Originally posted at Athletic Business JournalPhoto: athleticbusiness.com
Research suggests that an estimated 9 million people enjoy some form of rock climbing each year. As a result of the increased number, researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital conducted a study specific to the sport and its injuries. The study found that there was a 63 percent increase in the number of patients seen in the nation’s emergency rooms between 1990 and 2007. That translates to an estimated 40,282 individuals between the ages of 2 and 74 were treated in U.S. emergency rooms for climbing-related injuries.
They found that ankle and foot fractures, sprains and strains were among the most common types of climbing-related injuries, and the majority of them resulted from falls of 20 feet or more. Although this particular study did not include injuries that occurred to participants while mountain climbing or hiking, results did extend beyond the scope of fitness and recreation facilities to include walls at child-care centers, schools, amusement parks, campgrounds and other locations.
Climbing injuries are a given, says Bill Zimmerman, executive director of the Boulder, Colo.-based Climbing Wall Association, and they’re most often the result of “pilot error” — an individual making a mistake. Significant differences exist between indoor and outdoor climbing environments and their levels of risk, but indoor facility owners still can “control what they can control,” Zimmerman adds, through practical risk-management procedures such as employee orientation, instruction and assessment. “What’s incumbent upon you, as an operator of a climbing wall, is to make sure that your staff is trained and experienced in climbing techniques and procedures — and that your employees stay up to date with those techniques and procedures,” he says. “Somebody will spend $1 million on a climbing wall and won’t spend $10,000 or $20,000 on training and development for their staff. That’s my frustration with this whole business.”
All major full-service climbing wall manufacturers provide training for facility employees, as do most local climbing gyms, Zimmerman says. If budgets are tight, managers should consider sending only one employee to a training session, and that individual then can educate other staff members.
As climbing continues its ascent among recreation activities — nearly five million people climbed indoors in 2008, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association — staff and user education will take on even greater importance. “Initially, rock climbing was a sport for risk takers and adrenaline junkies, and now it’s much more mainstream,” says Lara McKenzie, senior author of the injury study, which was published in the September online issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. “So the demographics have shifted, and recreational climbers may be younger and more inexperienced.”
Zimmerman suggests that greater oversight of a climbing structure is especially necessary in facilities such as health clubs, YMCAs, and college and municipal recreation centers — places in which climbing is “incidental” to other operations. “Who knows what kind of resources are allocated to that big climbing wall in the lobby?” he asks. “Who knows if there is a full-time staff member responsible for it?”
While not de-emphasizing the importance of the latest injury study, Zimmerman remains skeptical of research that paints climbing with a broad brush. “The fact of the matter is that climbing is pretty innocuous, and generalizations made about climbing are going to be somewhat specious,” he says.
“This kind of study is a good surveillance tool,” McKenzie maintains. “It lets us know what types of injuries are occurring, who is being hurt and what they were doing when they got hurt. And it gives us a nice jumping off point to open up the discussion. Now that we’ve identified the types of injuries, we might be able to look more closely at what we can do to prevent them.”
Infographic: Dyneema 360
Pregnant rock climbers of the world rejoice! Mountain Mama, Inc, the outdoor outfitter for expectant mothers, now offers a full-body climbing harness made by Mad Rock, specially designed for the unique geometry of pregnant bodies.
From Mountain Mama press release:
The innovative molded padded leg loops are combined with an “X”-Strap design at mid-back that supports and cradles the torso with wide, flexible webbing. An open design through the midsection accommodates a growing belly without bunching or squeezing, while side webbing connects low and away from the chest to allow a full-range of arm motion. Fully adjustable shoulder straps and leg loops ensure a precise fit, and tie-in at the sternum keeps everything upright. Flexible equipment loops at the sides keep gear at easy reach.
