Climbing 101.
Ever visited an indoor climbing gym? Prepare to be amazed.
The walls we climb these days have come a long way since 1987, the year the first indoor climbing wall in the US was built in Seattle. Think, Model-T versus Tesla. The improvement is that dramatic.
Modern climbing gym walls are an engineering and design marvel, with textured surfaces that soar to the ceiling in a topographical wonderland that offers something for everyone—from novice to expert. Besides the inspiring wall shapes, a grid of attachment points allows the placement of removable handholds and footholds that come in a mind-boggling variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. Indoor climbing has never been this good, and at Volta, we went all-in on our walls: they were designed, constructed, and installed by Entre-Prises, one of the world’s leading climbing wall manufacturers.
Entre-Prises rope wall at Volta
Entre-Prises Olympic Games Field of Play – Tokyo, 2021
photo courtesy of Entre-Prises
You’ll find three types of indoor climbing at Volta. We recommend you take a moment to better understand each type. You can try Bouldering and Top Rope climbing on your first visit.
Bouldering
Bouldering doesn’t require ropes because you’re climbing on terrain the height of boulders instead of cliffs—and with a padded landing zone.
All you need is a pair of climbing shoes (trust us, sticky rubber helps!), and perhaps a chalk bag containing gymnast chalk, to improve grip. Both are available for rent or purchase at Volta. No certification or partner is required to boulder at Volta -- but hey, it's more fun with a friend!
Climbing shoe
Chalk bag
In our Bouldering area, we strategically arrange holds to create boulder problems, distinguished from each other by hold color. The climber’s goal is to solve a boulder problem by climbing from the bottom to the top (or sideways, if that’s where the problem goes) using only the holds specific to that problem. It’s all about movement and having fun.
Behind-the-scenes setting for our Downeast Dumpster Fire comp.
Our bouldering route label system is comprised of black metal tags with shapes. Each shape represents a range of difficulty:
● = V0-V1
▲ = V2-V3
■ = V4-V5
⬟ = V6-V7
⬣ = V8-V9
⯃ = V10+
You can find copies of this poster on the bulletin boards at either end of our bouldering areas. If you’re reading this on your phone, check out this .PDF version 👀.
Top Rope Climbing
Top Rope Climbing introduces greater height to the equation, hence the need for ropes and the safety technique called belaying.
Certification is required to belay and we offer classes daily for first-time climbers.
In our Top Rope Climbing (and Lead Climbing) area, holds are arranged into longer climbs called routes. And just like boulder problems, climbing routes are distinguished from each other by hold color. Each route is labeled at its base with an estimate of its difficulty using the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS).
Our rope climbing route label system (5.5 is easiest and 5.14 is the most difficult)
To climb on any of our 26 Top Rope stations, you must be belayed by a climber who has passed our Top Rope Belay Test.
For you to belay another climber, you too must be Top Rope Belay certified. There are several important skills you will need to learn in order to pass a Top Rope Belay Test. These are taught in our 90-minute Learn The Ropes class, an introduction to top rope climbing.
To top rope climb at Volta you'll need a climbing harness, which is available for rent or to purchase at Volta. Climbing shoes are recommended and closed toe shoes are required.
Climbing harness
Grigri belay device
SPORT Lead Climbing
Lead Climbing is an advanced technique that requires special skills of both the climber and the belayer.
These are taught in our Introduction to Sport Lead course (note that there are skill and experience prerequisites). There are separate tests for Lead Belaying, and Lead Climbing.
