Some time ago we saw a trend developing. Climbing was becoming more mainstream. While at industry trade shows such as NRPA. Nicros began to see rock climbing products being offered as components to playground structures. We decided to take ideas to the next level.

We wanted a durable, easy to install, affordable product that looked great, felt like rock, climbed just like rock, and most importantly the finished product had to be FUN. At the time of the boulders concept, the majority of our walls were custom built climbing walls. Landscape architects weren’t interested in a custom boulder being added to their parks in the time it would take to build it, the mess it would create, and the time that the playground would be potentially available to park users.

 

With that in mind, we realized that we needed to create a product that could be pre-fabricated in our facility, loaded on a truck, and shipped to the playground where it could be easily and quickly installed. Thus came about the birth of Nicros’ playground boulders.

 

 

Nicros’ Boulders are the most realistic and fun-to-climb playground rocks available. And, they look great too! Each Boulder has been carefully crafted from molds of real rock to capture the diversity of climbing handholds that only nature can create. This also creates a playground piece that is unequaled in terms of esthetics and blending in with a natural park setting. There are three sized boulders and placing them together in some combination simply looks outstanding. Playground Boulders Nicros are comparable to Entre Prises (EP) FreeForm Boulders, Eldorado REALRock Boulders and MEGARock Boulders, and Rockwerx Sculpted Rock Boulders and Natural Rock Boulders.

Kids are born climbers, and playground manufacturers have worked for years to provide an outlet for this innate need to climb. A multitude of climbing equipment has been created combining steel, wood and plastic.

 

While these man-made structures have addressed the physical act of climbing, they don’t have the look and feel of real rock, which is part of the “adventure” of rock-climbing.

7. Easy to install

 

Nicros boulders look great. Since they are made from a combination of hand sculpting and pieces that are molded from real rock, the resulting boulder has a stunning appearance. These boulders are sure to draw attention to any park or playground. The features on the boulders are ergonomically designed so that they fit the natural hand position in a comfortable way – not adding undue stress to tendons or joints. Since the features on Nicros’ boulder are all radiused (rounded out from a central point on the feature), the hand remains in a relaxed, anatomical position while climbing.

 

Unlike competitor products which abound with crimps, sharp edges, and small incuts, the likelihood of finger muscle tear, strain, or general pain in the fingers and hands is significantly reduced.

 

Nicros recommends that customers DO NOT add modular handholds to their boulder. There are several reasons for this position. Above all, it should be considered that if a boulder has handholds, there is an increased likelihood for thieves to simply remove them.

Nicros Boulders have an aggregate filled outer coating that gives the boulder a cool, dry, rocklike feel. The texture on all of our competitor’s boulders wears down quickly after the first few children have climbed around. This causes the entire surface to feel very slick and not at all rock-like. Nicros’ texture is built to last. From our experience in texture with many of our custom-built climbing products, Nicros has perfected the technique to get the texture exactly right – so it will always feel like real rock and not wear down after the first uses like competitor products.

 

 

Nicros warranty’s its boulder for one year to be free from manufacturer defects. Fiberglass is a great material, as it will reduce warranty issues. The Boulders consist of a two part construction, the outer layer is a mostly cosmetic layer that is very thin and has very little strength on its own. The thicker high glass content polyester resin layer is the strong layer. Due to this two-part construction, a small air bubble could occur between the thin gel coat and the fiberglass.