They're Climbing the WALLS.

Adding an indoor Climbing WALL can help your facility reach new heights

Welcome to the Realities of indoor climbing as a highly used and profitable addition to any fitness facility or recreation center

Have a top fitness market, a crack management team, and a world-class facility?

Bravo.

But are you offering your clients the elements that will keep them enthusiastic about their workouts? Are you getting the biggest return possible on your highpriced square footage? And is your facility generating the aesthetic punch that will do your marketing for you? If you find yourself pondering any of these situations, you may want to consider installing an indoor climbing wall at your facility.

Indoor climbing, no longer in its infancy, has proven to be a great answer for facilities facing the age-old conundrum of member attrition and space vs. profit. Gone are the days when a recreation facility would install a climbing wall to simply prove that it is on the cutting edge of the neo-pump you-up regime. Also gone are the days when a climbing wall would be installed purely to tap the architectural/art budget to generate client awe and newspaper headlines.

Welcome to the realities of indoor climbing as a highly used and profitable addition to any fitness facility or recreation center. Sure, a climbing wall can be the single most attractive aspect of your facility, but it can also be one of the most used aspects.

Say, perhaps, that you do buy into the reality that indoor climbing is here to stay. Perhaps you have done your research and found that indoor climbing has followed a steady linear growth curve reflecting that it isn't just another megatrend waiting to crash. And perhaps this research has led you to realize that installing a climbing wall might be what you need to prepare your facility for the millennium. In that case, read on.

Profits and Membership

The bread and butter of any climbing wall is its membership and guest user base. With the right climbing-wall design and a modicum of effort to set creative climbing routes, you will be able to grow your base of existing climbers in the community as well as generate new memberships through wannabe climbers and outdoor recreation enthusiasts. You may also see a solid reflection through motivating your existing membership base.

Although the existing climbing population is not as large as the overall fitness market, it is usually much larger than the public would imagine. In Boulder, Colo., a town that boasts an overall population of 90,000, you would be surprised to learn that the local climbing gym (Boulder Rock Club) has a membership base of 900-plus members. This example may be outside of the national norm, but the point is that the market not only exists, it is healthy. Coupled with the concept that the average physically active adult would allocate only enough resources to pay for one membership monthly, whose facility will attract such a patron, yours with a climbing wall, or the facility down the block without one?

In addition to the enthusiasm and revenue generated through increased memberships sold and specific climbing passes, there are a number of other profit centers that can even surpass such "given revenues." Although each profit center requires more initial and even long-term effort, many climbing programs are showing immense returns for their effort invested. Michelle Hendrickson, manager of the climbing wall at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, says: "In addition to being the focus of our facility, the programming opportunities are proving to be limitless with our climbing wall. It wasn't our mission to make a profit with the climbing program, but the community participation in our programming has been unprecedented at all levels."

Here are just a few of these programming possibilities:

* Consider beefing up your retail efforts by including "climber paraphernalia." Climbers love the latest gear -- and there is plenty of it. Whether buying a new harness, locking carabiner, climbing shoes, belay device, or rope, the possibilities are endless. Enter haute climbing fashion, and a lucrative picture emerges. There are also the necessities -- chalk products, tape for sore fingers, and power foods -- which no climber can live without.

* A rental program -- which includes shoes, harnesses, lead ropes, and belay equipment -- can produce a surprisingly high return on initial investment.

* Whether it's simple learn-to-climb programs to generate interest or grow your existing member base, advanced instruction, or corporate team-building workshops, climbing programming can equal or exceed membership revenues if the organizational and promotional effort is well-directed.

* Renting out the wall for groups and birthday parties is a great way to fill downtime, and can be very financially rewarding as well.

Build It and They Will Climb

What myths and realities exist behind owning and operating a climbing wall? Before we get into the nuts and bolts of introducing a climbing wall into your facility, let's look at what it takes to run one. As you may have guessed from all the research you've done, a climbing wall can generate a tremendous amount of enthusiasm from membership, and can play host to a number of profit centers. But there are a couple of other things to consider.

Probably the greatest misconception of adding a climbing wall is that once you install it, your work is done. If this is your approach, you may be getting the mileage you need from your architectural budget, but you certainly won't be hitting the mark with your user base, or getting a huge return on peripheral programming.

Build it and they will come, right? Not so fast. Although climbing walls are extremely low-maintenance, they do require a modicum of effort to maximize return. Frequent instruction and programming are important to train new climbers, but of even greater importance is the setting of good climbing routes. Although your base climbing-wall architecture always remains the same, designing creative and fun climbing routes will ensure that climbers will return again and again to make it part of their regular workout.

