UKC

was just wondering what height the major indoor bouldering walls are. my local wall is 4.5 meters and frankly that scares me - I don't want to fall that far.

In reply to mutt:

4-4.5m is pretty standard, not supposed to go beyond that through, at least not above standard 300m crash matting.

In reply to mutt:

I only boulder well within my capability and climb down.
I've twisted knees and ankles in the past and have no wish to repeat that.

Mostly I avoid bouldering altogether because I share your concerns.

In reply to mutt:

I'd say that's on the tall side. It'd definitely be considered tall if it was a problem outside.

I think most people are a little uneasy at that height. Personally when I'm at that height I'm comfortable jumping when I 'fall' off a route but wouldn't be keen on an unexpected fall. Definitely not a drop to land the wrong way up.

In reply to mutt:

4.5m is pretty standard and the recommended maximum height. You don't have to go all the way to the top though if you don't want too....

In reply to mutt:

I can understand the apprehension but would say that it is fairly redundant in the vast majority of cases. In my experience relaxing your body and crumpling as you impact the mats will result in a perfectly acceptable landing in most scenarios. I've even managed to pretty much faceplant the mats from the top of the wall a few times and managed to get away with it.

In reply to mutt:

I've taken numerous falls from the top of a 4.2m Boulder wall and remained intact. Including landing on my neck once upside down.

Learn how to fall properly and only climb within your capability to reduce chance of falling poorly.

You'l find some walls set some crux's low down to help you gain confidence and climb harder stuff.

In reply to sam.sam.sam.ferguson:


Interestingly, most of the injuries I've seen in more experienced climbers have been on dynamic/tensiony/twisting moves a few feet off the deck. High up you'd have time to relax before landing but when you hit the deck almost the instant you drop the move you can't absorb the impact. I know I've jarred myself before when a low foot popped and I landed on a straight leg.

In reply to RickyY:


I was at the BMC Climbing Wall meeting when it was decided to recommend 4.5 metres as the recommended height for a climbing/ bouldering wall, so yes its pretty standard !

At the time, no? leading walls existed and the Foundry had not been opened.
The BMC felt it had to take a lead in recommendations rather than leave it to (non climbing ) architects who till then had managed to spread comparatively useless facilities throughout the land.

This was also at a time when bouldering mats did not exist, few gym mats were on the floor at climbing walls and believe it or not, climbing above a concrete slab was considered good head training.

Amusingly for the other (competing) CW manufacturers ( who were not tied to any measurements ), Enterprise, who had a 1000mm module system, were forced to use more expensive 500mm sections.
Eventually 4.5m was reworded as 4 to 5 metres.

In reply to sam.sam.sam.ferguson:



Just out of curiosity, did you learn to fall properly before or after you landed on your neck upside down?

In reply to mutt:
One thing you all probably don't realise, but maybe it will only affects some people anyway?... , is how much wear takes place in your knees each time you fall and land on your feet.
As you get older even from the age of midtwenties onwards for me, perhaps even younger for others, you begin to notice that jumping off things, even with something like well cushioned running shoes, makes your knees hurt.
In my late 40's now, even landing on thick bouldering matts at a wall from 10ft up i wil feel this.
I'm not sure if the damage was done early on, when forced to go on cross country runs at school, in shoes called plimsoles, with soles as thin as rock shoes. I liked running and cross country so i took it up again in late teens, but couldn't afford decent running shoes, so i added to the damage, until i realised i had to give up because of the pain.
From my 20's i realised i could only go on a run about once a fortnight.
At work i was often jumping on and off stuff too, and again the pain became apparent, but it took some real focus to become mindful enough to step or climb down from everything, to try to prevent the damage.
Bouldering back then we didn't use crash pads.
They must be well worth investing in, not just to prevent serious injury, but also to protect your cartiledge in knees and other joints.
Now i try to avoid jumping off anything, and down climb when possible.
Rock over's can be a cause for concern too.
Knees need looking after.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Considered high outside? 4.5m might not even be highball. You better never visit the buttermilks.

In reply to richrox:

Good points... learning to downclimb well can also build stamina and get you out of trouble on real rock.

In reply to Offwidth:

Yeah obviously it's not highball but it's getting close. I'd say 5 or 6m is highball.

In reply to Lemony:


One case to take care of is the mat gripping your foot while you are twisting around the vertical - can do in knees quite effectively.

