AquaClimb® FAQ & Blog

AquaClimb is currently installing the largest AquaClimb Sport in North America at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, Alberta.  This installation is a feat of engineering prowess as the unit must be conveyed into the building through a set of exterior double doors before being transported down two flights of stairs to reach its final installation area inside the building.

The endeavor is going well and we will be posting pictures of the progress as it continues.  Check back often to see the step by step process of this challenging and rewarding achievement.

UPDATE (Tuesday: 1:31pm EST): The AquaClimb Sport is now inside the building and down the stairs (see photos).

UPDATE (Wednesday: 11:40am EST): The AquaClimb Sport is being aligned into position.

UPDATE (Wednesday: 12:21pm EST): The AquaClimb Sport gets lowered into the pool.

UPDATE (Wednesday: 12:25pm EST): The AquaClimb Sport is prepared to get attached to the pool wall.

UPDATE (Wednesday: 12:25pm EST): The AquaClimb Sport being floated into position with an airbag.

UPDATE (Wednesday: 12:55pm EST): The AquaClimb Sport is brought into attachment position.

UPDATE (Thursday: 2:12pm EST): Cranes raise the AquaClimb Sport in its upright position.

UPDATE (Thursday: 4:51pm EST): The poolside attachment process begins.

UPDATE (Thursday: 5:52pm EST): DONE! The only thing left to do is remove the cranes.

He will be more fit, stronger and bolder delivering gifts this Christmas!

AquaClimb is hiring GREAT PEOPLE and on that note we welcome Mr. Doug Cooke to the AquaClimb team. He joins us and has been given the illustriously long title of… “Direct Sales and Customer Service Manager for North America”. The title says it all really well. Doug is probably the first person customers will be directed to for all inquiries relating to the purchasing of an AquaClimb product. We welcome him to AquaClimb and wish him all the success in building strong relationships with our existing customers and forging new relationships with future customers.

By Spenser Heaps – Daily Herald | Posted: Sunday, August 14, 2011 12:35 am
Click HERE to read this article in its original context.

Michael Irey climbs while Javas Campbell jumps from the top of the climbing wall at the Lehi Outdoor Pool on Saturday, August 13, 2011.

After losing its water slide to persistent maintenance issues, the Lehi Outdoor Pool needed to add something to keep the kids entertained this summer. The solution: the aqua rock wall. Two climbing walls rise out of the water on the edge of the pool, allowing kids to climb to the top and then jump off.

The overhanging walls lean out over the water, so people young and old can try their hand at rock climbing in a safe environment. A fall means an easy drop into the cool water below. The taller wall is less than the height of the high diving board.

“I think it’s way fun,” said 14-year-old Michael Irey. “It adds something different to this pool.”

Head lifeguard Hunter Buxton said the rock walls have been a big hit, though they have added a bit of a challenge for the guards.

“It’s a little more hectic with the walls,” he said. “But it has brought more people here. Kids big and small all seem to have a lot of fun.”

He said the lifeguards need to be a little more vigilant to keep the kids from swimming under the wall where a climber could fall on them, but that there haven’t been any incidents.

GULF SHORES, Ala. — After almost a year of making improvements to the Bodenhamer Recreation Center, the City of Gulf Shores is inviting the public enjoy free access to the facility on Nov. 5.

Brook Monroe Hopkins stands by the aqua climb. Staff photos by John Mullen

One of the most unique improvements and additions is the aqua climbing wall at the inside pool in the area where the diving board used to be.

“It’s actually sparked some interest,” Aquatics Director Brook MonroeHopkins said of the climbing wall. “We’re going to have an open, free pool day. Anybody that wants to come, we’ve got new lane lines, we’ve got a basketball goal down there now for people to play and we got new lounge chairs. We’re kind of showing off, get everybody in there to try the aqua climb. “

With the opportunity to try the wall for free, MonroeHopkins believes patrons will want to try it again.

“We’re trying to spark that by having a couple of things for them to actually do,” she said. “ Hopefully they’ll come back.”

