UKC

My local wall at which I also route set and instruct, is a DR wall of approx 20 years vintage. It comprises sculptured fibreglass and plywood panels attached to a substantial steel frame, with the belay anchors and quickdraw anchors attached directly to the steel frame. At the last annual inspection by an independent specialist, a section of the wall was taken out of service because it has a ledge 2 metres up that was deemed dangerous, the rationale being that if a climber fell onto the ledge they could hurt themselves. This hasn't happened during the whole time the wall has been open but I guess as experience grows with climbing walls they need to be made as safe as possible....

This section of the wall comprises a quarter of the total climbing area so it's loss is appreciable. There have been discussions about replacing this section but I am fairly sure the whole wall was craned into the space in sections before the roof went, on so it's removal and replacement is problematic. It would seem the only way to remove it is to cut it up into small sections as it would have to pass through a double width doorway. Not surprisingly the quotes to do this have been very high.

This whole section of the wall has a substantial steel frame with the whole climbing surface being fibreglass panels. It occurred to me that it could be possible to cut up and remove the fibreglass panels leaving the steel frame in situ. It would then be relatively straightforward to cut and weld additional box section pieces onto the frame such that plywood panels could be attached as they need a flat surface.

Does anybody have experience of doing this type of work and thus be able to comment or know of a firm or company who we might approach to see if it's feasible ? Thanks

The old pinnacle in Awesome Walls Liverpool was cut into sections and rebuilt in Awesome Walls Dublin. I think it was originally in The Climbing House too, before it moved it to Awesome Walls.
 

I’d start with Entreprise, they’ll certainly know if what you’re asking is possible. 

What sort of ledge are we talking about?  A wall I know well has a purpose built ledge a little higher than this, about 25cm deep and 1m wide, intended to give you a decent place to practice rethreading sport lower-offs in a more realistic way than doing it at ground level.  

It was only built a few years ago and obviously passes safety inspections (other aspects of the wall have fallen foul of these checks, so they are being applied rigorously).  The route setting above the ledge takes into account that there's a hazard - they deliberately don't set any sketchy moves in the area above it. 

Could it be you need to change the independent assessor, rather than the wall? 

So this section of the wall has a small bouldering cave with the problems finishing just before the ledge. At one end of the cave there is a leg that can be climbed to the ledge, at the other end the wall is vertical and can also be climbed to access the ledge. In the past we've set routes that start in the cave so you can climb and mantleshelf up onto the ledge. We've always set routes that are easy and straightforward off the ledge to avoid falling onto a hard surface. The ledge itself varies in width but extends to the whole of this section.

The wall is in a multisport complex where none of the staff have a climbing background so they have always relied on third parties to maintain and advise on wall safety. Several years ago they were advised that lead climbing shouldn't be allowed so the quickdraws were removed but top roping allowed. Last year they were advised that top roping shouldn't be allowed either so all the holds were stripped off...

Having climbed/worked at this wall for 20 years I'm not aware of any accidents occurring on this section of the wall so I think the risk of injury is minimal if belaying is being carried out correctly. By way of comparison I know that there have been serious injuries such as open fractures when people have landed badly at a local bouldering wall. 

I guess the crux of the matter is whether the advice to stop climbing on this section of wall is based on health and safety legislation that can be enforced through the law or whether it is one persons opinion who perhaps rightly is advising the wall to err on the side of extreme caution and be 100% risk adverse.... 

Unfortunately now that you have a qualified independent person saying you need to do something it is difficult not to - were there an accident, the decision makers that over-rode the advice would be under scrutiny and potentially liabilit; it might also invalidate the wall insurance.  So just carrying on really isn't an option.  I don't see any reason why a section could not be replaced as you describe.  However, you may find the xost of a new wall entirely is not so far different.  Any reason not to say where?

I struggle to see how a ledge is any more dangerous than the very large ledge we call 'the floor', particularly if only top roping is allowed anyway. What if you just formalised, in a risk assessment, the policy of setting easy moves off the ledge? Much as most walls seem to near the floor.

Stockport Awesome Walls has quite a large ledge, also about 2m high, at the base of one of the walls in the tower section. And that's with lead routes above it. I've always wondered why it's there, actually. It seems like an odd bit of wall design so I assume there's something underneath it.

As a former Health and Safety rep at work, I would think that your assessor is offering their opinion on their understanding of how the wall is used today.  There is no reason to stop using the wall as-is, so long as you take other measures to mitigate the risks that they have identified.

Lots of ways to skin a cat...

Kelsey Kerridge (sp?) in Cambridge had new, plywood bouldering walls built directly in front of the original fibreglass ones. I am not sure how the structures are joined but they must be somehow.

Could you perhaps make (or rather, commission) an infill piece which sits on top of the ledge and makes it into a short section of slab?

Any climbing wall manufacturer ought to be able to advise you, or at least point you to someone.

They've had you stop top-roping but allowed bouldering to continue??

King Kong climbing walls did a similar thing to what you are after with Essex sport. From experience they'll be a lot cheaper than entre-prises but the cost of renovating a wall like this is actually more than putting up a new one, mainly due to the cost of taking down and disposing of the old panels 

Thanks for all the comments.

The wall above the ledge is so sculptured that it would require a huge amount of work to put a slab section in from the ledge to the wall so I don't think it's practicable. I did wonder whether either pieces of rubber crumb flooring could be laid (like they use in playgrounds) or a poured rubber crumb floor could be put on the ledge - that might be worth following up.

I guess a meeting or discussion with the assessor would be useful to see what they would suggest in order for climbing to take place again on this section.

Now I think about it, I know of at least one other wall locally in a village hall that has drop down sections of 2 inch matting for when the wall is used so it would seem it doesn't need to be very thick.

Thanks again to everyone who's made comments/suggestions - it's food for thought..

So to answer your question, yes the climbing wall could be reclad using the existing frame. Quite a few walls have done this and gone to plywood for easier route setting.

Without seeing the wall I can't comment with any certainty but would another option be to build a feature on the ledge to get rid of it. So basically taper it back in to the wall.

Also it would be possible to make a structure and then fibre glass and rock coat the 2 surfaces together. If it's standard DR colours would be fairly easy to colour match the 2.

Out of interest what was the rational on stoping lead climbing? I understand if there is an issue such as quickdraws being out of date.

I should have clarified that lead climbing was stopped only on this section of the wall, the possible fall onto a hard ledge being the reason. 

I'm going to contact Enterprise & King Kong climbing walls to see what the possibilities are.

Thanks

Also have a look at Incredible Creations. Will likely be able to help you out.