Photo: mountain-mama.com
Pregnant climbing women may be a niche market in the climbing industry. But as climbing gyms become a more popular form of recreation and exercise you can be sure more mothers-to-be will be hitting the wall and will need a harness that is made for them.
photo: Entre-Prises
Originally posted at AthleticBusiness.com
By Emily Attwood
Parks and green spaces have been lauded as the keys to improving public health, combating childhood obesity and addressing our nation’s sedentary lifestyle crisis. Numerous studies have shown that access to parks and green spaces correlates to overall health.
But access doesn’t necessarily correlate to use. Today’s playgrounds have been criticized for being too safe and boring, not to mention unappealing to anyone over the age of 10. Playground equipment manufacturers are building greater levels of risk into their equipment, and outdoor fitness equipment aimed at adults is growing in popularity.
As parks and recreation departments look for more ways to lure people into green spaces and get them active, many are finding solutions in climbing and bouldering structures. Despite its proximity to natural climbing opportunities, the city of Bozeman, Mont., has five boulders in parks throughout the city. “We are an outdoors, athletically oriented community,” explains parks superintendent Thom White. “We have ski mountains and climbing boulders within 25 minutes of the city, but what do we do in town?”
Photo: outsidebozeman.com
The Bozeman Boulders Initiative started nearly 10 years ago with a group of local climbers applying for the city’s Park Improvement Grant program to construct a series of boulders. “The idea was that you could go to every quadrant in the city via the trail system and climb a boulder,” says White. “You can go to your local park and get a good workout in. You’re not having to invest half your day.”
Ten years ago, climbing might just have been the latest trend, but it’s taken hold in gyms and recreation centers across the country. “It’s a great activity for kids and adults,” says Jason Stollenwerk, managing director of Entre-Prises Climbing Walls in Bend, Ore. “A climbing wall is different than a typical slide or other playground equipment. It encourages children to do something that they can naturally do: climb. It’s amazing how quickly they take to it.” Also unlike most playground equipment, it’s not just children who enjoy climbing structures. “Kids are going to the park, but their parents are the ones taking them there,” Stollenwerk adds. The boulders in Bozeman, designed by a local metal fabrication company, include both easier routes aimed at kids, as well as more difficult routes to appeal to adults.
In Bozeman, where climbing is as natural a sport as soccer or football, gaining support for a climbing structure wasn’t difficult. “There was a little hesitation, but once the first one went in, it was a slam dunk,” says White. Not all communities are as quick to climb on board with such a project, however.
“Safety is obviously the biggest thing people are concerned about,” Stollenwerk says. “It’s new to them. They tell me, ‘We’ve seen these climbing structures at other parks, but we’ve never had them. Is it safe? Can anyone use it? Can we leave it open at all times?’ ”
Despite the increased sense of risk associated with climbing, such structures are generally no more dangerous than any other piece of playground equipment. “We treat it like a piece of playground equipment,” says White. “It’s just another item in the park that’s attractive to someone. At some of our smaller playgrounds, the subdivisions are looking at adding them.”
Most communities opt for climbing boulders and walls around 10 feet in height, making them subject to the same ASTM International building standards as other playground equipment when it comes to fall zones and shock-absorbing surface materials. “It’s no different than having your feet hanging over the monkey bars,” says Rasch. “We’ve done a handful of college campuses that want to have a climbing boulder but are worried about liability, since it’s unsupervised. It’s unsupervised just as a playground would be. A user’s feet aren’t going that high off the ground, and if they are, it’s within standard playground height.”
photo: Metro Parks Ohio
While most parks departments do play it safe with a structure in the 10-foot range, there are those that opt to go bigger. “There are parks departments that have done taller projects that are very successful,” says Stollenwerk. “It’s pretty unique to be able to do that.” The largest free outdoor climbing wall in the country is at Scioto Audubon Park in Columbus, Ohio, where towers and arches soar to 35 feet and draw climbers from across the nation.
The Boulders Climbing Gym and the District of Central Saanich are pleased to announce that Central Saanich has recently been named the “Competition Climbing Capital of Canada.”
The proclamation was made by a special resolution of Central Saanich Council on July 2, 2013 and acknowledges the important role that The Boulders Climbing Gym has made to the sport climbing community in Canada and throughout the world.
