Introduction

posted on Wednesday, November 18, 2009

How did rock climbing start in Singapore?

The sport of climbing started in Singapore around the mid- to late-1980s, with self-taught climbers exploring the cliffs of Dairy Farm Quarry. In 1989, the first permanent artificial climbing wall was built at SAFRA Tampines. This was followed by the introduction of the national climbing competition series, Rock On, which is now a significant national climbing event in our annual climbing calendar.

This sport is now growing rapidly in Singapore, with increasingly more people taking up climbing and many climbing walls being installed in schools and premises of uniformed organisations. However, for the past decade, due to the fact that the sport was relatively young both nationally and internationally, we did not have in place a set of national climbing standards or guidelines to help steer the sport.

What is rock climbing?

Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up or across natural rock formations or man-made rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route. It is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climber's strength, endurance, agility, and balance along with his or her mental control. It can be a dangerous sport and knowledge of proper climbing techniques and usage of specialized climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes.

Because of the wide range and variety of rock formations around the world rock climbing has been separated into several different styles and sub-disciplines:

Bouldering is undertaken without a rope and normally limited to very short climbs over a crash pad so that a fall will not result in serious injury. It is typically practiced on large natural boulders or artificial boulders in gyms and outdoor urban areas.

Top roping is a style in climbing in which a rope, used for the climber's safety, runs from a belayer at the foot of a route through one or more carabiners connected to an anchor system at the top of the route and back down to the climber, usually attaching to the climber by means of a harness.

Lead climbing is a climbing technique use to ascend a route. This technique involves a lead climber attaching themselves to a length of dynamic (stretchy) climbing rope and ascending a route whilst periodically attaching protection to the face of the route and "clipping in" to it. The lead climber must have another person acting as a belayer. The belayer has multiple roles: holding the rope in the event of a fall, and paying out or taking up rope as the climber moves.

These 3 different styles are the most commonly found, where the first 2 would be more appropriate for amateur climbers as they require less or no prior training.

What is needed for rock climbing?

ROPE

HARNESS

CLIMBING SHOES

HELMET

CHALK & CHALK BAG

Where to rock climb in singapore?

Climb Asia Climbing Centre Pte Ltd


60 Tessensohn Road
c/o: Civil Service Club
Singapore 217664
(65)

Tel:6292 7701


http://www.climb-asia.com

20m wide indoor climbing wall - 9m high; 9 lanes outdoor high wall - 15 meters; indoor bouldering cave

Opening hours:

Mondays

5pm - 11pm

(We are closed on Mondays for cleaning and maintenance. Open from 5pm onwards)

Tuesdays to Fridays

12noon - 11pm

Weekends and Public Holidays

10am - 9pm

Price:

Single entry

$12

Multiple Entries (for members only)
Weekdays (before 5pm): $6 per entry
All other times: $8 per entry
Minimum top-up: $24

Gear Rental:
Gear rental is also available for those who do not own or do not want to bring their own equipment.

My Adventure Center & Yishun Safra Climbing Centre


Safra Yishun
60 Yishun Ave 4
Singapore 769027


Tel: 6852 8200

http://www3.safra.sg/page.aspx?pageid=104

Largest climbing facility in Singapore with 1000 sq m of climbing and bouldering surface. It houses Singapore's largest outdoor climbing facility with walls ranging in heights of 15 to 25 metres, a free-form crack wall with two crack climbs of varying width and a chimney climb feature to simulate climbing on natural rocks. And also two floors of indoor bouldering.

Opening hours:

Mondays - Closed for maintenance
Tuesdays to Fridays - 0100pm to 0930pm(Non-school holidays)
Tuesdays to Fridays - 0900am to 0930pm (School holidays)
Saturdays, Sundays & Public Holidays - 0900am to 0530pm

Price:

15M CLIMBING WALLS
Weekdays : SAC Member S$4 / SAFRA Member & Students S$6 / Public S$11
Weekends & Public Holidays : SAC Member S$8 / SAFRA Member & Students S$10 / Public S$15

18-25M CLIMBING WALLS
Weekdays : SAC Member S$8 / SAFRA Member & Students S$9 / Public S$13
Weekends & Public Holidays : SAC Member S$8 / SAFRA Member & Students S$10 / Public S$15

INDOOR BOULDERING GYM
Weekdays : SAC Member S$9 / SAFRA Member & Students S$10 / Public S$14
Weekends & Public Holidays : SAC Member S$8 / SAFRA Member & Students S$10 / Public S$15


Climbers Laboratory


48, Toh Guan Road East, #05-153 Enterprise Hub
Singapore, 608586


Tel: 6515 9363


http://www.exponentasia.com.sg

Standing at 8 metres high, 15 metres long and 7 metres wide, a total of 28 climbing lanes awaits for you. Using the latest technology from T-Wall, we have builded this gym using the Triax system.

Opening Hours:

MONDAY - SATURDAY (1000 am - 1000 pm )

SUNDAY & PH ( 1000 am - 0700 pm )

Gear rental:

Gear rental is also available.

BorderX

181 Orchard Road, #04-22 Orchard Central, Singapore 238896

Tel: 65.6884.4870 Fax: 65.6884.4871

http://borderx.com.sg/

Get high on the world's tallest Via ferrata. The tallest climbing wall in Singapore, with a total of 30m vertical gain. The via ferrata routes weave across the wall, creating trips of different lengths and challenges. The climbing three sport climbing routes on site are 10m in height. If you want to try something different from the normal climbing, this is it!

So what are you waiting for? Come on down to Singapore and experience an adrenaline rush like never before!

Comment

Useful Links

Archives