Such thick, soft padding would be overkill beneath a top-rope wall, not to mention counterproductive to its users. "I think floors perform a lot differently for people under 100 pounds than over," Fairfield says, explaining that a larger person with more surface area will distribute their weight more evenly across a landing surface, but "a child landing on an adult bouldering floor won't activate it and it will feel too hard." He adds that facilities with a high number of youth climbers may consider going with thicker and softer padding. So a 12-foot-tall wall would have 12-inch-thick flooring." Says Fairfield, "We specify one-inch-thick of bouldering floor for every foot of wall. Thus, the surface under a bouldering wall should be thicker and provide more cushioning, similar to that used for gymnastics or pole vaulting. And even if I don't, once I get to the top, I'm just going to drop. When I go to the gym to boulder, I might fall off 20, 30, 40 times. "A bouldering floor is a primary landing surface. "The rope-climbing flooring system is a backup floor, in case a belay fails," says Fairfield. Bouldering, which is becoming more popular among recreational climbers, features more-angled climbing faces and no safety harness or rope. Most facility users are familiar with top-rope climbing, in which climbers clip in with a rope and harness attached to an anchored belay. RELATED: Climbing Wall Association Struggles With Regulatory AgenciesĬlimbing walls in recreation facilities serve two primary styles of climbing. ![]() While the comparison between surfacing for climbing walls and playgrounds is much more complicated, ASTM standards at least allow architects or facility designers to specify products with a known performance rating. There are other building codes that might be considered as well, such as the ASTM standards for playground surfacing, which give guidelines for fall zone and impact attenuation. "It offers some parameters, such as coverage area for bouldering based on height, or how far away from the wall a flooring border should be." "We conform to a European standard," says Futurist president and co-founder Timy Fairfield. 'As a minimum' is key - you can put it out 100 feet if that's what you're comfortable with."Īnd while there aren't any regulations dictating surfaces in the United States, some companies, such as Albuquerque, N.M,-based Futurist Climbing Consultants Inc., do enforce their own standards. "We like to see surfacing extend about eight feet out from the farthest overhanging point as a minimum. ![]() "What is important is that people apply an appropriate landing surface, and that's up to their discretion," says Michael Moore, director of sales for Nicros Inc. That said, all climbing wall companies have some sort of guidance for the placement and type of safety surfacing used.
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