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Joined: Sep 2000
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Is it a deal breaker that an island has no artificial climbing walls or whatever?
If that's so, you just might be barking up the wrong tree (no pun intended.)

Joined: May 2011
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Well Chris, I guess by now you get there isnt much in the way of verticals on the island, and not much interest in creating something. I'd just resign your yourself to (oh misery) traveing throught the jungles of Belize looking for virgin walls...heres an article that although isnt about climbing should give you some ideas about areas to check out...

http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/PDF/V58/V58N2-Day.pdf

or

A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest

Joined: Oct 2003
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Chris, its actually a very good idea for someone on the caye to install a rock climbing wall and even a zip line. Why not? Many people travel to the mainland for that, so it should do well out there


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Originally Posted by Katie Valk
Chris, its actually a very good idea for someone on the caye to install a rock climbing wall and even a zip line. Why not? Many people travel to the mainland for that, so it should do well out there

A good idea? I think not, yes, people go to the mainland to zip line because that's where the places to zip line are. Building something on AC would be a waste of time and money not to mention ugly.

Joined: Nov 2000
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I agree with Katie about building a climbing wall on the island, but before that is done, due diligence regarding demographic of travellers to the island must be done. There may be a few people living on the island now that would be happy to see a climbing wall, but probably not enough to make it a viable year round business.


A fish and a bird can fall in love, but where will they build their nest?

Joined: Oct 2004
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A rock climbing wall up the side of one of the taller buildings in town would be a pretty cool attraction.
Teaching the local kids proper climbing skills would give them something to do.
Local adult residents would have something else to do for recreation and exercise.
I would imagine a lot of tourists would give it a go also.

Joined: Dec 2008
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Originally Posted by Christopher D
Seriously this is not a joke- I have been to Ambergris Caye and didn't see anything there to climb! So I thought there had to be at least an artificial wall at a hotel or a limestone cave. I can't believe no one has started the artificial/ indoor business there! Any entrepeneurs want to build one out of wood with me?. Well thank you so much for answering my question!

Hey Chris! I was a serious climber for about five years, and now I live in San Pedro. I've built a number of climbing walls, and unlike a lot of posters on this board, know what kind of popular attractions they can be. There are a couple key considerations you should keep in mind though:

1. You'll need to import all the holds, and given how heavy they are, that could expensive pretty quickly. You could hypothetically fill a couple of suitcases with them, but even then you'd be fighting the airline weight limitations, and you'll have to pay duty on them as well.

2. You'll have to bring down all the bolts. The more specific the piece of hardware, the less likely it is that you'll find it down here. I haven't looked for those specific pieces, but you'd be better off just bringing them.

3. Location is the primary consideration. You'd probably want your wall to be in town, so you're the most accessible, but it might be a struggle to find a place where they'd let you build one. A better idea might be aligning yourself with a resort that embraces adventure -- somewhere like Xanadu Island Resort. If they were on board, they might be able to help you import everything as well. I've thought about building a small wall that hangs over the water, but even then you need a spot that's deep enough, and most areas within the reef are not.

4. You'd need to do a cost-benefit analysis. I think an idea like this could do really well during the high season, but then I think it would drop off steeply to being unprofitable during the slow season. You'd want to weight your time and expenses against potential financial benefits.

All that said, when people go on vacation (especially to the Caribbean), I think they want the safe version of an adventure, and I think a rock wall is just that. In that regard, I think it's a perfectly worthwhile idea.

And, like a couple people have already mentioned, there are great climbing opportunities on the mainland. If you're a serious climber, you may want to think about setting up shop on the mainland instead, and using Belize's natural rock faces instead of a simulated wall (though you'd likely need to contract a tour guide to accompany you on any climbing expeditions you held).

Anyway, hope that was helpful. That's any given message board question thread for ya: 60% jokes about drinking, 30% people telling you not to move here, 10% helpful responses.

Joined: Jun 2005
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Ben, you're so damn logical grin


I'm happier than a pig in s__t...a foot on the sand...and a Belikin in my hand!
Joined: Apr 2012
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Hey film maker Ben. Between my wife and I we have over 50 years of serious climbing experience. I started when I was 8, and she since her late teens.The climbing world is small enough that we may know each other. We do not live on San Pedro, but have a small home there, and come down often. I used to build the walls for the ESPN X-Games. We live in the "Gunks" now. What about you?

Joined: Apr 2012
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Chris D, sounds like you should just build a campus board to stay fit, and take trips to the states to shred once in a while. Stay away from the moss covered, chossy, limestone death gullies.

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