Products - Climbing Walls
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Origins and History
When Nicros began constructing climbing walls, walls were made of a product called Modular Wall Element System (MWES) which was essentially a plywood wall system with a wood sub-frame made of wood laminated floor joists. In a constant effort to research and continuously develop and improve upon our products, Nicros made the switch to a steel subframe in July, 2000, thus naming the new climbing wall product, WestCoast™.
This switch added ease in making lead anchors and helped with meeting local fire codes regulations regardless of where the wall was built. Named for the origins of this style of climbing wall, Nicros WestCoast™ walls are constructed of steel and plywood sheathing and covered with
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a special climbing texture that is seamless and tinted to achieve a number of desired affects. WestCoast™ walls may look like other climbing walls, but at Nicros, we take pride in the improvements we’ve made to this time-tested system.
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What is WestCoast™?
The challenge is to provide an aesthetic, fun and functional climbing wall that still fits into the project budget. WestCoast™ climbing walls consist of a steel framework that is sheathed in plywood and covered with a cementitious coating. Nicros uses standard four-prong pound in T-Nuts on the WestCoast™ climbing wall system. The design of a WestCoast™ wall can range from fairly simple, with few plane breaks, to highly complex. Nicros' standard texture (Nicrotex-Premium™) contains numerous rock-like micro-features that still result in a fairly flat surface.
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This is critical to the proper attachment of handholds since any irregularities in the surface can cause problems with holds either spinning or possibly breaking. Also, our Nicrotex-Premium™ texture is bonded to the plywood with a special adhesive that is even stronger than the adhesive used in the plywood. The texture can also be built up to create macro-features such as huecos, pockets, cracks and dikes. And with Nicros' years of experience, we can even incorporate macro-features, such as company logos or large sections of pockets, into WestCoast™ projects.
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What makes WestCoast™ so great?
The challenge is to provide an aesthetic, fun and functional climbing wall that still fits into the project budget. Since WestCoast™ walls use standard, low cost, construction materials - steel, plywood and concrete - the cost of a WestCoast™ wall can be 60% the cost of a high-end product. Nicros is also able to pre-fabricate many projects which further reduces the cost of the project. Pre-fabricating means less time in the field for our construction crews. This means lower housing and rental equipment costs. It also means your wall is built faster! |
Surface and Features
WestCoast™ walls may look like other climbing walls, but at Nicros, we take pride in the improvements we’ve made to this time-tested system. One touch will tell you how Nicros WestCoast™ walls are different – our surface texture is more rock-like than the competition and our tinting process can’t be beat. 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 helps to reduce handhold breakage. Although WestCoast™ walls may seem “simple”, design options are limitless and a number of different surface features (cracks, arêtes, huecos, etc.) can be added to provide a more realistic climbing experience.
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Handholds
The areas around our t-nuts are flat and true. As with A.R.T.WallTM, this seemingly simple feature is essential to reducing handhold breakage and maintaining the integrity of the t-nut. We take great care in pounding in our t-nuts so they are much more durable and stay in place better than many of our competitors’. Nicros offers a full line of handholds – everything from super tiny to Extreme-ly large and everything to meet the needs of beginners to the very advanced. |
Feel
One touch will tell you how Nicros WestCoast™ walls are different – our surface texture is more rock-like than the competition and our tinting process can’t be beat. To achieve a good texture, many of our competitors apply their concrete to have the maximum surface area possible. This results in a thin texture comes out sharp and abrasive. To the other extreme, other competitors use a texture that, upon use or extended use, polishes, so that it is not easy to smear on or flag against.
Since Nicros owns and operates several full-scale climbing facilities, our texture is tested under various use patterns. This research resulted in our ability to develop a new texture that is both highly durable without being overly abrasive. The sculpting of our cracks, huecos, and arêtes is top-notch – in fact, it often feels so realistic, if it wasn’t for the geometrical plywood surfaces around you, you wouldn’t know you weren’t climbing on real rock.
