indoor rock climbing
Question
I'm trying to find out information about indoor rock climbing. How high the ceilings would have to be? How high the rock wall would be? If this can be done in a small building area? Can you Help? Jamie
Answer
Jamie,
Sorry about not getting back to you sooner, I was on an extended climbing trip. The answers to your questions are very easy: 'As big as you want it to be.'
There is no minimum or maximum height of climbing walls, so you could put it where ever you want it to be. That being said, if the wall is not more than ten feet tall, there is very little point of having a rope belay system. With walls that short, you just call them bouldering walls and let climbers spot each other over some sort of cushy floor material.
I personally think that the taller the wall is, the more fun it is to climb, but I have friends who could boulder all day long and never get more than four feet off the ground.
Hope this helps somewhat.
Any "official" regulations would come from your local building codes, not from any claim of what a climbing wall is "supposed" to be.
Frank
Cochise Stronghold climb
Yosemite Guided Climbing