Climbing Wall Design / Build

Our Consulting Package is designed to educate climbing gym administrators on the industry and to provide entrepreneurs the tools necessary to secure funding for their climbing wall construction projects.

We can offer a successful business plan that we can give to you. The business plan included our start-up consulting package is an updated version of our original plan, representing over ten years of research and experience, and an accurate representation of the industry.  It is an excellent resource for producing your own professional business plan and has already helped launch several successful gyms. This business plan is offered with the help of our America manufacture.

Design/Build

Climbing Wall Design and Engineering. At the most basic level, all our walls are made of interconnected panels.  These panels range in size, from 4' x 8' down to one square foot.  Depending on your budget, space, and desired use, our panels can be arranged and configured to almost any shape and size.

We offer three different styles of panels, each having   their own unique attributes and costs.  Between our    Modular Panels, framed Gym Rock, and seamless  Natural Rock systems, every client can  build a wall that will satisfy your needs without exceeding the budget.We find that our customer's needs fall into two basic climbing wall design categories: "off  the shelf" and customized. Most schools, summer camps and recreation centers are best  served with "off the shelf" walls (often modified to fit their space).  This less expensive option  is  well suited for lower traffic facilities that desire the thrill and adventure of climbing without  the radical heights and angles of a climbing gym.  Most "off the shelf” style walls are built with  4'x8' panels stacked as high and wide as you like.

Climbing Wall Operations Training

V4 Climbing Inc. is one of the only Canadian companies in the climbing industry that can offer you a 100% "turn key" operation. We are trained and certified in all areas necessary to complete any size project. Perhaps you are an elementary school or high school physical education administrator?  A  university level outdoor recreation facilitator?   A YMCA or municipal recreational programs director?  Or maybe an exercise or wellness director at a corporate fitness company? – You may see the great potential in the addition of a climbing wall to your facility, but not be an experienced climber yourself.  We want you to open your doors knowing you have not only the best finished product, but the highest level of confidence in your ability to run your climbing wall safely and profitably, and have fun doing so!

Or you may be in need of a large flooring install, like True North Climbing Gym in Toronto Ontario.

FAQ

What factors affect the cost of a climbing wall?
Size
Number of square feet of climbing wall surface
Complexity
The more radical the design, the more expensive
Height
The higher the wall, the more expensive the wall is. Climbing walls typically range in height from 20 to 45 feet.
Location
This usually isn't too much of an issue, but an city is an expensive place...
Access
If we can't get a man lift into the space or have to carry all of the building materials up a few flights of stairs, it will be more expensive.
Indoor / Outdoor
Depending on climate and working conditions, outdoor climbing walls cost 25% to 50% more than indoor walls.
Type
Modular, Gym Rock, Summit Rock

What is the cost of building a full size climbing gym?
If the facility is going into a leased space that does not require major interior renovation, the average start-up cost ranges between $400,000 and  $600,000. This assumes a climbing wall size of 6,000 to 12,000 square feet. The cost of the climbing wall in this scenario will be approximately 60 to 70 percent of the total start up cost.

What about the building codes?
All our climbing walls are engineered to meet Canadian and American building code standards. We have even taken it one step further. All our climbing walls have been tested to meet the “Standards Council of Canada CAN/ULC-S102 Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials and Assemblies”. This test determines the flame spread and smoke development for material used in construction. For large warehouse climbing gyms, your landlord will love this, as you cannot have combustible material in commercial space.

What should I look for in a building?
There are two hard major elements to developing a climbing gym. They are (in order of difficulty), finding a location and finding the funding. Putting together everything else is just a matter of time and effort. It used to be that finding the money was the hardest part, but now that there are climbing gyms in just about every major market, and the popularity of climbing is on the rise, it is relatively easy to find investors.
The real estate component on the other hand has become harder because of the economy, low vacancy rate and reluctance of property owners to lease to non traditional uses such as a rock climbing gym. For this reason many climbing gyms are being forced to develop new property or enter build-to-suit deals in order to get the right building.
The type of building that works best for climbing gyms is a high ceiling warehouse. The general rule is - the higher the ceiling the better, though most gyms are in the 24’ to 35’ range. Typically these buildings are located in commercial or industrial parts of town. As a result, they are often a bit rough in appearance and don’t have the nice amenities of a retail type space. They are also much less expensive which is why a gym can afford to build there. Since a climbing gym is a destination, location is not nearly as critical as height.  One of the other challenges is to find a building with high ceilings and a reasonable sized footprint. Often the buildings that have 40’ ceilings will also be 50,000 square feet in size. Depending on the size facility that you are building, the footprint that you will need is probably between 6,000 and 12,000 square feet. Landlords are less willing to break up a large space because of the expense of building a demising wall and the added hassle of dealing with multiple credits.

Are climbing walls custom designed for every location?
Our products are custom climbing structures, specifically designed to your facility, programming and space requirements. We can work with almost any budget. The walls are prefabricated in our factory and shipped in pieces to your site. We assemble the pieces and apply the sculpted concrete finish (Gym Rock / Summit Rock). This produces an extremely durable and aesthetically pleasing climbing wall that will last for many years.  We offer modular systems, which require less customizing and easier installation; in fact you can install them yourself saving you money.   
Our walls contain a multitude of angled faces to challenge all types of climbers from first time beginners to seasoned professionals. We can even incorporate ledges for rappelling and stations for ropes course or team building elements. In most cases if you can imagine it, we can build it.

What can you tell me about insurance for climbing facilities?
The rate is typically between 2 – 3% of your revenues. For example, a gym that does $750,000 in climbing wall related revenue (excluding equipment sales, rentals, etc.) would be looking at an annual insurance cost of about $20,000 for the year - just one of the costs of doing business.  .