To Air is Human: Risk Management

As you may have heard, falling in climbing is natural. Most climbers feel, in fact, that if you are not taking whippers, or climbing falls, you are not pushing yourself. The reality is that falling is part of the sport, and a fall never hurt anyone. Now, the landing ...

Another misconception about indoor climbing is that it is a high-risk sport, and insurance premiums will go through the roof. Nothing could be further from the truth. OK, there is some risk involved but not proportionately more than other fitness-related activities in your local recreation center. Because climbing carries an enigma of adventure and recklessness, it has baffled insurance companies for many years. But now, boasting a positive track record over the past 10 years, the insurance companies are classifying indoor climbing as a fairly low-risk pastime.

Generally you will find that insurance is easy to come by, and premiums are less expensive than those stemming from many other aspects of your facility.

However, before you go setting up climbing walls, there are a few risk-management aspects you should consider. Most importantly, designing a climbing wall that will minimize all possibilities of injury. Not far behind is understanding what might cause an injury, even if your wall is designed correctly.

Climbing-wall design should not only be aesthetic and interesting to the user, it should integrate safely with the existing space. Principally, the design should guarantee that swinging or falling climbers will have no obstacles (adjacent walls, curbs, stairs, or railings) in their path. Walls should also be designed so that participants cannot reach anything adjacent to the climbing wall such as lighting, electrical outlets, heating and cooling ducts, or other equipment.

Here's a rule of thumb: If it can be reached, it will. Once the climbing instinct kicks in, it doesn't stop where the wall stops.

The flooring should also be padded to protect climbers in a ground fall. Industry wisdom says that you should pad out a minimum of 6 feet from the farthest protrusion of any wall surface. The supposition here is that not only do you want to protect climbers when they just get off the ground, before the rope kicks in, but that your flooring should also protect a climber if he or she is dropped by an untrained belayer. Ideal flooring would be 6 inches of foam padding covered in carpet (or another surface resilient enough to support a ladder).

Once all your design ducks are in a row, you must still establish a good system to screen out, or train, unsafe participants. Since the real participant exposure lies in the potential to either fall to the ground or be fallen upon, most of the exposure lies not with the climber, but the belayer. Although it's not rocket science, there is enough at stake so that all belayers must be tested and certified before they can participate in the climbing area.

With this in mind, every climbing program must have a written safety protocol to which staff will adhere. Generally, this involves having participants sign waivers and perform safety skills tests before their first climbing experience. It also requires staff to perform and document such skills tests, identify all participants who have passed, and keep uncertified enthusiasts from the climbing area.

The Ideal Wall

More and more, facility architects view the climbing wall as a central architectural theme for new and refurbished facilities. Very frequently, in fact, a climbing-wall manufacturer will be asked to build a wall in a facility's most visible area. To get the most mileage for the dollar, the facility architect sees a climbing wall not only as a revenue-generating center but as an architectural element that enhances the building. If the equipment budget does not cover the bill, perhaps the art budget will help out.

Although it is preferable to take advantage of the aesthetic aspects of a climbing wall by placing it in a centrally located position, it is nice to have the wall contained within a dedicated space. That way you can monitor certified clients and make sure that the client flow doesn't disrupt other activities. Ideally the climbing wall would be set up against an existing wall (rather than a freestanding monolith) so that it appears larger and can better incorporate group activities. Also, if it is in view of your front desk, no additional staffing will be necessary to monitor the wall.

Although it would be great to have the foresight to plan a climbing wall into the architecture of the building, more frequently the client wants to retrofit a climbing wall into an existing space. So what is an ideal space? To answer this question, one must first define the minimum effective space.

Whether a school, recreation center, or fitness facility, space is at a premium, so facility architects naturally want to minimize the space allocated to indoor climbing. To design the ideal climbing facility is often not the primary concern of the architect. More likely, the architect's vision of a climbing wall may be to bring a revenue-generating center into a space that is currently ineffective, or to add a token area to meet clients' demands. The downside to this reasoning is that without the goals of the climbing wall spelled out in advance, one may miss the mark altogether by building a wall that doesn't have the design or space to be effective.

Generally speaking, a minimum wall height of 18 to 20 feet, clear, is necessary for roped-climbing terrain. Much less, and your clients won't want to take the time to rope up -- and you may end up with a dangerously high bouldering gym. Wall width depends on the expected user base. If your intention is to compete with the local climbing gym, then you should come up with some competitive terrain. On the other hand, if your intention is to offer your existing membership another activity, then you can plan more moderately.

