serve up breaking news from around the internet and will create original news articles and videos. Routesetters do not worry, CBJ will still cover the world of routesetting by offering how-to’s, hold reviews, setter profiles and comp coverage.
It was not long ago when the “indoor climbing industry” was not much of an industry. Not any longer! This sector of the health and fitness industry is growing fast, with new gyms opening every month and new companies to support those gyms popping up all across the country and the world. Universities, colleges and community centers are filling their recreation centers with state of the art climbing walls, and these facilities are introducing the sport of climbing and bouldering to thousands of people every day. The industry is poised to become one of the most popular and economically prosperous segments of the sporting sector.
We hope you find the content on this site valuable and we welcome your feedback.
Photo: Focus Climbing
This past July in Mesa, Arizona the doors opened on one of the best designed bouldering walls in the South West. Focus Climbing Center is a bouldering and auto-belay only facility owned and operated by one of climbing’s great personalities, Joe Czerwinski.
Joe sat down (virtually) with Climbing Business Journal to talk about his design philosophy and how he wants to run a gym.
Can you describe the gym?
The building is a rectangle 138ft x 48ft, with a footprint of 6810sq/ft, and a clear height of 28ft. There is just over 5000sq/ft of wall surface that yields 120 linear feet of bouldering wall from 16ft-18ft high above a 3000sq/ft 24″ flooring system. There is 50 linear feet of full-height climbing wall with 2.5 inches of safety flooring and 6 auto belays.
My t-nuts are on a 6 inch grid and are as close to the aretes/corners/angle breaks as possible. With the bouldering walls, we created an 18ft wide section of slab that mimics the left side of the USAC Nationals wall. I noticed this angle is popular for world cups, and seemed more fitting than a wall of slab only.
The next unique feature is a 16ft wide-25 degree overhanging “can”. The lip of the can is 14ft above the pad and the top is perpendicular to the wall, so the lip is just hold-able, and allows for fun mantles (or terrifying mantles depending on your view). The rope climbing wall has three sections, vertical, 5 degrees overhanging (IFSC speed route), and a section that goes to about 17 degrees overhanging. Each section overhangs more than the last and provides a great visual presentation. I am short on the IFSC speed wall, but with two lanes on the speed wall, the left side is set from the start to as high as I can set. The right side was set from the end (top), down to the bottom as far as I could set. So the team never gets to run the whole route, but they climb each side backto-back. This gives them the timing for the moves and spacing, and seems to work really well so far.
Who built the walls and padding?
Leading Edge Climbing Walls built the walls, and Futurist Climbing Consultants provided the wall design and flooring system. Leading Edge was great, faster and cheaper than our contract which seems a-typical of the industry. Due to my experience with route setting, I worked closely with Tim Fairfield and Futurist Climbing Consultants on the wall design. Overall, I am really psyched with the end product.
How many staff and routesetters?
I am slightly overstaffed right now, but a few of my staff are former climbing team members and attend college out of state. Once we near the fall semester of school, my staff will be right around 4-5 with a Lead and Assistant Manager. I have one other coach to assist with the junior program. I have two other route setters besides myself. I have not had much time to try and route set as running the gym is more intensive than anticipated, and I have put the rest of my time toward coaching. With my setters, I have solid guys. I have a lot of confidence in them, as they can set for kids/short reaches really well and in any style needed.
Who is your core customer?
We are collegiate bouldering gym. My target customers are undergraduate students 18-25 years old.
How much did the whole project cost?
$570K.
Photo: Focus Climbing
Why Mesa, Arizona?
Mesa……well it’s where the best building was located. I had a spot in North Scottsdale (about 20 minutes north), that I was really psyched on, and the model was a programming gym- similar to a gymnastics facility. However, I found the Mesa location- it was a better price and a no-brainer collegiate bouldering gym with ASU 4.5 miles away. It has fast freeway access and is more central to the highest density of population within my 20 minute radius.
Your website states that you are “setting the new standard for climbing gyms”. How?
With 19 years in the industry, and the experience I have with setting and coaching, I have had the opportunity to see what I like (and don’t like) about every facility I have ever been to. If another facility had a great “wheel”, I made sure not to re-invent it. I don’t really look at is as the “new standard”, but trying to improve on what is already out there, and not create the same pitfalls.
