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Rocky Reaches
Indoor climbing has become a sport all its own, for kids big ... and small |
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
In the old days, like the 1960s, it drove parents up a wall when their kids spent time just hanging around.
But this is the '90s and there's a new game in town. Now parents are sending kids up the walls, even encouraging them to hang out.
Or hang in. Or hang upside down.
The new game is called indoor rock- climbing, and it began in the late 1980s in Seattle among hard-core climbers looking to keep their skills sharp in winter. Now interest it is booming across the nation during all seasons, among all ages, with a parallel increase in the construction and popularity of artificial climbing "rocks" out-of-doors.
"It's caught on, God it's caught on," says Julie Vithoukas, an instructor at the Vertical World gym in Redmond, as she eyeing eyes a couple dozen children hanging every which way during a recent "Kids' Belay" class.
"Indoor climbing has become a huge activity of its own, basically unrelated to real rock climbing. This has become a big kids' sport."
Although artificial climbing "rocks"
have been built outdoors here since 1937,
when Schurmann Rock was built at Camp Long in West
Seattle, indoor rock climbing didn't begin to
take off in the United States until 1987,
when Rich Johnston and Dan
Cauthorn opened the Vertical Club in Seattle.
Curiously, the idea was born inside a tent on 23,085-foot Mount Aconcaugua in Argentina, which the two were climbing.
"I knew Dan rock-climbed," Johnston says. "I said, 'What do you do in winter to stay in shape?' He said, `Do chin-ups on the door jam.'"
The bright-idea light flickered, and after their return they opened America's first indoor rock-climbing gym in an old building, with plywood walls and actual rocks glued on as hand-holds.
The pair now operates two gyms, renamed Vertical World, one in the Fremont District and the
other in Redmond. The plywood walls are now covered with textured cement, the handholds are
made of polyester resin. Shorter walls are for "bouldering," or free-
climbing, and the taller ones,
up to 35 feet, are equipped with ropes to stop falls.
"Now there are's climbing- wall companies, tons of companies making handholds, gyms all over and even a Climbing Gym Association," Johnston says.
"Stone Gardens" gym opened last year in Ballard, and there are others in Bellingham and Spokane, as well as Portland and Beaverton, Ore. in Oregon. Another is planned for Everett.
None, however, may be as massive atas the 65-foot, 75-ton, glass-enclosed concrete climbing monument planned being built at for the new REI's new flagship store being built in Seattle, now under construction. The cooperative has hired a French company that makes climbing rocks, Entre Prises, to design a structure simulating all the various geologic features climbers encounter on real cliffs: large cracks, overhangs, "chimneys," chutes, inverted slabs, etc.
"I dare say it's going to be the most spectacular, the coolest of all the indoor climbing opportunities in the area, or even world-wide," says Roger Neale, store manager.
Climbers purchasing equipment will be able to test the gear first on the REI rock, and it will also be open for public climbing during store hours.
There are three outdoor artificial rocks in the Seattle area: Camp Long's, the one built at the University of Washington in 1976 and an King Countyare rising outdoors as well. King County opened an impressive structure at Marymoor Park that King County opened last year, the third in the Seattle area. The others are Camp Long's and one built at the University of Washington in 1976.
All of these structures, indoors and out, were originally designed as training and conditioning
facilities close to home strictly for mountain and rock climbers. But climbing on them has
evolved into a sport in and of itself and it that continues to grow.
"Probably 30 percent of our customers have never climbed outdoors and probably never will," says Andrew Sell, owner of Stone Gardens.
Explains Johnston: "I think people are looking for an alternative, an urban physical activity with a little adventure, a little pizazz."
That squares with the sentiments of 10-year-old Amy Seidenverg, who looks as comfortable 20 feet up a climbing wall as a spider in a web.
"It's challenging and it's not normal," she explains during a break in the Kids' Belay class. "I don't like doing normal things (like baseball); they're too boring."
Amy has entered two competitions since she started climbing last year, and came in first in both. But competition is not required to enjoy the activity.
"You can do cool things, like with the overhangs," says Paul Pritchett, 11, also of Issaquah. "You can put your feet into the holds and hang upside down. And it's good exercise."
Physically and mentally, says instructor Vithoukas.
"It's really good for the kids," she says. "It builds their
coordination and confidence. A lot of
kids come and and they're kind of shy. But they get on (the wall) and they scramble with the best
of them. It's neat to watch.
"It's not like they're not going to make the Little League team."
Many parents say indoor climbing gyms give their children a healthy alternative to hanging out in the wrong places.
"He's never been into sports, so I have been real happy he's found this," says Pat Eskenazi of Seattle, referring to her 12-year-old son Alex, a member of the Stone Gardens gym. "I mean to tell you we were concerned about him getting into drugs earlier. This has been very positive. As soon as he gets done with his paper route, he goes down there and stays as long as he possibly can. We know where he is and it has just been wonderful."
Safety is a serious concern, but children are closely supervised and adult climbers are required to take a short lesson on proper belay technique. There have been no fatalities at the Seattle-area gyms and surprisingly few accidents.
"This is a two-edged sword," acknowledges Johnston. "Yeah, it's fun, but we try to instill in everybody the fact that it is dangerous. The whole emphasis is that if you're going to do it, you have to learn to rely on yourself."
No major injuries have been reported at Marymoor since the rock there opened last June.
"There was a lot of apprehension when we first opened it up, but since then it's been great," says Robert Nunnenkamp, park recreation coordinator. "There have been no big problems at all."
Vertical World: Membership: one year, $385 ($495 per family); one
month, $70. Daily fee: $11 weekdays, $16 weekends.
Seattle, 755 N. Northlake Way, Suite 100. 632-3031
Redmond, 15036-B N.E. Ninth St. 881-8826
Stone Gardens: Membership: one year, $385 ($495 per family); one
month, $55. Daily fee:
$11 weekdays; $13 weekends. 2839 N.W. Market St., Seattle. 781-9828.
Wild Walls: 202 W. Second Ave., Spokane. Membership: one year, $390 with a $50 initiation fee ($575 per family of two and $170 for each additional member); one month, $55. Daily fee: $9. (509) 455-9596.
Portland Rock Gym: 2034 Sixth St., Portland, Ore. Membership: one year, $330 ($715 for family of three; with $55 for each additional member); one month, $45. Daily fee: $12. (503) 232-8310.
Marymoor Park: 6046 W. Lake Sammamish Parkway, Redmond. 296-2964.
Camp Long: 5200 35th Ave. S.W., Seattle. 684-7434.
University of Washington: (For students, faculty and alumni only). Just south of Husky Stadium off Montlake Boulevard.
