Tim Sprinkle

Government report, industry mobilization promote safer climbing walls

Climbing magazine
February 2004

Christine Ewing was nearly at the top of the mobile climbing wall when things started to go wrong. First her footing slipped off a bit and then the auto-belay device clipped to her harness snapped, dropping the 22-year-old student three stories to the concrete below, killing her instantly and setting off a firestorm in the climbing industry. An investigation in late July revealed that the belay cable was badly worn and should have been replaced; meaning that not only was her death a tragedy, it could also have been prevented.

That's the message the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) wanted to send when it issued a report in August warning wall operators about the dangers posed by worn equipment. The report included a laundry list of warning signs and went as far as to suggest local authorities oversee regular inspections to ensure compliance.

"To prevent injury and death," the report read, "the CPSC staff requests all owners, operators, [and] state safety officials…closely inspect the walls and all equipment in accordance with manufacturer's instructions and guidelines for operation, repair, maintenance and set-up."

And it's starting to have an impact. Oklahoma recently became the first state to mandate inspections for all climbing walls, and several other states are considering similar measures. A wake up call for the fragmented climbing industry, the document prompted several gym owners to form the Climbing Wall Association (CWA) as a way to consolidate their interests and respond to the safety concerns raised in the government report.

"The CWA grew out of a need to have a set of established industry practices," said Rich Johnston, chairman of the CWA. "We needed an association to unite the industry and really focus on the risk management issues that, at that time, no one wanted to touch."

According to its mission statement, the CWA exists to "provide… risk management services and support to operators of commercial climbing walls, and [promote] industry self regulation." But they will also act as industry representatives to the insurance companies, helping draft realistic coverage guidelines; assist owners with safety protocols and business management; and draft standards for basic climbing operations, unifying the industry as walls expand into shopping centers, concert festivals, and county fairs.

"Our primary interest in all of this is to take care of people and make sure they don't get hurt," said CWA representative Nate Postma. "Whenever a government agency gets involved in an issue everyone tends to see red flags, but we've got to calm down and remember that every young industry goes through these growing pains."

But in the end, it will be up to individual wall operators to decide whether or not to follow the CWA guidelines.

"We're not a policing agency, and we don't want to be," Postma said. But he hopes that by working with insurers and state agencies, the CWA will be able to help promote the safest product possible."