Climbing Wall Design for Membership and Programming Success

pre-conference seminar

With Jerad Wells and Jason Thomas

AgendaIntroductions

Programming: Instructional vs Party Time vs New Climbers

Building and Layout Overview

Throughput and Capacity

Programming Wall Operations

Wall Design: Do’s and Don’ts

Design Review and Q&A

Planning Overview

DemographicsFocus on age groups

Competitive Analysis•Bouncy Rooms•Birthday Party Venues•Corporate Team Building•Camps•Bowling•Movies•Etc.

Internal Real EstateWhere do you put your programming walls?

Demographics

Proposed Location

Demographics

Data Sources:

• U.S. Census

• Chamber of Commerce

• Economic Development

• Paid data sources• Melissadata.com

Competitive Analysis

Direct:

Climbing Gyms

Indirect:•Other Fitness Facilities

•Bouncy Houses

•Bowling

•Birthday Parties

•Movies

•Amusement Parks

•Local Universities, YMCA’s, Rec Centers

•etc

Building and Layout Overview

LayoutWhat does your building offer?

Climbing StylesBouldering, TR, and Lead

VolumeWalls and Peeps

HeightPlan for new climber success

Layout Facility flow

• When creating layouts think about how you want visitors to move through your space

• When possible, designate traffic lanes ~6’ - 8’ wide

• Traffic lanes should be located away from fall zones and community gathering spaces

• Traffic lanes should also give A to B access to amenities

Restrooms

Amenities

Social space

Layout Locating Your Programming Walls

If programming traffic must be driven through climbing active areas (arches) use visual cues (shift flooring color) to alert the visitor

If possible, avoid moving groups through canyon-like spaces when laying out your walls

Use climbing wall layouts and traffic flow together to tell a story or create moments of discovery

Layout Climbing v. Social Spaces

• One of the best things about climbing is the community that will naturally form around a climbing area

• Designed-in gathering spaces strengthen the community bond, provide areas for resting and spectating

• Use cubbie seating to provide storage for personal goods (keeps the gym looking neat and clean)

• Gathering spaces should always be located away from fall zones and traffic lanes

Throughput and Capacity Separating user groups

• When thinking about the layout of your climbing walls consider terrain difficulty, programming, proximity to main entrance, and age groups

• Delineating difficulty and climbing style zones open up the opportunity to teach classes without interrupting other areas of the gym

• Psychology of wall and hold sizes

• Planning the percentage of dedicated programming terrain that drives and fuels membership

Indoor Climbing Styles

Small goal

Small goal

While great for members, steep terrain is not great for new climber success

Volume Walls and Peeps

• Belayer movement is an often overlooked factor when laying out climbing walls

• Some wall configurations create better scenarios from a programming perspective

• Elements such as slacklines, seating and flooring transitions can also be used to confine user groups

Volume Basic climbing terrain categories

The combination of climbing terrain and routesetting determine the final climbing difficulty of a wall. Combining a range of these

difficulties is important for programming wall functionality.

Volume Pop Quiz, Hot Shots!

Which wall allows for the best ROI?

Height Typical indoor wall heights

Throughput and Capacity

Capacity – how many?

Throughput – how fast?

Climbing Lane ROI Capacity

Programming Wall Capacity

= (Linear Feet) / 4 x 2 per lane

Climbing Lane ROI Throughput

Total Time in Lane

= (Avg. Time on Route + Transition Time) x 2

Example: (4min + 2min) x 2climbers = 12 minutes, assuming a 26 ft wall

Climbers per Hour

= (Route Turnover/Hour) x (# Lanes)

Example: (12min/60min) x 1lane = .2 hours or 10 climbs per hour per lane, assuming a 26 ft wall

Pop Quiz, Hot Shot!

Based on the above information, how many climbs per hour would you have with 5 climbing lanes?

Answer: 50 climbs!

Programming Wall Operations:

Staffing needs: staff to climber ratios• With or without auto-belays

Staff Interaction• Role of programming staff members

Route Setting SOPs• 5.5 - 5.9 but GOOD

Program Marketing• Upsell• Promote BOGO

Wall Design: Do’s and Don’ts

Building/Construction Constraints

Features that Fuel Programming Growth and Retention

Gym/Layout Examples

Design Review: Example 1

Design Review: Example 2

Design Review: Example 3

Design Review: Example 4

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