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flymordecai
Dec 20, 2012, 6:49 AM
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Hello there, I have some questions to ask those who truly love rock climbing, indoor rock climbing to be more specific. I have only gone rock climbing once a few years back but because I was not in the best condition then and was not properly equipped, I didn't have such a great time.
I am working on a design project for an indoor climbing facility and am concerned with delivering an experience that people of all kinds can enjoy, from people interested in rock climbing to those who do it daily or weekly out of love. I would greatly appreciate some feedback:
1. What is the best part of climbing for you?
2. Which part of the experience do you prefer: going up or going down?
3. Is both part essential to the experience?
4. What are your thoughts about climbing a certain distance and getting off at a ledge, without needing to go back down? Conversely, what about going down a wall from an area?
5. Is quality of lighting or ambience important to the experience?
Thank you for your feedback! I hope to implement your thoughts and concerns into the design. :)
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patto
Dec 20, 2012, 8:22 AM
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flymordecai wrote: 2. Which part of the experience do you prefer: going up or going down?
flymordecai wrote: 5. Is quality of lighting or ambience important to the experience?
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flymordecai
Dec 20, 2012, 8:42 AM
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 D'oh, it is climbing after all. But you know, in indoor climbing, you climb and then find your way down (or I guess rappel down) so one of the questions was if you consider going down essential to the experience. How would you feel about being able to climb and then you could get off a certain floor via a ledge or platform? Or how about platforms you can get off and rest, maybe even hang out with your climbing partners?
(This post was edited by flymordecai on Dec 20, 2012, 8:43 AM)
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Gmburns2000
Dec 20, 2012, 10:20 AM
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flymordecai wrote: D'oh, it is climbing after all. But you know, in indoor climbing, you climb and then find your way down (or I guess rappel down) so one of the questions was if you consider going down essential to the experience. How would you feel about being able to climb and then you could get off a certain floor via a ledge or platform? Or how about platforms you can get off and rest, maybe even hang out with your climbing partners?
It's a climbing gym. You go up and come down so that you can go up again. No, without a doubt, I don't want extra experience with regards to coming down.
Lots of bouldering walls have top outs where the climber climbs to the top and walks back down the other side. For roped climbs, the gym would probably want the rope to come back down for another climber, so the climber staying at the top seems inconvenient in that regard, plus it's a sort of unnecessary risk to untie at the top in a gym.
However, it might be kind of cool to have something like this on the lead wall where people can practice belaying from the top (thus no rope to return). This could be a fairly marketable thing for a gym, as multi-pitch belaying and organization skills are something some folks may benefit from before going outside. Still, even on the lead wall, if I'm just there to climb and not teaching someone belaying from the top, it'd be a pain to have to carry the rope back downstairs again. Why not just lower? Other than classes or specific practice, I can't see this being used much.
As for the social scene, it's fine on the ground. No need to build a tree-house.
And climbers don't rappel in a gym, they get lowered. Rappelling is one of the most dangerous things in climbing; it's certainly not something a gym wants to have without supervision.
My suggestion: based on your questions and comments, you need to learn A LOT more about climbing, both with regards to safety and how the climbing experience works for climbers, before you design something. It's not a fad industry.
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guangzhou
Dec 20, 2012, 10:53 AM
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If you're serious about opening a gym, send me a PM. I can offer my services.
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markc
Dec 20, 2012, 4:54 PM
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flymordecai wrote: Hello there, I have some questions to ask those who truly love rock climbing, indoor rock climbing to be more specific. I have only gone rock climbing once a few years back but because I was not in the best condition then and was not properly equipped, I didn't have such a great time. I am working on a design project for an indoor climbing facility and am concerned with delivering an experience that people of all kinds can enjoy, from people interested in rock climbing to those who do it daily or weekly out of love. I would greatly appreciate some feedback: 1. What is the best part of climbing for you? 2. Which part of the experience do you prefer: going up or going down? 3. Is both part essential to the experience? 4. What are your thoughts about climbing a certain distance and getting off at a ledge, without needing to go back down? Conversely, what about going down a wall from an area? 5. Is quality of lighting or ambience important to the experience? Thank you for your feedback! I hope to implement your thoughts and concerns into the design. :)
I started a reply with a lot of sarcastic responses. If your question is legitimate, it shows an extreme lack of understanding about anything climbing-related. You'd be better off focusing your assignment on something you have some knowledge about. If you have time, change your subject.
If not, here's my honest option. Obviously, it's the climbing that brings people to the gym. Lowering is a means to an end, and not something the average climber is going to find stimulating. It's the most efficient means of getting down and getting on with the next climb. Anything you introduce to change that is likely to just irritate your clients.
If climbers want to rest beyond just finding a suitable stance on the wall, they either take a quick rest on the rope (with the belayer holding them in place), or they lower to the ground. Putting in a ledge large enough to sit on (or to hold multiple people) is going to take up a ton of space and cause headaches. The only people who are going to routinely hang out are birthday party kids or bros, the exact people you don't want camping on a ledge and tying up routes.
You could have routes end at some sort of balcony, but it's inefficient. People aren't going to want to climb over a railing or pass through some gate, untie the rope, lower their end down, then go down a set of stairs to climb again. It will slow the whole process down and introduce greater risk with no obvious advantage. You could have a gym with an observation area, or a specific route designed for teaching transitions and belaying from the top on multipitch routes. Those aren't necessarily bad features, but well outside of what you're proposing.
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guangzhou
Dec 21, 2012, 1:43 AM
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patto wrote: guangzhou wrote: If you're serious about opening a gym, send me a PM. I can offer my services. He is serious about getting a good mark for his "design" project. 
My reply remains the same
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