The Cave

        There are many measures taken to make climbing a safe sport.  Pictured above is the “Bouldering Cave”.  This is an area of the climbing gym that is for experienced climbers.  The way this area is constructed allows those using it to climb at a much more difficult angle than the generic vertical rock wall.  The pads on the floor serve an obvious purpose: To break climber’s falls.  These crash pads are required when a climber is using the Bouldering Cave.  Crash pads are one of the many parts of rock climbing that help with safety.  People also use harnesses, ropes and helmets to prevent themselves from injury.  The Bouldering Cave is often less busy than the other parts because of it’s challenging nature.  Many daily climbers will sit around looking at this area and talking about how to successfully climb it.  These discussions are another example of the climbing community being an extremely social one.

            Inside the Bouldering Cave the wall is gray but around the outside it is red.  All along the walls of the gym there is either a red section or a red line.  Which stretches between ten and twelve feet.  This section is the “Free Climbing” area.  This means that people are allowed to climb to the top of the red line without a harness or ropes.  The color red was chosen for obvious reasons, because red is associated with warnings more often than not.  Many experienced climbers use this area for reps, meaning they go up and jump down over and over.  Repetition helps contribute to successful meditation, which as I mentioned above, is the goal of many climbers.  These reps not only give them practice and peace of mind but it also helps them to build physical strength.  These training exercises definitely make the climbers swifter.  Like any other sport, the objective in participation is to better your physical and mental body in every way.  Now, even though technically the free climbing zone is open to anyone, it is really only used by veteran climbers.  It is a liability for Climb Max to allow people who do not know what they are doing to free climb.  Even though not allowing inexperienced climbers is a self-defense mechanism for Climb Max, it is also a way for them to promote the importance of safety for rock climbing.