In layman's terms, your climbing wall will entertain two active participants for every 8 linear feet of wall (one climber and one belayer). Add to this an equal amount of resting climbers and passive participants, and you'll have a good idea of your gym's capacity. Therefore, if you foresee having 20 members using the wall at peak capacity, then you will need 40 linear feet of climbing wall.

The ideal wall height is between 30 and 35 feet. By going any higher than this, participant turnover will be too low, your route-setting budget will break the bank, and initial wall cost will increase.

Although not offering great height, an unused racquetball court can be a good location for a climbing wall. However, things can become fairly cramped if you decide to put climbing walls on more than two sides. Two racquetball courts joined is a much better solution. And barring the less than ideal height, designed correctly can support up to 50 or more climbers.

By installing a wall into a basketball gymnasium, you can take advantage of the high ceiling. This works best when there is sufficient space to design interesting climbing-wall architecture at ground level (i.e., enough depth so the design doesn't have to hug the wall). Also, if the space is frequently occupied, you may find yourself juggling the schedule between sports.

The ideal space is a self-contained area that allows for good participant flow, has clear height of 30 to 35 feet, and is centrally located, delivering the architectural punch you desire. It would also be situated near your front desk, thereby keeping your staffing budget to a minimum.

Buying a Climbing Wall

To determine what is right for your facility, it is important to be aware of -- and consider -- all the options. Whereas in most industries quality is synonymous with price, in the climbing industry it often costs as much for a crude climbing-wall system as it does for a state-of-the-art system. Couple this with the fact that some climbing walls are geared for performance, and others for aesthetics, and the issue becomes further complicated. To add another twist, some manufacturers supply walls fully equipped for your price, while others come bare-bones.

Regardless of your choice in climbing-wall manufacturer, you should demand that the structure is built to Climbing Wall Industry Group standards, because the forces generated by a climbing fall are sufficient to pull down a wall that was built to standard building code.

Because installing a climbing wall is a substantial investment, you should have a good idea of what you hope to accomplish with the system before you purchase it. Top dollar will land a climbing wall that looks like real rock, and this may be the solution for those interested in aesthetics only. But if your intention is to build a high-performance climbing wall, one that will keep members interested in the long haul, then the "real rock" solution may not be fight for your facility. On the other hand, if you install an aesthetically unpleasing wall geared for performance, not only will it detract from your facility, it may not keep the interest of your clientele.

The key is to understand the options and limitations of each system, then pick according to your facility's needs. You may want to consider the following points before buying.

Design

Of primary concern is climbing-wall design. You want a wall that will really stand the test of time -- unless, of course, you have enough money to replace your wall every year. Aesthetically, this means organic or eye-pleasing shapes that avoid fight angles. You want to have the fight mix of terrain ranging from slab (less than vertical) to vertical to overhanging. Also, even though the handholds will be interchangeable, you want terrain that will keep your clients interested. If the terrain is not designed correctly, your participants may soon tire of climbing your wall and search for greener pastures.

Your climbing wall should be designed as a whole. To mix and match components may seem like an easy or less expensive alternative, but it limits the climbing terrain to vertical swaths rather than aesthetic and user-friendly diagonal lines.

Finally, structural make-up may influence design. Systems employing structural steel may have wider configuration options than wood- or steel-stud framing. Organic or highly geometric designs are not only more aesthetic, they allow for more route possibilities.

Variability

Assuming that you've selected your design, the next step is to keep your members happy with an ongoing course-setting program. Members will tire of a route after having climbed it once or twice and, if the routes are not changed, enthusiasm will drop. A variety of handhold placements is one way to keep members happy. The more "T-nut" placements, the better. High-performance walls feature up to two per square foot of wall area.

Another factor that cuts into wall variability is known in the industry as "useful fixed features." The more highly profiled the terrain, the more useful features exist. These limit course-setting by providing a constant hand- or foothold. Imagine a wall that had enough panel edges and useful features to always provide an easy way up; you could always make it easier by adding more holds, but you could never make it more challenging. With infinite handhold placements and limited useable features, you can set any number of routes, thereby keeping members happy for years to come.

Aesthetics

As mentioned previously, a climbing wall should be an aesthetic addition to your facility. It should be the architectural draw that generates enthusiasm within the community and attention from the press. To install a climbing wall without considering the aesthetic implications is to miss a considerable potential asset.

