Adding a Climbing Wall to Your Gymnasium
By: Kimberly Prager
Kids love to climb, whether it’s on chairs, over desks, or in trees. They know the thrill of overcoming physical challenges and conquering new territory. Encourage that sense of adventure and develop their natural athleticism with the addition of a climbing wall to your school's physical education program.
When adding a climbing wall to your gym, there is a simple needs assessment that must take place before any actual plans are made. Adding a climbing wall will allow you to create a unique form of exercise, which, while emphasizing fun, will also help teach students about safety. Carefully considering and answering important questions will help you to make informed decisions as to the needs of your school and the abilities of your students, staff, and resources.
What is the range of ages of the children who will be using the wall?
Be sure that the climbing wall provides a new challenge for every age group. While many elementary schools install simple traversing walls, more middle schools and high schools are installing full-height climbing walls. This adds the ability to teach your kids techniques such as belaying and rappelling while continuing to develop climbing movement techniques. In an elementary situation, a full-height climbing wall might not be the best option because it is more resource dependent. Another option is to offer a traverse wall at your school with just one or two ropes on a section of wall that goes higher. With the use of Auto Belays, this gives kids the opportunity to experience the height of the wall without having to teach belay techniques to a class of young students.
How many students should your wall accommodate at one time?
If you are installing a traversing wall, the length of your wall is only limited by the length of the room in which it is being installed. If your wall is to accommodate an entire class, you have to think a bit about programming, as it will dictate how many students will actually be climbing at once. For instance, does your physical education class often use stations where the class members might be doing three separate activities at once? And, will you require the use of spotters? The ratio of climbers to spotters is 1:1. The wall should be adequately long enough for the students to move across the wall without running into one another. Keep in mind that placement of a traversing wall will often allow you to add onto it later if you determine you need more length. If you are building a full-height climbing wall, you will want one rope approximately every six feet. One rope will accommodate one climber, and one belayer or rope tender.
How much money do you have to spend on a climbing wall?
Obviously, the design and materials used to build your climbing wall will depend, ultimately, on your total budget. Will you be doing your own installation, or will you have a climbing wall manufacturer do the installation? Are you planning to purchase a simple panel system (lower cost per square foot) or are you building a custom showpiece for your school? Custom real-rock looking climbing walls are often used as a marketing tool to entice new students to enroll at your school.
What other things do you need to purchase besides the climbing wall itself?
If you are putting in a traversing wall, landing mats or some other type of safety surfacing will need to be installed. Besides additional climbing handholds or other things such as hula hoops to form an obstacle course, there really is not much else needed to get your program started. If you are purchasing a full-height climbing wall, you will still need an adequate landing surface, but you will also need to think about such things as ropes, harnesses, anchors, and belay tools. With a full-height climbing wall, it is also important to purchase a training package so your staff is adequately equipped with the tools necessary to teach rock climbing and safety techniques.
A climbing wall can make a simple addition to your current physical education curriculum or can be the tool to create a full-blown unit where kids are learning climbing vocabulary, climbing techniques, knots, and rope techniques. Before you build a climbing wall, make sure you ask the right questions, evaluate and assess your school’s needs, and consult with a climbing wall manufacturer.
Kimberly Prager does marketing and sales for Nicros, Inc. Climbing Walls, www.nicros.com, a rock climbing wall designer and climbing handhold manufacturer based in the Twin Cities.