The beginning is the correct flooring system. I see more and more facilities with bouldering walls 14-16ft high, if not higher. I have been on a lot of seamless flooring systems, and I feel the system at Focus is the best. I would encourage every new gym owner to go with the same system Focus has (24-inch 16ILD), even with 16ft walls at the highest. My customers are beyond psyched with this flooring system. We went with a radical design in terms of height and steepness. It was designed for the future, not what has been built in the past. I have noticed many beginners want to climb on the steeper parts of top-rope walls and bouldering areas. So we made a ton of steep terrain and ordered a ton of jugs. I put the pressure on the route setting staff to produce easy terrain and it has worked perfectly.
Another part is the layout of the warehouse space. The wall design is not overbuilt, and allows space for customers to occupy without being in the way of everyone who is climbing. The wide open design fosters community as the layout does not segregate the climbers into different areas. Gyms are about having fun and community, and I think bouldering areas with different caves or sections can limit that community building. This design creates an easier space to manage from a safety aspect as well. From the office space, I can see nearly all of my terrain and customers without obstructions. An additional layout perk is the ability to host bigger competitions. Approximately 50 feet of bleachers can be rolled in front of the bouldering walls to accommodate larger crowd size.
Photo: Focus Climbing
Another notable feature: there is nothing to absorb odor in the facility- all the padding is vinyl, and everything else is cement. Carpet inside gyms tends to smell like feet after a year or two, and I never want Focus to smell like a climbing gym. I use a cleaning service 7 days a week and the place looks like gold in the morning. FREE CHALK. Yes, free chalk. Since there are no chalk bags or buckets are allowed on the pads, we provide free chalk to all of the climbers in the gym (waist belt chalk bags are fine to wear). There are three gymnastic style chalk bowls across the front of the pad, and 6 buckets screwed onto the base of the wall out of the way of problems. I have only heard positive comments about this. I decided to eliminate top-ropes and use all auto belays. I have noticed most people don’t care to learn knots or bother with belaying, they just want to climb. Instead of belaying, their partner is chilling on a Madrock beanbag. In the end, it fosters more interaction with climbers in the auto-belay area as belayers don’t have to pay attention- because there are no belayers. Everyone is doing what they really want to do, hanging out in a social atmosphere and climbing.
Some small things that make a difference with the overall experience:
Ratings at the top of the climb so you can see them without getting under the walls
Rental shoes NOT at the front desk
Complimentary coffee bar
Free Wifi
Cold AC
Electronic and online waiver system though Rock Gym Pro
I spend the extra $4 for a case of Charmin.
Your website also mentions that “It was designed to minimize injury.” What are the details behind this?
Our dedication to safety starts with a flooring system that is (in my opinion) unmatched in the industry. This system comes with proper falling training procedures and fall clinics for the staff and members. Additionally, every new customer is given a free fall orientation in order to minimize chance for injury. Over 70% of bouldering injuries are related to the edges or gaps between the pads, and this system eliminates those chances for injury.
Futurist made sure there is enough pad to cover the landing zones. The minimum amount of coverage we have is 11.5ft from the most overhanging point, and 6ft from the arêtes. With the open wall design, we eliminated nearly all intersecting fall zones. This was priority for me as it significantly lowers the feeling of “being in the way” when you just want to sit and rest. In looking at other gym designs, I felt this was something many wall companies are not concerned with because it limits the amount of wall they can install in a gym. For example, I could have made several “U” shaped coves and packed in more wall sq/ft, but at what cost?
In the end- I built a gym that I want to climb in, and run a gym how I feel is right, and treat people how I would want to be treated.
Massachusetts based, Central Rock Gym has opened their third location in Watertown, Mass this July. This new facility has a massive 28,000 square feet of climbing and is one of the most modern climbing gyms in the country.
Learn more about Central Rock Gym in this video tour of the new gym.
Photo: touchstoneclimbing.blogspot.com
During a typical evening bouldering session at any climbing gym in the country one will find many people sitting on the ground around a boulder while a climber attempts to throw themselves up their latest plastic project. Many climbers find this scene absolutely irresponsible and reckless; people should be spotting each other when bouldering! Well, in modern gyms it seems they shouldn’t.
