Climbing Wall

The modern indoor climbing wall has revolutionized the sport of rock climbing and exposed climbing to a whole new group of people who never would have tried climbing before.  Since traditional rock climbing often takes quite a bit of equipment, plenty of knowledge, and a strong sense of adventure, many people would never think to find themselves at the base of a climbing wall.  However, indoor climbing walls, prevalent at many gyms, health clubs, and dedicated climbing gyms, have brought rock climbing to the masses instead of bringing the masses to the outdoor climbing walls, and climbing has seen a renaissance due to these new walls.

One of the biggest advantages of indoor climbing walls is their accessibility.  Just about every major metropolitan area has a dedicated climbing gym, while more and more health clubs and private gyms are also installing their own climbing walls.  Instead of having to drive hours into the backcountry to find an outdoor crag, climbers can just drive or catch the bus to the local gym and climb all night.  The environment also benefits from this arrangement.  Though rock climbing is a relatively low-impact sport, the mere presence of hundreds of people in a small area of wilderness inevitably have some negative effects on the local environment.  By keeping climbers in the city, indoor climbing walls help us minimize this damage.

Another great benefit of indoor climbing walls is that it provides a fun, easy way for people to exercise.  One of the biggest reasons people don’t exercise is that they think exercising has to mean lifting weights in a sweaty, smelly gym.  Climbing indoors shows people that exercise can be a lot of fun; instead of going through the drudgery of pumping iron they can be scaling vertical faces and trying to puzzle out bouldering problems. 

Indoor climbing walls have also broadened the community aspect of rock climbing more than many people could have ever predicted.  Though climbing has always been a community sport of some sort (after all, someone needs to be holding the other end of the rope), indoor climbing walls and indoor bouldering competitions have brought about a whole new, larger-scale community since so many climbers are congregating in fairly small spaces.  Some communities have even started up high school or youth climbing teams which then compete in local, regional, and even national competitions.  Though some are against this competitive side of rock climbing, it’s a natural evolution for the sport and will most likely do nothing but draw even more people to this up and coming sport.