With an 18-metre high competition climbing wall and over 1,200 square metres of climbing space, The Boulders is one of the only facilities of its kind in North America. They have recently hosted the 2013 British Columbia Provincial Championships and the 2013 Canadian National Championships and are now gearing up to host the 2013 International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Youth Championships from August 15th to 19th.
“We understand that the Boulders facility is one of the best, if not the best, climbing training gym in North America, said Central Saanich Mayor Alistair Bryson. “We are confident that the upcoming World Youth Championships will establish our reputation as the ‘Competition Climbing Capital of Canada’ and that this will be the first of many international competitive climbing events to come to our community.”
Photo: climbtheboulders.com
The IFSC World Youth Championships will feature over 500 athletes, ages 14-19, from over 40 different countries competing in both the “lead/difficulty” and “speed” climbing categories. It is anticipated that well over 3,000 spectators, athletes, and coaches will be in attendance at this world class event.
About The Boulders Climbing Gym
The Boulders Climbing Gym is a not-for-profit society, with the mandate of making climbing accessible for everyone, regardless of ability or ability to pay. With over 13,000 square feet (1,208 square metres) of climbing space, The Boulders Climbing Gym is a community facility and a unique social enterprise, providing adaptive recreation and rehabilitation programs, youth recreational and competitive programs, as well as facilitating a climbing academy at Stelly’s Secondary School. All instructors are certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. See www.climbtheboulders.com for more details.
Photo: Vital Bouldering
Bellingham, Washington maybe the last sizable town in the Northwest to have it’s own commercial climbing gym. Vital Bouldering Gyms of California will open it’s doors to the public this July 13th.
Bellingham, with a population of 82,000 is home to Western Washington University, with a student body of 14,833.
From the News Tribune:
The wooden flooring on the main floor was removed, creating a 30-foot high area with about 4,900 square feet of climbing walls. The removed wood was reused in a variety of ways, including for countertops.
The climbing walls are up to 17 feet high, with padding on the floors to allow for bouldering, or climbing without ropes, said Kaili Koo, manager of the gym.
For members, the gym will be available 24 hours a day and will rely on an honor system overnight. After 9 p.m. members will use a key code system with no staff on hand, although some monitoring will take place, including “watchdogs,” or people who pop in at random hours to make sure the gym is being run properly.
“Our goal is to have the climbing community running the gym after hours,” said Koo, who added that the gym will be staffed 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, when nonmembers can drop in. “We wanted to create a business where people have the opportunity to make the right decision, rather than put a bunch of rules in place.”
Photo: IFSC
The IFSC has just announced new rules governing how world records are set at international championship events. From the official IFSC press release:
The International Federation of Sport Climbing has given a new dynamic to “The Speed Project” to providing stricter regulations at IFSC Speed climbing competitions. The popularity of speed climbing growing hugely since the first IFSC certified speed wall was introduced in 2007. Today the IFSC is taking more steps to provide stricter regulations at IFSC speed climbing competitions. To promote a better climbing experience for athletes, the Sport Department of the IFSC has launched “The Speed Project.” The speed Project aims at ensuring an equal playing field to athletes, enabling them to have any world records they set, officially recognized.
The Speed License Rules 2013 have just been released. To meet the Speed Project constraints and to standardize the speed walls, the first step was to set up some precise specifications for all speed walls around the world. So the IFSC has been working very hard with athletes, technical experts and manufacturers on defining these requirements and constraints. The IFSC has just published the Speed License Rules 2013 that lists all the wall, holds, timing system and competition rules. It can be downloaded from the IFSC website. This document is specifically made to list the technical requirement of the speed equipment as well as the condition of the certification visits of the wall and certification process of the manufacturers.
Speed Walls must be built by one of the companies currently under consideration as an official Speed Wall manufacturer. These companies will be officially confirmed in 2014.