The Climbing Wall Association has put out an excellent article on the effectiveness of spotting within bouldering areas. They conclude that in facilities that offer sufficient padding, spotting is unnecessary and can actually hamper the effectiveness of the padding leading to more injuries than would otherwise occur.
In order to examine spotting in its proper context, we must first understand its purpose. When asked, our industry experts unanimously defined spotting as a means to protect a climber’s head and neck from impact with the ground/floor. “Spotting is for the purpose of protecting the head and neck area. In 25 years of operating climbing gyms I have never seen a head injury in a gym while bouldering. For the life of me I cannot figure out why you would need to spot anyone with 12 inches of foam as the landing surface. Spotting will never eliminate broken ankles and wrists. It is not designed for that,” said Rich Johnston of Vertical World in Seattle.
Utilizing this definition and context, we can infer that spotting in an indoor bouldering environment is not primarily intended to prevent ankle and wrist injury (two of the most common indoor bouldering injuries).
With the exception of specific circumstances, systematically spotting boulderers is not recommended in facilities properly equipped with new generation bouldering flooring systems that offer bouldering gymnastic falling technique orientation and instruction for the following reasons:
Bouldering onlookers crowded in close proximity to a climberʼs landing zone may cause pinning resulting in deactivation of the flooring systemʼs ability to properly absorb the impact force of a falling climber.
The presence of a spotter introduces the possibility of a collision with a hard foreign object, which is one of the leading causes of injuries in bouldering areas.
Spotters who are not properly trained (similarly to gymnastics coaches & martial arts instructors) may potentially cause more harm than protection to a falling boulderer. From Climbing Bouldering Techniques (excerpted from The Art of Falling – bouldering orientation video).
Though its primary purpose is to mitigate head, neck, and spinal injury (which are less likely in an indoor setting), there are some instances where spotting may be appropriate for alternate purposes. Timy Fairfield of Futurist Flooring Systems says, “It is advisable that specific circumstances requiring spotting should be considered before attempting every boulder problem to determine if having a spotter is preferable. Bouldering participants should identify potentially dangerous moves that could result in joint locking, over rotation or inversion in the event of a fall before spotting or attempting a boulder problem. Potentially dangerous moves that could result in joint locking, overrotation and possible inversion of the climber in the event of a fall include:
Horizontal Roof Climbing
Overhead foot placements
High heel hooks/heel hooks on in-cut holds
Foot cams/toe cams between 2 holds”
“In most climbing gyms, there is not a spotting program that goes far enough in teaching how to spot a climber adequately. There are only a few situations in a bouldering area, such as a steep cave that is low to the ground, where someone can safely spot someone. Once a climber is higher on wall, it’s safer for the spotter to stay out of the way, unless they are very skilled at spotting. It’s a lot more than just catching someone coming off the wall. It’s a matter of redirecting them to land on a safe part of the body” said, Mike Palmer of Cascade Specialty.
Possible topics covered in a spotting orientation may include, but are not limited to climber preference for a spotter, flooring type, fall zones, technique, awareness of the climber, awareness of difficult moves on the boulder problem, height of climber, and pitch of the route. Proper orientations should leave the climber with knowledge of why to spot, when to spot, and how to spot properly. If orientations do not achieve this, the opportunities for injury may be larger than if the orientation were omitted altogether. Most gym managers will weigh the facility design, flooring, time/staff commitments, efficiency, customer perception, and implications when considering the implementation of a spotting orientation. While the omission of orientation can be permissible for spotting, it does not apply in top rope or lead climbing scenarios. In our experience, the many considerations involved in spotting orientations implementation frequently result in their omission based on the risks versus the benefits. Even when spotting is used in the correct context, there are many effects to consider. Can the climber’s momentum injure the prospective spotter, adding to facility liability?
Aaron Stevens from Climb Iowa weighs in: “In an indoor climbing facility, I think it is FAR more important to talk about how to fall properly than how to spot. People don’t really spot even when you take the time to tell them about it. Most bouldering accidents can be reduced from a falling demonstration rather than a spotting demonstration. In my opinion, by teaching and telling people about spotting you are increasing the likelihood that someone will get injured. By teaching proper falling techniques, you are decreasing that risk.”
