Walltopia, the world leading manufacturer of climbing walls, is proud to
announce the launch of an open international design contest with potential
to change the direction of the climbing industry.
The Harmonized System has the ambition to revolutionize the climbing industry by offering a mix-and-match modular system
of climbing walls (lead, top-rope and boulders). The company’s ultimate goal is to prove that a single system, with a fixed set
of elements, can allow thousands of climbing wall design combinations for people to climb on, then share notable routes on
a global network.
The system brings a healthy dose of standardization both in t-nut grid, panel shape, size, and angle, which provides an
opportunity to set routes that can be replicated around the world. The beauty of harmonization is that it achieves this
standardization without limiting the design and individuality of the walls.
Prizes
The prize pool amounts to 60 000 EUR divided evenly in two main categories – boulders and top-rope/lead walls. In each
category there will be five awarded projects. The final selection will be made by world-known jury comprised of some of the
most influential climbers, gym owners, route setters and climbing organizations from around the globe.
Walltopia will be announcing the jury members throughout the entry period. Names that are already known are Ivaylo
Penchev, Walltopia CEO and co-owner, Chris Sharma, one of the world’s best rock climbers, Jeff Pedersen, President and cofounder
of Momentum climbing gyms, and Vasil Sharlanov – Head of Walltopia Architecture & Design department.
Among the major benefits the Harmonized System will bring are:
• Wall designs and routes proposed and proven out by the climbing community;
• Standardized, benchmark climbs which allow climbers around the globe to compare their achievements indoors, the same
as they do outdoors;
• Global access for climbers to the best route setters in the world;
• The ability of multi-location gym operators to achieve routesetting consistency and use benchmark climbs set by elite
routesetters to train new route setters remotely.
The deadline for submission is set for May 13, 2015. There is a Q&A webinar session planned with date to be announced
soon. Participants are encouraged to send questions via email at [email protected]
All submitted projects will be filtered by a technical committee lead by Vasil Sharlanov, and if technical requirements are
met, will be evaluated by the jury.
The awards ceremony is planned for late May. Date & venue to be confirmed soon.
About Walltopia:
Walltopia is the world‘s leading climbing walls manufacturer. Founded in Bulgaria in 1998, to date the
company has built more than 230 000 sq.m. of climbing walls in 50 countries on 6 continents. Walltopia has sales offices
in the USA, Canada, Austria, UK, Germany, Russia, Pacific Asia. The Head office is in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Register here:
Contact:
Mariya Vasileva
Head of Walltopia Marketing Department
[email protected]
http://competition.walltopia.com
www.walltopia.com