Photo: Entre-Prises
Since March 22, 2013 with the IFSC World Cup in Chongqing, all IFSC Speed Climbing competition walls need to be set with the new official Speed Holds manufactured by Entre-Prises. These holds have been specifically designed for use on IFSC approved Speed Walls and Entre-Prises will manufacture and distribute them using pricing, quality and design agreements set by the IFSC. “To guaranty the origin of these holds, the new Entre-Prises Speed Holds will include a serial number and QR code that can be scanned. This code takes you to a web page and shows certified sets that have been sold and are in regulation. This is a good control system for the IFSC”, says Jérôme Meyer, IFSC Sport Manager in charge of the Speed Project.
Timing system is the third and major requirement to set a Speed World Record. The IFSC has decided to choose only five timing system providers to ensure the exact same timing measurement in every event in any country can take place. To be certain of a precise and fair timing system, it must be one of the following: Alge Timing, Geckoking, Twin Dolphin, Kassa, Rock Timers. Detailed standards on Timer as for the walls and the holds are now released in the Speed License Rules 2013.
Once these requirements are met, speed world records can only be set if the competition is included in the official IFSC calendar of events and is recorded by a Jury President appointed by the IFSC. The official IFSC calendar includes 7 IFSC Speed World Cup and all the IFSC Continental Championships and IFSC World Championships. With the new regulations the show will be fairer, and much more thrilling!…so don’t miss the next IFSC Speed World Cup in Arco on September 7th, 2013.
You can find all the current world records and up to date information at IFSC.
Currently USA Climbing does not host any internationally sanctioned speed events. The biggest US speed event of the year is undoubtedly Youth Speed Nationals held during SCS Youth Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia. When asked if USAC has any plans to standardize an American speed format and records USAC Operations Director, Kynan Waggoner said, “I think the difficult thing is the lack of “Spec” speed walls in the United States. We have a few knock off speed walls, but really there are only 4 that I know of currently in existence: Hoosier Heights in Indianapolis, 10m in Atlanta and at Sender One, and a 15m in Reno. I wouldn’t want to implement some type of standardization when it seems that there aren’t really enough standardized walls. We need like 5 portable 15m speed walls that can be set up in one day. Then we’d be in business…”
With Entre-Prises providing the bouldering wall for the previous two ABS National Championships and the recently held Vail World Cup it’s easy to surmise that a Speed only National Championship could be in the future for US athletes.
photo: Focus Climbing
The USA climbing’s SCS Youth National championships was held over the 4th of July weekend at Stone Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. Youth Nationals, as it’s known, is the biggest competition in the country, drawing close to 400 competitors ages 7 to 19.
Find full results at usaclimbing.org
View this great highlight reel of the comp.
Photo: Brooklyn BouldersBrooklyn Boulders is expanding its climbing gym operations to Somerville, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. With this addition BKB seeks to redefine climbing gyms with an unusual blend of climbing, retail and community spaces all under one roof.
The gym sits 7 min. from the subway and boasts 25,000 sq feet of climbing built by Vertical Solutions. The gym also has yoga and flex studio, and dry saunas. But what Lance Pinn, manager of Somerville says the “best amenities are the wall design and layout of the facility itself. The place looks like Frank Gehry made it!
Head Setter Phil Schaal will lead 5 full time setters through their paces as they turn over routes and problems every 6 weeks. But what really will separate BKB from the Boston competition is, “the little things; the time we take, the commitment to excellence, the attention to detail, and the desire to innovate. BKB realizes that we only exist by the grace of the communities that we hope to inspire with the facilities we design to service their inherent climbing needs. ” Said Lance Pinn.
Climberism reports:
The climbing gym standard is rising, and jumping on the revamped-gym bandwagon is Brooklyn Boulders. The premiere bouldering facility of New York is opening up at monstrous 38,000 square foot second location in Somerville, Massachusetts in early summer, which begs the question “So what? It’s just another climbing gym.”
Au contraire my dear friends, au contraire.
