FAQ: Rock Climbing Gyms

Q: What are the advantages of a panel system?

A: A panel system is more cost effective, reconfigurable, maintainable, and allows for a higher level of quality control than seamless textured onsite systems.

Q: How are your panels made?

A: Our panels start with high quality structural grade seven-ply solid cross-strand plywood. The plywood is then textured with a hand sculpted proprietary polymer based concrete with integral color for optimal performance and durability.

Q: How durable is your panel system?

A: Our panels have been in use for over 20 years in commercial climbing gyms. The combination of high quality wood and our proprietary polymer concrete mix results in a long lasting, hard wearing product backed by one of the best warranties in the business.

Q: Can your panels be mounted to both wood and steel structures?

A: Absolutely, part of building affordable and effective climbing facilities is choosing the best type of construction for your project. For this reason we have developed mounting systems for both steel and wood structures.

Q: Can the panels be cut to fit?

A: The panels are easy to cut and do not require special tools or saw blades.

Q: What about building curved walls?

A: We love curved walls. They are both beautiful and functional. Our panels can be mounted to either flat or curved surfaces. People are always amazed that our concrete coated panels can be easily bent to a curved surface. The secret is in our proprietary polymer concrete. No other panel system can be mounted to both curved and flat walls.

Q: What about T-Nuts?

A: Our premium gym panels have 36 T-nuts per panel. We have found that this is an optimal density for commercial facilities. There is a lot of talk about T-Nuts and we have tried all of the options in our nearly 25 years of experience building commercial climbing facilities and this has lead us to use T-nuts that are strong, durable, inexpensive, and easily maintained.
The T-nuts themselves are only part of the story. One of the biggest factors that affects the durability and performance of the T-nuts is the quality of the wood. The higher the quality of the wood the better the T-Nuts perform. We use high-grade seven-ply engineered plywood. This means the T-Nuts stay put better, resist spinning, and pulling through the surface.

Q: How many holds do we need and is there anything else we should consider when purchasing holds?

A: When it comes to climbing holds variety rains supreme. We have partnered with some of the best hold companies out there in order to provide a great selection and value to our customers. We recommend 7-10 holds per panel as a good starting point. Bouldering walls typically have higher concentrations of holds than roped climbing walls. Although resin holds are still available most of the better companies have switched to urethane holds. Urethane holds are stronger and longer lasting than resin holds.