Stone Gardens Drytooling

[stonegardens]

Stone Gardens is proud to open our dry-tooling wall to the public! The routes are on our outdoor wall. Right now we have M5-M7 and will get easier and harder routes up soon. Come lead or top-rope (must have passed our belay and/or lead/lead belay tests), rain or shine, night or day (bring a headlamp for night climbing!). Call the gym for more information at 206.781.9828.

 

RULES:

• Check in with front desk staff before climbing

• Top rope belayers, lead climbers and belayers must have passed appropriate Stone Gardens Test

 

• Climbers and belayers must wear helmets

• Eye and face protection is strongly encouraged

• Belayers must stand out of tool drop zone

• Spectators must stand well away from wall

• Be careful with tool placements, save the wall!

 

• If wall becomes damaged from tools or boots we may have to put an end to dry tooling here

 

• NO CRAMPONS ALLOWED

• NO MOUNTAIN BOOTS ALLOWED

• Please wear rock shoes or light approach shoes

• Tool only on holds, do not tool into t-nut holes or plywood base plates

• Do not hook arêtes

• Refrain from dynamic placements

• Report any rope damage or other incidents

• Have fun!

 

[dbb]

WHOAAAA, this is rad! Way to go SG!

 

Did you back the holds with plywood like in this picture?

[stonegardens]

The holds are old regular gym holds (lots of pockets) and pieces of 2X4 with different in-cuts, but all are backed with plywood base-plates to protect the wall.

[Jens]

OK, this post is just not fair! I'm a loyal Seattle Vertical Worlder for life, but I like ice climbing way more than plastic. I am sure tempted to join Stone Gardens right now! How much just to climb on the outdoor wall! Way to go Stone Gardens!!!

-J.K.

[NTM]

c'mon jens, come to the ballard side....

[SemoreJugs]

hey stonegardens.

I've noticed since the replacement of the STONES with PADS that many people are hurting, spraining, breaking their ankles. I witnessed at least 2 incidents on the day after the bouldering comp. I have talked to other members and have heard of other incidents second-hand.

 

SO, it seems like this is a real problem and I would like to know what Stone Gardens stance is on this. Is something going to be done? The pads are very stiff in most people's opinion. Will these be replaced? The other issue is of landing on a pad edge. I'm guessing this is where most of the injuries have occurred.

 

I thought the reason to get rid of the stones was to improve the air quality, but do employees notice if its much better now? I still see big clouds of dust circulating in the air. Maybe its time to get stricter on the never enforced "NO LOOSE CHALK" policy.

 

Thanks for hearing me out.

[stonegardens]

Semore,

Thanks for the message.

 

We are trying to keep pads grouped in certain areas yet leave a few pads free in each area to be moved around. When we put the drag pads in groups and velcro them together the accident rate goes way down.

 

We are giving falling/spotting clinics now for boulderers who want to learn more on better falling and spotting techniques.

Awareness of pad placement and having an active, trained spotter helps better manage the risk associated with falling.

 

We have re-layered the foam in the drag pads so the softer foam is on the top layer (each pad has 3 different layers of foam). When the pads break in we will move the foam layers around again.

 

When we had the gravel it was impossible to adequately remove the daily build up of dust. Air quality has greatly improved now that the padded flooring is in, the gravel is gone and we can vacuum up the chalk dust. However, loose chalk in chalk bags and chalk pots/buckets continues to be a significant source of airborn dust.

 

If some climbers continue to use loose chalk we will need to become more assertive with our no loose chalk policy. It helps if climbers remove any loose chalk from their chalk bags before climbing in the gym. Hopefully, gym climbers will each take their share of responsibility for air quality seriously and use only chalk balls in their chalk bag.

 

Thanks again for sharing your concerns. We will always strive to improve the gym for its climbers and be receptive to suggestions.

 

Cheers,

Bruce Andresen

General Manager of Stone Gardens

 

 

 

[Weekend_Climberz]

Damn, I literally just canceled my membership. Shizzzz!!!

[5.12Dreamer]

Bruce,

 

Although I was sorry to see the gravel go b/c I was sure more injuries would result, I place a lot of importance on air quality and taking responsibility for your own fall protection.

 

Over the many years I've been using the gym I noticed that I would develop a wicked sinus headache the following morning. That pretty much kept my sessions to one or two a week, at an hour or two at most. If I spent two hours in there, I could count on a terrible headache. A cleaner environment is a good thing for everyone, especially those that work there and hence have more exposure.

 

That said, I implore you to be strict with the no loose chalk rule. We can be almost certain that people will not comply with a rule that is not enforced, especially one that has nebulous outcome when flouted. If SG spent all this money to improve the air, at risk of more injuries, then you have to ensure the return on your investment.

 

Here is some testimony on effectiveness, from several years ago when I visited the gym in Eugene. I climbed there that afternoon and was amazed how "new" and clean the place was. Afterward I was talking to the owner and asked how long it had been open, to which he replied five years! I said I didn't understand how it could be so clean, and he was adamant that it was because they were really strict about no loose chalk.

 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to my next visit, with less dust or not!

[stonegardens]

Just letting everyone know that we took down the drytool walls last Friday. Thanks to everyone who came out and gave it a go!

We have already begun setting regular rock climbing routes out there, so make sure to come out and do some urban outdoor climbs!

[catbirdseat]

For what it's worth, I think the crash pads need to be softer than the floor to offer any incremental protection beyond that of the carpet and its foam underlayment. I suggest using just the softest type foam in the pads rather than a combination of the two.

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Back to the original topic, thanks for putting those up! It was fun to get a little drytool fix a couple times this winter when I could only get out after work. I hope you guys will do the same thing next year! :-)

[Hendershot]

Now i'm bummed that i only went down there once last season.

 

Hey Stone Gardens,

 

Will the drytool wall be a seasonal gig? Or was it the concensus of the members that it was not an effective use of space?

[mountainmatt]

Thanks for the putting up the drytooling wall this year! It was a great way to mix it up at the gym and was particularly fun doing it at night Hopefully it shows up next season?

[Alpinfox]

 

It's snowing in Ballard right now.

 

Any ice forming on that wall yet?

[dbb]

The ice wall was super fun this year. I know I'll definitely be buying a membership there next fall if they plan to put it back up