Try: climbing gym with the amenities of a yoga studio, a sauna, several multifunctional spaces for local artists and food vendors, as well as space for outdoor gear retailers to set up shop, with the gym rotating brands every three months. This coupled with the fact that you’ll be able to watch T-Swift and Ondra’s new video in high speed while you’re warmed by a fire in the glass encased climber’s lounge is sure to attract a lot of rock nerds in the Cambridge area.
The space, a former forgery that boasts a monstrous 38,000-square-foot floor plan, is strategically located close to Cambridge, Boston’s hotbed of entrepreneurialism and start-up culture. It is precisely this energy that the new gym is hoping to capture and turn into a collaboration between artists, community groups and start-ups, with unique amenities including meeting rooms on top of the gym’s showpiece 22’ by 140’ bouldering wall.
“We are not holding back on anything—the bouldering is going to be absolutely world class. [This facility] has been designed by climbers, for climbers,” says Balboni of the new location. “We all took a pretty active and in-depth role when it came to the design of these walls, with an eye for making sure they stay interesting for years and years to come. When doing something like this, you want to make sure you are designing something so people are having fun in 20 years down the line.”
Photo: Pure Climbing
Colorado Springs, the second-largest city in Colorado with a population of 430,000 will receive it’s third commercial climbing gym this July. The new facility will also be C-Springs first bouldering-only climbing facility. The Pure Bouldering gym will feature 17 foot ceilings, an 1800 square feet footprint and 2000 square feet of climbing terrain. The gym will also have a yoga room and a separate training gym adjacent to the main building that will be available to the youth team, classes and private lessons.
Kegan Minock, Pure co-owner and head setter tells us “The gym layout could be described as a fish bowl. The walls almost form an oval so you are completely surrounded by them. It is hard to describe, it is one of those things where you need to see it.”
Salt Lake City, Utah based Vertical Solutions, lead by Dustin Buckthal built the beautiful birch cabinet-grade all-wood walls and supplied the padding system.
The gym will be staffed by 4 employees. Minock and one other setter will be responsible for a 3 week turnover. “We feel this gives climbers enough time to project and send a good amount of climbs without letting them get bored with what is up” said Minock. Before the grand opening the gym had guest routesetting help from local setter Matt Lloyd and USAC National Chief Setter Kevin Branford.
Minock breaks the setting down like this, “We have divided the gym into 6 different sections and would like to set a v0 through v10 on each wall while also setting extra problems in the most popular range for our clients. This will total out to be around 80 problems give or take.”
The gym hopes to tap into the students at a nearby high school and at the US Air Force Academy, which has a population of 7,526 and a private climbing wall. Colorado Springs also has two major colleges with a combined enrollment of 11,876 both of which have private climbing walls.
Minock tells us that “the whole project (including the walls, pads, holds, other equipment and labor) totaled around $150k.” The gym hopes to bring in an average of 100 daily check-ins.
The Pure Bouldering gym hopes to distinguished itself from the competition by offering, as Minock puts it, “a good slab to climb on which we feel is important because many climbers in town compete nationally and slab has been 40% of ABS Nationals for the past 2 years. No other gym in town offers the slab potential we do. Our roof wall is the biggest in town (and probably the state). It is a 38 foot long wave that peaks at 15 feet off the ground.”
Photo: Pure Climbing
Photo: nicros.comNicros Inc. is reporting they have obtained a patent on their auto belay system, A.B.S.S. Their system is perhaps the first of it’s kind to address the all too often problem of climbers leaving the ground without being clipped into the auto belay.
Nicros statement:
Nicros is proud to receive a patent on the new Auto Belay Safety System™ (A.B.S.S.™ – Patent Number 8,408,360). This important device provides climbers, climbing wall owners and climbing wall operators a warning for users forgetting to attach to the Auto Belay devices on a climbing wall.
This innovative product uses sensors to determine if a climber is on the wall climbing and has forgotten to “clip in”. In the event this occurs, an audible alarm will sound and a light will change color alerting the climber as well as facility staff that an unsafe condition may be present. This ability to provide an advance warning to climbers and staff is crucial in helping to reduce accidents and can also be used as a proximity device for climbing walls that are closed to users.
