CULTURE WATCH : Stuck Inside? Just Go Climb a Wall

Climbing the walls in anticipation of summer? Many people do.

In recent years, climbing has become a popular outdoor sport, but now indoor climbing walls are gaining ground.

Generally made of fiberglass, the walls mimic outdoor climbing’s rock faces with hand- and footholds, chimneys and overhangs. Holds can be strategically placed to require climbing moves from beginning skill levels to sophisticated, seemingly impossible moves. However, climbers’ safety remains paramount.

Increasingly, climbing walls can be found throughout Southern California. The REI outdoor sports store in Northridge claims the area’s tallest wall at 35 feet. The 16-foot wall in REI’s Carson store boasts four faces, two with overhangs. At A-16 in Costa Mesa, the 18-foot wall has two faces and small overhangs. Murietta’s “Rock Climbing Gym”--Rock & Roll--has a 24-foot wall.

Whether indoor or outdoor, the physical and psychological challenges of climbing take total concentration and require strength, balance and agility.

In Europe, climbing on artificial walls has been a popular sport for years. Sport climbers, as they are known, compete for prize money and earn celebrity status.

In the United States, however, sport climbing has generated considerable controversy with traditional rock climbers, who will argue that nothing compares with the challenge of a rock face.