Once you've made the decision to install a wall in your facility, you will want to find a wall manufacturer that can accomplish your aesthetic goals. Adding a build-it-yourself plywood wall to a nicely designed multimillion-dollar facility is akin to putting an inkblot on the Mona Lisa.

Texture and Other Features

The finished climbing wall should have a "good feel." The texture should feature gritty areas where climbers can "smear" their sticky rubber soles without the use of footholds, and smooth stretches that discourage such obviously fruitless attempts. Textures offered generally vary between manufacturers. A high-performance climbing wall should offer a texture with a substantial amount of micro-relief (edges, surface variations, and pockets for footwork), which also adds to the overall look and feel of the wall. Remember, however, that the goal is to provide wall relief for footwork without offering too many useful fixed features.

Facilities with more of an instructional bent may be interested in the art of crack climbing. However, adding too many cracks may limit course setting.

Cost

As climbing walls are generally priced by cost per square foot of finished wall, it is important to know how manufacturers calculate square footage. Because any one of your facility's existing walls is dead vertical and has no relief, all climbing-wall manufacturers will add in a factor, generally 20 percent -- somewhat more for complicated climbing terrain -- to determine standard climbing-wall configuration. Pricing in the United States can range from 825 to $100 per square foot depending on the manufacturer, construction system involved, and volume of climbing wall built.

Finally, before you select a manufacturer, you must look at the whole picture. Once your climbing wall is in place, will your manufacturer offer training for your management and staff?. Are they financially sound enough to complete your job according to your payment terms?

Designing vs. Design/Build

Before you put your wall to bid, you may determine it is in your best interest to pre-design it. See what you are getting before you hire a contractor to design/build the wall. There are various independent designers out there, and all climbing-wall manufacturers worth their salt have a design team available to do the job. And because climbing-wall architecture varies, it's a good idea to look at finished projects and interview past clients before selecting a designer.

If you do select a designer in advance, you can use the model to generate enthusiasm within the facility, and prospective manufacturers will be able to bid on a fixed project. The downside to this approach is that you will pay in advance, maybe more than had you hired the contractor as a design/build.

Contractor Selection

Before selecting a contractor to bid on your climbing wall, you must first establish which companies you want to have bid. Beyond looking at their promotional materials, you should check out finished projects, interview past clients, and establish a working construction schedule.

Once a contractor has passed your selection criteria and satisfied your price demands, you may find that your decision is made. If you are required by law to put it out to bid, however, then you must put together a bid package that will generate interest from prospective manufacturers. To protect yourself, the bid specifications should be detailed enough to allow manufacturers to bid "apples to apples."

Other Options

Some fitness facilities don't have the space for a climbing wall, or would prefer a portable system, which can be moved outside in warm weather. Rather than look for another outlet, you may want to consider one of the following options.

Portable Climbing Walls

Modular, or one-piece, climbing systems, which can be moved from location to location, fall into this category. Offering easy, quick set-up, portable walls are great for taking around to outside events for promotional efforts. If this is your primary motive, look for a wall that has the maximum amount of belay stations and meets your aesthetic needs.

Rotating Walls

These walls, which rotate like vertical treadmills, are being manufactured by a few companies. They may be either motorized or weight-activated so that the wall spins up an endless climbing route. Although this system resembles a piece of fitness equipment, it is worth mentioning especially for facilities with limited space.

Staffing Your Climbing Wall

One of the beauties of climbing walls is that they don't require a lot of staffing. Using a minimalist approach, the only real requirement is that you frequently change the climbing routes. On a small wall -- 1,000 square feet -- two man-days of effort per month will keep your members happy as clams.

Provided your safety-management system is in full swing, you probably won't need a staff person to monitor the wall during hours of operation. Most facilities don't provide this service unless they have a great amount of belay tests or instruction to perform.

As far as management is concerned, your manager will need to coordinate the route-setting sessions with day-to-day bookings. He or she may be involved with putting together specific events or competitions, and would certainly work on program design and sales. The return on the climbing wall will be largely based upon this staffer's enthusiasm and drive to promote the wall.

Instructors, belayers, and program facilitators are basically hired on an as-needed basis. As your programming increases, you may need a full-time person to keep up.

Accessorizing Your Climbing Wall

Installing a climbing wall is the first step toward running a successful climbing program. But before you start calculating profit, you might want to consider all the peripheral equipment that will go hand in hand with your shiny, new wall. Coming from a major wall manufacturer, your system should arrive equipped with a respectable surface. This surface should be riddled with T-nuts for placing modular handholds. It should also include large-diameter belay bars (3 to 3.5 inches) for lessened rope wear, and lead-climbing anchors and floor anchors if you plan on allowing lead climbing on your wall.