In reply to mutt:

Falling off the top of bouldering walls is definitely more scary than when you're lower down. Despite the best matting it's still possible to hurt yourself if you land awkwardly. And that's easy to do when trying moves at your limit. As Misha says you can faceplant and be fine. But it's also possible for a limb to hit first the wrong way and you can get injured.

So there are two issues. First the psychological issue of fear of falling from the top and second the issue of landing safely. To overcome the fear just try jumping off progressively higher and higher. If you go regularly and do that all the time you'll get much more used to it, just like lead falling practiced outside.

For safety I think you become naturally aware when you may fall so if you commit to a move or a dyno you also become aware of how your going to fall should you miss. Occasionally some moves are just going to result in an awkward fall (say if your body is horizontal). In that case either climb in control or get a spot or just try a different problem.

In reply to stp:


Most centres, as far as I know, will ask you never to jump from the wall wherever possible, but to climb down in a controlled way. This is to limit the chance of injury - it's way more important to practice knowing when to down climb and how to down climb safely than to practice jumping! If you are always jumping from the wall, you are WAY more likely to injure yourself or someone around you for that matter, than if you downclimb whenever possible. Falls happen, as do injuries, and that is the risk you accept when taking part in risky sports like climbing, you just need to manage and limit the risks as much as possible.

In reply to mutt:

Good question which was highlighted to me at the weekend. Having been all over the country at bouldering walls including Eden Rock, Sunderland Wall, Keswick Wall, Kendal Wall, Ratho, The depot Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, The Works, etc etc etc I was quite taken aback at how high the walls were at Durham wall on Saturday. I don't usually get on the walls myself as my daughter does the climbing but after about 6 or 7 climbs I became acutely aware of the extra height I was getting to (As the climbs got gradually harder). I have some scaffolding inside my legs and don't enjoy any falls so I just stopped tbh. It gave me a bit of a wake up.

My daughter and her team mate on the other hand didn't give it a second thought. Her team mate did in fact end up just missing quite a dyno, swinging and landing head first on the mats (Carpet burn etc) from a serious height. These guys are used to it but I still was rather surprised at the difference the extra height made

In reply to KP:

If you can't jump down safely from a wall what chance are you going to have when you fall unexpectedly from the last move? You're far more likely to be tense and thus more likely to injure yourself than you will be if your relaxed and know what you're doing. Falling is a big part of climbing, particularly bouldering, so you need to learn to do it safely, figure out what's safe and what is not. If you don't know how to fall then you're not safe.

But I'm not saying you need to jump from the top of every boulder problem all the time. Just like lead climbing it's not necessary to take whippers on every route you do. Climbing down a few moves a lot of the time is sensible too, so long as you're OK when you fall from higher up.

In reply to Thelittlesthobo:


They're on the high end but I don't think they're higher than the pool at Climb Newcastle for example. They do tend* to set a lot of big moves high up and their mats are on the firm end so they can be pretty intimidating.

*in the few times I've climbed there

In reply to Lemony:

Hi Lemony

I haven't been to climb Newcastle either. Must be a North Eastern thing then

In reply to stp:

I'd agree in general. Normally if I complete a problem I'll step down a move if there are big holds in reach which allow me to do so without much effort to reduce the height dropped / impact. But if you don't both get used to landing from height, both in terms of how to fall/land and also physically conditioning your body to be better able to deal with the impact then what's going to happen when you inevitably do unsuspectingly drop the last move as you throw to the finishing hold? Also you need to be confident to the point that falling off is not even entering your mind when you're high up on hard moves, otherwise your fear of falling will cause you not to commit to the move properly and result in the very fall you were in fear of.

Indoors with well matted bouldering walls falling shouldn't be entering your mind in the vast majority of situations, although I guess it is a different story if you already have bad legs/joints but for fit healthy people it should be a non issue. Because if it is then when you're outdoors at the same height or more above a couple of small crash pads only 1/3rd the thickness chucked across some rocks you are not going to climb well and if you mess up your landing out there you are far more likely to be injured.

In reply to mutt:

well, all good commentry, I've just crowd funded the new southampton wall for lifetime membership. its looking great and not too high!

In reply to mutt:

I have vague memories back of a really high bouldering wall at Mile end. Is it still there and how high is it?