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arrowhead
Oct 27, 2003, 6:03 AM
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Ever thought about building the PERFECT indoor climbing gym? As climbers, what features would you like to see or must-have in the best climbing gym possible?
Assume that cash is unlimited :-)
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dynoguy
Oct 27, 2003, 6:05 AM
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one word
CRACKS
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emtclimber
Oct 27, 2003, 6:06 AM
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Somehow making it possible to place trad gear while leading instead of just sport leads. Never seen that but it would rock!!!
Looks like someone had the same Idea just 2 seconds prior to my post!!
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cyraknow
Oct 27, 2003, 8:43 AM
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Cracks in climbing gyms almost never get used. If cash is unlimited throw in a couple but in the real world, don't waste the effort.
I know of one indoor gym where they have walls that can accept gear and can run courses on gear placement - you can even fall on the gear and expect it to hold. It is at the University of Calgary where they built much of the wall in poured concrete.
The key thing is LOTS of different angles and forms on the wall - a large ship's prow is a personal favourite. Some small wall features are nice, but they should not be so large as to limit route setting. Funky, realistic moldings are great for aesthetics and therefore market well to new climbers, but they really limit routesetting.
If cash is unlimited, you could probably find a better way of marking routes than the usual tape - it is often hard to distinguish and is constantly being pulled off by clumsy feet.
A great gym is really defined more by it's attitude and atmosphere than it's wall structure though. It should be really alive, non-elitist, have a broad demographic and creative route-setting at all levels. So with your unlimited cash, make sure you get a really great bunch of staff and pay them enough to stay with it. In the real world this is often one of the tougher things.
Lot's of natural light would be great too. The one I operate ihas no windows and I don't get to see the sun some days. That is hard on a guy who would rather not have any walls.
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tradman
Oct 27, 2003, 11:04 AM
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Check THIS out:
http://www.adventurescotland.com
New gym opening right near me - 30m high walls, free-standing boulders and REAL NATURAL ROCK INDOORS! Looks nearly perfect... have to give it a thorough testing!
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overlord
Oct 27, 2003, 11:30 AM
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Registered: Mar 25, 2002
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WOW, this sounds great^^^
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realization
Oct 27, 2003, 1:01 PM
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I'd like a gym with the bouldering of The Spot in boulder CO, and real rock to trad, and place gear. I love the spot because the rock feels... so real! Also some "real" cracks would do it for me. that's about all i can think of!
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ronamick
Oct 27, 2003, 2:04 PM
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The perfect gym would have all real rock to climb. The only holds would be naturally occuring features on the rock, and would be permanently affixed in one position and location. A variety of live native plants would be allowed to grow wherever they took root, and the floor would be dirt.
Light would be provided by the sun, and it would be well ventillated for lots of fresh air. It would be free to climb at if you bring your own gear. There would be no supervision, no rules, no pro shop, no facilities and no wannabe jr. hot guys looking to sandbag people on a 12a he does 114 times a day.
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galt
Oct 27, 2003, 3:30 PM
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Registered: Jan 3, 2002
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Can we put walls around Horse Pens 40? Or just move a few of the boulders. Honestly, that would be my ideal gym.
All bleeding stops........EVENTUALLY - You are a brilliant person who deserves every Kudo I have. Seriously, that's awsome.
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koko
Oct 27, 2003, 3:51 PM
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Registered: Jan 15, 2003
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i think the best gym would be free... :D
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adventureman
Oct 27, 2003, 4:53 PM
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Registered: Oct 22, 2003
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In reply to: The perfect gym would have all real rock to climb. The only holds would be naturally occuring features on the rock, and would be permanently affixed in one position and location. A variety of live native plants would be allowed to grow wherever they took root, and the floor would be dirt. Light would be provided by the sun, and it would be well ventillated for lots of fresh air. It would be free to climb at if you bring your own gear. There would be no supervision, no rules, no pro shop, no facilities and no wannabe jr. hot guys looking to sandbag people on a 12a he does 114 times a day.
I'll second that one. :D
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djmeat
Oct 27, 2003, 5:47 PM
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Registered: Sep 25, 2002
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well..
Multipitch.
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dontfall
Oct 27, 2003, 6:15 PM
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Registered: Mar 31, 2003
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Would be free of charge. Lots of highballer boulder routes :twisted: and lots of sport routes.
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koko
Oct 27, 2003, 6:36 PM
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Registered: Jan 15, 2003
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It should have one of those huge air martresses they use in movie stunts so you could solo insane stuff :D :D
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buckyllama
Oct 27, 2003, 7:39 PM
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The layout should be such that no one area ever gets overly crowded. And it should be done so that it always feels failry open even when there really are a lot of people. By laying out he walls so you can't see the whole area from any one spot you could probably acheive this. Multiple mostly seperate areas may be even better.
The floor should be padded but be dust free. Carpet that is vaccuumed regurlarly wouldn't be bad. I'm sure there is a better option.
Both the floor and ceiling should be sound absorbing to help cut down on the noise in a lot of gyms. If the teenage mutants are grunting over in a cave somewhere you should be able to go elsewhere and not be botherd by their testosterone screaming.
There should be a LOT of light. Natural is good, but the artificial should be able to keep it bright and cheery enough after dark.
The ventelation system should be designed to remove a lot of dust from the air and cycle the air much faster than a normal system would. All the chalk in the air is murder on the lungs in some places.
It would be cool to have a well stocked gear shop, and something like a small sports-based cafe on site. You could head over, get a snack, a sports drink, sit on a couch for a few minutes and then head back for your next attempt.
For the walls themselves, a lot of features are key. Aretes, dihedrals, bulges, slabs, cracks (preferably ones that you can crank to change the width on), roofs, and all combinations there of should exist somewhere.
If possible the routes should be marked by color of hold instead of tape.
I don't think being able to place gear is really a great idea. IT would be diffucult to be flexable about how sucha route would be set since the "placements" would need to be so strong, and basically once you learned what to place at each placement, you are just back to sport climbing. So what's really the point? You can't even really teach anyone to lead on it since the whol diffuculty of leading is figuring out how to make your own placements anyway. Not to mention what it would do to the insurance premiums.
A real locker room and showers would be nice.
Oh, and experienced and friendly staff is an absolute must.
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