Can you provide a turn-key solution for my wall?
Yes!  We provide the following services: design, engineering, fabrication, installation, climbing gear, holds, staff training, inspections, and flooring.

How long will it take to build my wall?

Design of your climbing walls will typically take 2 to 3 weeks. Once the final design has been approved the engineering can begin. Engineering will take 2 to 4 weeks depending on the complexity of the structures. Prefabrication of the structure then requires 1 week per 2,000 square feet of wall surface. Once prefabrication has been completed and the wall components have been shipped to the site the onsite installation can begin. Our crew can install 1,000 square feet of climbing wall per week.On our modular panels they are built to order and typically ship in 2 to 6 weeks depending on the type.  The more expensive the wall the longer it takes to make.

How safe are climbing walls?
The safety record on our climbing walls is incredible. One statistic that our industry uses to illustrate the safety is that there are fewer injuries per participant in artificial climbing walls then there are in bowling. It is only the perception of climbing outside on real rock that is dangerous. Using a controlled environment, modern safety ropes & harnesses, and welded steel anchoring systems really makes the whole thing a lot safer than most people realize.

What is the right size gym for a given area / population?
When planning a climbing gym, among the most important decisions that you need to make is what size to build. You don’t want to build it too small and invite competition, but at the same time you don’t want to go too large either and waste money on start-up costs.  Back in the early 1990’s when climbing gyms were few and far between, we used to think that they could only survive in a city of 500,000 or more. As the years passed and climbing became more and more popular we started seeing them go into and prosper in smaller and smaller communities. It is not uncommon now for major metropolitan areas to have 6 climbing gyms and communities of 50,000 to support a moderately sized facility.  The size of a gym really comes down to the demographics. For example, in the US -Boulder, CO, a city of about 75,000, has 3 climbing gyms which all do quite well. This city can support these facilities because it is filled with a very young and active population. On the other side of the coin, Orlando Florida, which has a population of close to 2 million, has only 2 gyms. There are some communities of 10,000 that can support a small climbing gym while other cities of 50,000 would probably have a hard time. As important as the total number of people that you have in your target market is the type of person that is there.  My best advice, which has remained the same since the early days, is that if your “gut” tells you that your area can support a gym then it probably can. You of course need to put in the do-diligence and complete a more scientific study of your demographics to prove this to yourself (and to your investors), but it is very rare to have someone finish this type of study and come to the conclusion that it just isn’t feasible. The question soon becomes, “Ok, so what size climbing gym do I build?”  The business plan consultation package that we offer addresses this and other issues relating to planning a climbing gym business. The formula for evaluating your market is based on real life historical data from gyms across the country gives you the tools you need to accurately understand and assess your market. Once completing this study you will be able to accurately size your gym to discourage competition and maximize investor return.

What is the minimum age for participants?
We do not place a minimum age on participants. Our rule is that any child that wants to climb can try it. We have special safety harnesses that are designed for very small children. It is not uncommon to find children aged 3 or 4 that want to climb, however most children are too scared to really try it until they are 5 or 6. It really depends on the child.

I am just getting started and do not know where to start?
The two things I start with are budget and facility.  Of course every project is restricted by a budget. You can either, start with a fixed dollar amount and work the climbing wall to fit the budget, or you can figure out the perfect size for the wall, then find out what it will cost and raise the dollars to pay for it.

Type of Facility?  Who is the wall being built for and how do you plan to use it?
Understanding what is the best wall for your facility is complicated but we would be happy to talk with you and make a recommendation. 

How do I raise the Start up Capital / Financing to open a Climbing Gym?
To say that there is a typical way that our previous clients have put together the financing would the most inaccurate statement of all time. Although climbing gyms are somewhat similar in the services they provide and the type of client they attract, the ways that the businesses are structured and the ways that financing has been raised is extremely different.  I can give you some of the more typical scenarios though: The most common way that gyms get the money to start is where a small group of people (usually 2 or 3) get together and put together the business plan. Often they will have some of the financial resources between them (25 to 50% of the total start up budget). Usually this part of the financing comes from family money. They then go out and secure traditional bank financing for the remainder of the project. How much they can qualify for depends entirely on how much they really need it. For example if the investment group is putting their last dime into the project, then typically the bank will be reluctant to loan them money. If they are loaded and really don’t need the money, the bank is more than willing to give them what ever they want. I know this seems messed up but it is the way that banking works. If you have the money or collateral to back it up, the bank will loan you anything. If you only have a great idea with nothing to back it, then a bank isn’t going to be interested.
SBA loans are available but in general they are a lot of hassle. They will typically want even more collateral than a private lending organization. Then again, other times it is the only way that you can get something done.  Just as common as this is where the same sized group comes up with all the money with no financing at all. This type scenario usually involves more family money, quite often all or most coming from one persons’ family.  Another scenario that I have seen play out is where the small group solicits investors and sells ownership to a large group (15 to 30) of limited partners. This kind of structure requires some legal work upfront to make the offering legal, etc. Normally this is done when one of the initial group is an attorney or has close ties to one.  Quite often financing is not an issue at all and the person doing the gym finances it completely out of pocket. Usually there is some kind of trust fund or family money involved though. It is rare to see someone make a bunch of money someplace else then quit doing that to open a climbing gym unless they were really doing something they hated. I have seen a few well paid professionals (doctors, lawyers. etc.) retire and become involved as a partner in a gym. Established gyms almost always expand using bank money. They have a proven track record so it is looked at by the bank as a reasonably safe bet.  The way that you finance your project is really up to you. It is a trade off between risk and equity. The person who puts in the most risk will get the most ownership of the business. The more people involved the more the risk is shared but the harder it is to make decisions and move quickly.