Photo: momentumclimbing.com
Alternatives If you choose not to introduce spotting to new climbers, then what should be implemented in its place, if anything? The near unanimous recommendation from our panel is to introduce proper falling technique.
Mike Palmer of Cascade Specialty advocates for mandatory falling education for new climbers: “On the practice of an orientation in the bouldering area, I think it should include falling instruction. This will also reduce injuries, and hopefully shield gyms from some liability. I also think spotting is very overrated. There are very few people qualified to spot properly. Letting a novice spot someone is dangerous to the climber and the spotter. The effort would be better spent on falling education. Why not require it like a belay test?”
The CWA concludes:
Per our industry experts, the practice of spotting in indoor bouldering areas should be reserved for special cases in which spotting may be favored over climber ground falls. Given the brief nature of most facility orientations, it could be inferred that these special cases may not fall into the scope of mandatory orientations. This leads us to two possible methods of addressing this topic:
Implement a robust spotting orientation that addresses all of the purposes, considerations, and special cases involved in spotting.
Omit spotting orientations from facilities on the grounds that spotting may not be necessary except under special circumstances.
When implementing any new process, the CWA encourages gym owners to understand the purpose, commitments, and implications of such processes. If implementing a spotting program, facilities should ensure that the orientation meets its intended purpose: minimizing injury and facility liability.
If omitting spotting orientations, facilities could choose to include bouldering orientation language covering falling technique. This was the most popular recommendation from industry experts for the purposes of minimizing liability (not adding a second person to a potential fall situation) and addressing the most common types of indoor bouldering injuries (ankle and wrist).
Photo: wvgazette.comEldorado Climbing Walls, is reporting the completion of the world’s largest man-made rock climbing structure. Built at the Boy Scouts of America’s extreme sports village in the Bechtel Summit Reserve in West Virginia, this climbing facility will be unveiled at the BSA’s 2013 National Jamboree.
With a total of 60,000 square feet of rock climbing terrain, the climbing facility is divided into two areas: The Rocks and Boulder Cove. All climbing terrain is constructed from Eldorado’s SHOTRock product and entirely hand-sculpted to mimic the local rock styles and climbing features of the New River Gorge.
“We are honored to have been selected by the Boy Scouts of America to complete a project of this massive scope and size,” said Jerad Wells, CEO of Eldorado Climbing Walls. He continues, “The climbing facility at The Rocks and Boulder Cove truly showcase the amazing climbing wall design and climbing wall construction capabilities of our team. We look forward to seeing this facility inspire a love of rock climbing in current and future generations of Scouts.”
The rock climbing area is dedicated specifically to the Scouts during the Jamboree. The most unique element of this massive climbing area is the “Leap of Faith,” where participants leap into the air from a height of 32 feet and are safely lowered to the ground by the TRUBLUE Auto Belay.
Other features include:
Two rappelling towers with a total of 36 rappelling stations at a height of 32 feet (6 stations are dedicated “leap of faith” stations).
Three climbing fins with 68 manual belay stations at heights from 21-30 feet.
Two climbing fins with 33 TRUBLUE Auto Belay stations at heights from 25-35 feet.
One 25-foot high climbing fin with 8 climbing stations (6 manual, 2 auto-belay).
Six freestanding boulders with over 50 stations and an average height of ten feet.
Boulder Cove incorporates over 280 linear feet of rock climbing walls ranging for 19’ to 36’ in height. In this area, the Scouts and their families can enjoy the following features together:
12 TRUBLUE Auto Belay rappel stations.
72’ linear foot rappel deck
25 TRUBLUE Auto Belay backed up climbing stations.
Three distinct boulders averaging 13’ in height.
Photo: eldowalls.com
Following the Jamboree, the Bechtel Summit Reserve and the climbing facility will be open to scouting trips and retreats. The Bechtel Summit will continue to host the US Jamboree every year, and plans are in the making to host the World Jamboree in 2019.
Read the full press release at Eldowalls.com
Getting members into the gym during the sunny days of summer has always been a challenge for climbing gyms. But if there’s one thing that has the power to lure customers inside it’s the power of the prize.
A recent article from iClubs.com highlights the many ways health clubs are enticing members into their facilities. The article states:
