Products - Climbing Walls
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Origins and History
NICROS has integrated the needs of a climbing wall system into a decorative rock casting system (which was traditionally used as a decorative only system found in hotels, zoos, resorts, amusement parks, etc.) The result is a system that is visually stunning and highly versatile. This design allows for the attachment of modular handholds to the wall in order to change the routes. |
What is A.R.T.Wall™?
Nicros introduced A.R.T.Wall™, the premium climbing wall system, to the industry in 1994, creating the most realistic climbing experience currently available. A.R.T.WALL™ is a climbing wall system made of pre-cast glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) panels that duplicate real rock so well, you can hardly tell that the finished climbing wall is not a real rock formation. Molds are taken from outdoor rock surfaces, and converted into production equipment for the manufacturing of the pre-cast GFRC panels. A.R.T.WALL™ castings can be configured into just about any design conceivable. Designs can include cracks, overhanging areas, dihedrals, arêtes, roofs, vertical sections, and any other climbing formation. Once the wall is constructed, our crew hand sculpts micro-features in the areas between the panels which help to tie together larger features across multiple panels.
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This hand sculpting and attention to detail adds to the overall effect of the castings that are molded from real rock and provides a finished product that even mother nature would be proud of. The completed wall can be tinted or stained to create a number of dramatic tones and shades. Over the past twelve years we have made many changes and improvements and continue to offer a truly industry-leading product. |
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What makes A.R.T.Wall™ so great?
Climbing walls have generally been very plain and geometric. Most walls are flat and made of plywood. This works fine for many applications, and can save money in construction costs, but often becomes boring with time or relies on movement from hold-to-hold only. Also, with current climbing wall systems, generally all handholds or features stick out of the plane (protrude from the climbing surface). On real rock, many of the features encountered are negative to the plane (are recessed into the surface). With A.R.T.WALL™, climbing is very much like climbing outdoors, because the features are exact replicates of natural features. Features are both protruding from and recessed into the surface. This eliminates point-to-point climbing which puts shorter people at a disadvantage. |
On traditional flat featured plywood walls, if short people cannot reach the next handhold, they are out of luck (there are no intermediate natural features to help get to the next hold). These natural features also serve as a tool to sharpen every climber’s footwork, strategy, and route finding skills. Since the A.R.T.WALL™ system exactly replicates real rock, the surface is covered with intermediate natural features thereby eliminating this problem...and making the climb feel like you're on real rock.
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What makes Nicros A.R.T.Wall™ the premium system?
- Appearance. Visually stunning, A.R.TWall™ is the only climbing wall system that truly looks like real rock.
- Versatility. Not only can you climb on features that are as realistic as real rock but you can also climb on modular handholds. This also allows unlimited combinations.
- Feel. Since A.R.TWall™ is made of concrete, it has that rock-like, cool feel and texture. In addition, the framework is so solid that there is no bending or flexing of the surface which is common with other systems.
- Durability. Not only is A.R.TWall™ great indoors, but since it’s made of a special polymer concrete, it can withstand the effects of weather making it perfect for outdoor applications.
- Customizable look. A.R.T.Wall™ can be tinted to achieve a number of desired affects (i.e. tinted to match local rock).
- Special handhold attachment disks. The flat circular areas are perpendicular to the handhold attachment bolt, thereby eliminating the all-to-common problem of handholds not sitting properly.
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Surface and Features
Unlike flat walls that provide features which protrude from the surface, A.R.T.Wall™ duplicates the natural recesses found in real rock. The realistic features are integral to the wall when it’s formed; then we apply a textured coating over the entire wall to ensure a seamless look and feel. This makes A.R.TWall™ feel and climb like real rock. Our designs can include cracks, overhanging areas, dihedrals, arêtes, roofs, vertical sections – just about any climbing formation found in nature.
Because the entire surface is rock-like, climbers don’t have to “follow the dots” as on a plywood system. Climbers have the option of using modular handholds, or they can also use the integral surface features. In addition to a real climbing experience, improved footwork and routefinding skills are the result. |
Handholds
The challenge is to provide a climbing system that is visually stunning and yet very realistic to climb. How can this be accomplished while maintaining a system that can be changed on a regular basis? (Climbing routes need to be changed on a regular basis in order to prevent boredom.) ANSWER: By providing the ability to also bolt on modular handholds to the rock-like surface. If the walls are highly featured, and climbers are using only those features to ascend the wall, they will memorize these features and are soon bored with the climb. Therefore, the wall must have the proper size and number of natural features while maintaining the ability to change the route with the rearrangement of bolt-on-holds. Both of these concepts are accomplished with the NICROS A.R.T.WALL™ System.
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A.R.T.Wall™ accepts modular bolt-on handholds for greater versatility in route-setting. Our method for attaching handholds to the wall is superior to similar walls in that we provide a truly flat surface surrounding the bolt where the handhold is placed. This allows for a tight fit without gaps. Our threaded inserts (extra heavy-duty T-nuts) prevent stripped threads and loose, spinning handholds, and are perfectly perpendicular to the wall so that the handholds are always flush against the wall. It all adds up to less handhold breakage and easier, faster, smoother route-setting. NICROS offers special sets of handholds specifically designed to be used with this system, however most other holds may be used on the wall as well. The handholds can also be tinted to match with the background wall color.
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Feel
A.R.T.Wall™ climbing walls are manufactured and constructed in such a way that they not only look like real rock, but climb like it as well. A.R.T.Wall™ is made from molds of real rock so it reproduces the shapes that only nature can make. Because it’s made from glass-fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC), it’s not only extremely strong and resilient, it also has the solid feel of real rock instead of the flex and give common to plastic (fiberglass) climbing walls. Our special concrete material makes it more realistic for experienced climbers and beginners alike. |
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Construction
Once a design is chosen, the engineering begins. All climbing wall designs are engineered to meet or exceed industry standards. Most A.R.T.Wall™ systems will be built on a heavy duty steel frame and the height and amount of overhang of the wall will affect the engineering and therefore the cost. The engineering may also be affected by the design of the space or building that the wall is going into (i.e. the strength and design of the building). Generally, NICROS walls are designed to transfer climbing loads to the floor and to the adjacent walls. A.R.T.Wall™ can also be designed as a free standing structure if required.
Upon completion of the engineering, a steel frame is erected and the Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC) castings are lifted into place and attached to the frame via secondary steel that is welded to the primary steel frame. Panels are typically six to seven feet wide and six to seven feet tall and can be oriented in any direction by our artisans to create the desired effect or climbing difficulty.
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Once all the panels are attached to the frame, metal lathe is installed to tie the panels together. Castings are placed with care to line up longer features such as cracks to mimic the natural rock look. Once all the castings are in place and are tied together, the embossing process begins. Two coats of concrete are applied – a base coat and an emboss coat. Embossing closes the gaps between the adjacent panels. This is the point in which any cracks are created and features and lead climbing anchors are added.
This helps to blend the different castings together, providing a uniform look to the wall. Once the wall is embossed and cleaned, modifications can be made to the background surface to make the background climb easier or harder. With this system, climbers now have the ability to either climb on the background route or they can climb on the modular handholds, or both. After the modifications are complete, the wall is then tinted to simulate shades of real rock. To keep the handholds blending in with the real-rock look of your climbing wall, the handholds can be tinted to match the colors of the wall. Finally, the top rope stations and handholds are installed and the landing surface added. After a final inspection, your wall is ready for use.
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Cost
Pricing for A.R.T.Wall™ MUST be provided as quotes. Pricing on a per-square-foot-of-climbing-surface basis can be misleading. Due to the engineering and construction techniques involved, site conditions, access issues, and other project requirements, the cost can vary widely and must be quoted for your specific project. |
Prices generally range from $80 to $100 per square foot (see note below) for average projects in average locations, but can be higher depending upon a number of factors. Small projects will typically cost more per square foot due to economies-of-scale. Bouldering walls, or walls that are less tall, are generally cheaper per-square-foot to build. Walls that are complex in design or are taller, tend to be more expensive per-square-foot. The prices stated above are for the climbing walls only and do not include other climbing wall operation equipment such as: landing surface, equipment packages (harnesses, ropes, carabiners, rock shoes, etc.), and training packages (routesetting, operations, risk management, etc.). NICROS is happy to provide a complete quote inclusive of the above items. These items should be included as a part of your budget when building a new climbing wall. Please discuss the available options for these items with a Nicros sales representative.
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Note: In order to calculate climbing surface square footage take into account the fact that a six foot by six foot panel occupying a 36 square foot area is NOT 36 square feet of climbing surface, but more like 40 - 50 square feet of climbing surface. This is due to the highly contoured surface of the castings and depends on the design and the nature of the panels chosen. Some of our molds are very flat and hence the surface area is lower while some are very featured resulting in larger surface areas. A good rule of thumb is to multiply the flat area by 1.25. This multiplier could be as low as 1.1 and as high as 1.4 and will also depend on other factors such as the nature of the design. Walls that are severely overhanging or contain large roofs will have larger surface area.
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