The boulder from Boulder

A quick update on one of the cool features we're putting in the gym: a freestanding boulder. Here are a few shots of the early construction of it, which is happening at Eldorado's facility in Boulder, Colorado:


The boulder starts as a stack of 8 1-foot thick pieces of foam, glued together. It's been carved into its rough base shape. Next cement texture will be applied over the foam base, and that will be hand-carved to form all the holds. We decided not to install T-nuts for modular holds on this (although Eldorado is quite capable of doing that), because we want this to just sit in the middle of the gym and look like a real rock, about 8 feet high and 8 feet in diameter. It's intended as an easy boulder for kids and beginners, and a warm-up for more advanced climbers.