A “New” Wall for a New Year: Ten Quick Ways to Refresh the Traverse Wall® Experience

A new year marks a new beginning and it’s the perfect time to offer novel experiences for your climbers. Here are ten easy ways to refresh your Traverse Wall® or the way you use it with your climbers. It’s a great way to kick of 2026!

1.      Rotate or Move your Hand Holds

Our hand holds are versatile and designed to be used from all sides. Some positions are easier than others to grasp. Using the installation instructions and Allen wrench that came with your climbing wall, one by one, loosen some hand holds and rotate them 45 – 180 degrees. Play around with the options you get when you rotate the holds and once you choose a new position, tighten the holds. You can also move the location of some holds to add new challenges. Check out this past blog post for tips on installing hand holds for even more ideas.

2.      Try Partner Climbing

This protocol creates pairs – one climbing and one offering support. The non-climbing partner follows nearby and reminds the climber of the safety rules and offers verbal assistance or encouragement during the climbing wall activity. They take turns climbing. It’s a great way to enhance team building and communication skills with your youth. More details about partner climbing can be found here.

3.      Change Sides or Start in the Middle of the Traverse Wall®

Vary where you have climbers start their climb. Sometimes start activities from the left side, with climbers climbing to the right. Other times start activities from the right side, with climbers moving to the left. This challenges participants to lead with different sides of the body. You can also start activities in the middle of your climbing wall and have climbers move to each end.

4.      How Low Can You Go?

Climbers tend to want to climb as high as possible, even on a Traverse Wall®. Encourage your climbers to climb low, as low as they can go, while still remaining on the wall. This will challenge them in new ways, even if the activity is a familiar one.

5.      Try New Activities

The best way to add variety to the climbing experience is by trying new activities with your climbers. Use the search bar on our website and search “activities” for all the fun climbing wall activities that we have shared over the years. We also offer an on-demand webinar with 30 activities titled 30 in 30: 30 Traverse Wall® Activities in 30 Minutes that will introduce you to some great climbing wall games and activities.

6.      Invite Guests to Climb!

It’s always fun for climbers to see the adults in their lives experiencing the climbing wall. Invite parents, teachers or administrators to climb! Your climbers can even be in charge of explaining safety rules and the activity of the day to their guest climbers.

7.      Reflect & Share

At the end of a climbing session, save a few minutes to discuss the experience. Ask one question and allow a few minutes for climbers to reflect, share and discuss. Here are some possible questions:

• What was your favorite part about climbing today?
• What was the hardest part about the climbing activity?
• Describe a feeling you had on the climbing wall today. How did it help or hinder your climbing?
• If you had a chance to do the activity again, what would you do differently?
• What part did teamwork play in climbing today?

8.      Use the Climbing Wall in Sections

Instead of using your entire climbing wall for an activity, divide it into sections and have partners or small groups use each section simultaneously. You can mark the sections with tape on the climbing wall or with soft cones on the mats. One 4’x8’ section is great for partner activities like Twister®. Sections of two or three panels can be used with small groups for activities such as Add On.

9.      Set Goals

Encourage your climbers to set and work towards specific goals. Some examples include:

• Traverse the length of the climbing wall using only yellow hand holds.
• Use hand holds that are lower and/or higher than I would usually use (keeping feet below the red line).
• Give positive feedback and encouragement to my fellow climbers at least 3 times a climbing session.

You can get more goal setting ideas from this previous blog post.

10.  Infuse Positive thinking into Your Program

Add inspirational and positive messaging on or near your Traverse Wall to encourage climbers to succeed and support each other. You can post signs such as “Stay Strong!” and “Never Give Up!” Encourage climbers to be positive towards each other and themselves. This past blog post provides more detail.