Look for a minimum one-year warranty with your wall; although, if your wall doesn't develop problems within the first six months, you're probably safe. It is a good idea to have your climbing-wall manufacturer itemize the equipment that comes with your wall. Rather than be surprised by rising equipment costs, it is best to plan ahead. Wall manufacturers often get great volume discounts on accessories, so you might want them to supply equipment for your wall.

RESOURCES

Contact the following companies for more information on integrating a climbing wall into your facility:

Eldorado Wall Company
2829 Mapleton St.
Boulder, CO 80301
[phone]
www.eldowalls.com

Beckwith Assoc. Inc. (Boldr)
P.O. Box 980
Forestville, CA 95436
[phone]
www.boldr.com

Alpine Towers Inc.
P.O. Box 69
Jonas Ridge, NC 28641
[phone]
www.alpinetowers.com

Brewer's Ledge
34 Brookley Rd.
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
[phone]
www.brewersledge.com

Stone Age
170 Glen Way #8
San Carlos, CA 94070
[phone]
www.stoneage-gear.com

Sport Rock
P.O. Box 32
Pismo Beach, CA 93448
[phone]
www.sportrockintl.com

RELATED ARTICLE: Get in Touch

The Outdoor Recreation Coalition of America has a couple of subgroups that can provide information to parties interested in installing a climbing wall:

The Climbing Gym Association focuses on the needs of climbing gyms, owners, and managers. Membership, which runs $50 to $100 per year, provides resources such as accepted industry practices, insurance sources, sample waivers, and contact lists of manufactures. It's a great value. The Climbing Wall Industry Group is dedicated to defining the engineering standards for construction of climbing walls as well as safety standards for all equipment used in artificial-wall climbing, such as ropes, holds, and harnesses. For information, contact ORCA, P.O. Box 1319, Boulder, CO 80300, [phone].

RELATED ARTICLE: What You'll Need

The following is a list of operational items necessary to run a climbing facility.

Handholds and Fastening Hardware

Climbing holds and fasteners are available from numerous manufacturers in the United States and Canada. Made of resin and fillers, they bolt onto your wall to change climbing routes, making the terrain continually interesting to your clientele. These holds range in size from a poker chip to a large souffle and have evolved into an art form of their own.

Because every climber with a basement and a high tolerance for breathing toxic chemicals is manufacturing handholds, it is important to use only reputable handhold companies that have a history of producing aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly designs.

Landing Pads and Flooring Material

Although climbers should be roped in anytime they venture above bouldering height (generally 10 to 12 feet above the deck), they should be prepared for such situations as an unfinished knot or an incorrect belay. And you should design your flooring with this ugly possibility in mind. After all, a 30-foot free fall to a basketball court could ruin your whole day.

The Climbing Gym Association generally accepts three flooring options: 6-inch-deep pea gravel, 6-inch-deep shredded or chopped rubber, or a foam-padding system covered with vinyl or carpeting.

The gravel is the cheapest, and perhaps safest, option, but it creates a substantial amount of dust as it breaks down, presenting problems for air quality and creating a cleaning nightmare.

Shredded or chopped rubber is more expensive and better for air quality, but it displaces easier, which makes it less safe. It also eventually breaks down into dust. However, if your floor cannot bear large loads, this option may be right for you.

Although it doesn't offer the shock absorption of gravel, the foam-padding system is by far the cleanest option -- and the most expensive. With roughly 6 inches of depth necessary to cushion a big fall, this option generally costs $10 per square foot.

Ropes

Top ropes and lead ropes constitute substantial operational costs, especially if your facility allows lead climbing. Depending upon use, top ropes may need to be replaced every six months, lead ropes every two months. There are a number of rope manufacturers out there, and quality varies greatly. The ones that have responded to the high-volume use of climbing gyms are the best bet.

Rental Equipment

For a small wall, it is not necessary to maintain an extensive rental program for your daily clientele. What usually defines your rental scope is the size of classes or groups that you anticipate running. If, for example, you anticipate groups of 10 students, you should probably carry a minimum of 15 harnesses (assorted sizes), 10 locking carabiners, 10 belay devices, a few chalk bags, and climbing shoes.

For more information, contact John McGowan, Eldorado Wall Company, at [phone].

John McGowan tells readers how an indoor climbing set-up can be a great answer for centers facing dwindling numbers and the age-old conundrum of space vs. profit. Today's indoor system, says McGowan, is a "highly used and profitable addition to any fitness facility or recreation center" (p. 57).3