Director of Recreation and Cultural Affairs Grant Brown says MonroeHopkins was “instrumental” in getting the rock wall for the pool.

A water aerobics class works out in front of the aqua climb wall.

“It’s got hand-holds and grips for your hands and feet and you climb the wall,” Brown said. “When you get to the top you jump off the wall into the pool. The kids are loving it.”

The city took out the diving boards which are becoming less common in recreational pools. Brown says there are many issues with the boards.

MonroeHopkins saw one of the walls in Pensacola during a swim meet and the team members immediately took to the wall.

“There was one over there and our children on our swim when they go over there, they love it,” she said. “So I started doing some research and I do know that of the 178 pools that have put them in, they have had a 23 percent increase in patrons.”

Which is something she wants to see happen at the Bodenhamer pool.

“It’ll hit the group we need to hit here,” she said. “We already have water aerobics classes and our swim team. We need young adults, we need teens, late teens. There’s been dads going up it.”

Lifeguard supervisor David Lloyd hopes the wall brings a new type of patron to the pool.

“We program a lot of things here, we just don’t have a lot of walk-in traffic of people that just want to come play and swim,” he said. “We don’t see that anymore.”

The wall has a few rules to keep folks safe. The kids line up on each side of it and only two can be on the wall at a time. They are supervised by lifeguards to make sure no one is underneath them when they begin climbing.

“When we started looking at renovations to our existing facilities, which we’re going quite a bit of now, that was one of the things she really wanted to put in,” Brown said of MonroeHopkins. “Something new, something exciting, something the kids could really relate to. And adults, too. I don’t see adults using it a whole bunch, but it’s definitely been covered up with kids since we put it in.”

The wall is composed of 16 one meter squares and each square has five grips on each one.

“About 15 percent of the people who climb it can make it to the top,” Lloyd said

“A lot of them try more than once and they get up there,” MonroeHopkins said.

Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, Department of Physical Education, Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education (DMMH), Trondheim, Norway. E-mail: ebs@dmmh.no (Corresponding author).1

Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.

Abstract: This theoretical art icle views children’s risky play from an evolutionary perspective, addressing specific evolutionary functions and especially the anti-phobic effects of risky play. According to the non-associative theory, a contemporary approach to the etiology of anxiety, children develop fears of certain stimuli (e.g., heights and strangers) that protect them from situations they are not mature enough to cope with, naturally through infancy. Risky play is a set of motivated behaviors that both provide the child with an exhilarating positive emotion and expose the child to the stimuli they previously have feared. As the child’s coping skills improve, these situations and stimuli may be mastered and no longer be feared. Thus fear caused by maturational and age relevant natural inhibit ion is reduced as the child experiences a motivating thrilling activation, while learning to master age adequate challenges. It is concluded that risky play may have evolved due to this anti-phobic effect in normal child development, and it is suggested that we may observe an increased neuroticism or psychopathology in society if children are hindered from partaking in age adequate risky play.

EvolutionaryPsychology–ISSN1474-7049–Volume9(2). 2011, 257-284.

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You are probably aware that this  question was recently explored on the CBC Radio show “the Current,”  prompted by new research published in Norway that asserts that the answer is “yes,” in a paper that explores the value of risky play.  

As playground designers, PlayWorks feels that this is an important issue, one we grapple with all the time, so we are sending  a full copy of the paper from Norway to all of our contacts and customers. Attached also is a recent New York Time article that does a good job of summarizing the findings. If you don’t already have this, we are sure you will find it interesting.

You may also want to view PlayWorks’ response to the issue in an interview on ACCESS TV; talking about the dilemma that playground designers and playground owners have when trying to balance safety with risk. Follow the link below.

http://www.albertaprimetime.com/Stories.aspx?pd=2632

If you have supporting or conflicting thoughts on this issue we would love to hear them.

John Kuby
President
PlayWorks,Inc.

This is where you can find information about AquaClimb poolside walls, wall use, new developments, customer feedback and FAQs to help you install and maintain your AquaClimb products.