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Construction
The first step in the process is the design phase. Depending on the project, this is either rendered as simple plan views and cross-sectional drawings, foam-core models or CAD renditions. Regardless of the design, almost all WestCoast™ walls start with a primary steel frame. This frame is engineered to transfer the climbing loads to the floor and to the adjacent walls. The primary frame also allows an easily accessible space behind the wall for standard inspections. The plywood is laid out, measured, and cut either in the field or prefabricated in Nicros' shop and delivered to the site. Each panel is held in place with straps as tie plates are installed and screwed in to the next panel over. Each panel is also bolted to a clip which is welded to a strut which attaches back to the primary steel. |
In some places, threaded rods are inserted through the plywood into a t-nut and are welded back to the primary. Once all of the panels are positioned in place, the crews go back through and fortify and reinforce the entire wall. Any lead and top anchors are installed at this point, each being welded back to the primary steel with three points of contact.
While the previous steps are the most critical from a construction and safety standpoint, the next steps determine the final aesthetics of the climbing wall. The entire face of the climbing wall is covered in lathe which is tacked to the surface of the plywood using wide crown staples. Approximately 3/8 inch of Nicrotex-Premium™ (Polymer-modified concrete) cementitious coating is applied to the entire wall, creating a solid, seamless surface. This concrete has been pre-tinted with integral dyes and once the concrete is in place, additional post-applied dyes are added. The lathe helps to bond the concrete texture coating to the wood to help eliminate delamination.
This coating is then imprinted with a rocklike texture to provide a somewhat realistic feel. When this process is complete and the concrete and dye is dry, additional color is added to the wall using a process of flecking and streaking. The entire process is demanding, but it’s worth it. It makes simple concrete look much more like real rock which further enhances the rocklike aesthetics. Our expertise in decorative rockwork techniques developed for A.R.T.Wall™ helps us create a beautifully textured finished product for the WestCoast™ system. We’re constantly improving our methods maintaining the best look and feel in the industry. While it may not matter to new climbers, a realistic texture becomes essential for learning smearing and edging techniques as they progress.
We offer a number of surface features as options for WestCoast™ walls. Our design team works with you to create a wall that’s both visually striking and highly functional. Sculpted arêtes, cracks, and flakes combine with realistic pockets, edges, and dikes to provide an enjoyable climbing experience that mimics time on natural rock.
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Cost
Pricing for all NICROS climbing walls MUST be provided as quotes. Pricing on a per-square-foot basis can be misleading. Due to engineering and construction techniques involved, site conditions, access issues, Union or prevailing wage requirements as well as other project conditions, the cost can vary widely. Prices generally range from $45 to $75 per square foot (see note below) for average projects in average locations, but can be higher depending on a number of factors. A very simple design could be as low as $20/sq. ft. while a complex design could be higher than the range given. The price per square foot is also affected by size, material costs, as well as other factors.
The needs of each customer and the design of each wall can be completely different. Small projects will typically cost more per-square-foot due to economies of scale.
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Bouldering walls are generally cheaper per-square-foot to build. Walls that are more complex in design or are taller tend to be more expensive per-square-foot. Please call us for a quote and to discuss wall feature options for your facility.
The prices stated above are for the climbing walls only and do not include other climbing wall operation equipment such as: landing surfaces, equipment packages (including belay tools, 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 |
Note:
Climbing surface area is almost never the same as the area that the climbing wall occupies. For example: an area that is 10 linear feet long and 10 feet tall occupies an area of approximately 100 square feet (10 x 10 = 100). However, contemporary climbing walls are almost never perfectly flat vertical walls and usually contain many features such as overhangs and roofs that increase the surface area. Therefore, a multiplier is applied to each section of the wall depending on its complexity.
This multiplier is different for walls that are of different complexity and normally ranges from 1.1 to 1.4. This multiplier also accounts for the sides, edges and returns that are necessary to construct a wall. Simple vertical or near vertical designs with few protrusions or edges result in a factor of 1.1. Complex walls that are very overhanging, contain large roofs or many large protrusions, or walls that have very large returns will result in a multiplier of more like 1.4. For typical projects, a factor of 1.2 is used.
This results in approximately 120 square feet of climbing surface (10 x 10 x 1.2 = 120) and results in a fairly typical design. This does not account for completely closing in the top of the wall.
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