The southern Spanish city of Estepona is putting the finishing touches to what will be Spain’s largest open-air climbing wall. The climbing wall is distinguished by its uniqueness, versatility and the fixed outdoor structure with large dimensions.
“It’s going to be a unique space. So far, there`s not a single climbing wall in Spain that includes the three categories of speed, difficulty, and bouldering. It allows us to organise competitions and practice all forms of climbing,” Francisco Jiménez, one of the members of the local climbing association, told the newspaper Diario SUR.
This new facility, which will be built in the permanent exhibition and sports park, has the dimensions and functionalities that make it possible, in addition to amateur sports, to hold national and even international competitions for top athletes. Furthermore, the climbing wall meets the legal standards for this.
“Our idea is to be able to create a municipal climbing school. To teach anyone who wants to start in this field and in addition, we can train here,” Jiménez adds. He emphasises that “climbing is an Olympic sport. Therefore, many federation members will be able to come and practice because it will be a very complete facility”.
Features climbing wall
The climbing wall will be built according to the UNE EN 12572 standard. You can go there for three types of exercises, which are difficulty, speed level and bouldering. In bouldering, you climb to a height of up to 4.5 metres. In addition, you are not stuck, if you fall, you fall on a thick mat.
The total area is 662 square metres. The distribution is as follows: speed zone (115 square metres), difficulty zone (363 square metres) and bouldering zone (184 square metres).
The climbing wall uses high-precision 3D modelling and a self-stable structure made of 130,000 kilos of steel with a luminous coating. There is also a covered area and the wall can also be used in the evening, due to the lighting system. The investment for the climbing wall is around €1.6 million.
Olympic sport
Climbing has been an Olympic sport since Tokyo 2020. The Estepona climbing wall meets the needs of athletes who want to train at the highest level. The model of the climbing wall is similar to the one built for the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile and for other events in Asia.
