A reach for safe climbing rules

EVERETT -- At heights of up to 45 feet, with ropes and rocks galore, the artificial climbing walls at MetroRock in Everett are a dream for people who want to climb a mountain, at least a small one indoors.

But, with as many as 1,000 climbing walls in community centers, schools, and private gyms around Massachusetts, state public safety officials are alarmed by the potential for accidents, and they will hold a hearing today on a proposal to regulate the walls by requiring owners to get annual licenses and pass regular inspections.

"This is an unregulated industry that in the interest of public safety needs to have some regulation and oversight," said Kelly Nantel, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety. "We feel that it's an accident waiting to happen."

Currently, regulators have no firm sense of how many accidents have occurred on the climbing walls, because the operators don't have to report accidents to the state. The operators insist their walls are safe, though one academic who has studied the walls says that the risks stems not from falls -- the climbers are suspended by ropes -- but by straining muscles from overexertion on the strenuous courses and climbs.

In 2005, 24-year-old Saugus native Stacy Sarrette died of a head injury after falling from a climbing wall at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield. Industry officials point out that wall was inflatable and not the type commonly found attached to a wall at many community centers and gyms.

Climbing walls in Massachusetts have become increasingly popular in recent years, as the Olympic-recognized sport of rock climbing spreads to everyday people who want the thrill of climbing a minimountain. (Competitive climbing is not an Olympic event, but it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and administered internationally by organizations that abide by the Olympic Charter.) A handful of other states have also sought to regulate the walls, annoying industry officials, who complain they are being lumped in with amusement park rides by state regulators eager to expand their reach.

Under the regulations, owners of the walls would have to obtain annual licenses, pay a $25 annual fee, pass inspections, and obtain insurance. The regulations also call for some criminal background checks, training, and regular maintenance. The regulation would also apply to so-called Challenge Courses, which are rigorous obstacle courses that often also include climbing walls.

At MetroRock, where a regular day pass is $16, climber Matt Hebert of Brookline said Wednesday that common sense and coverage by insurance companies offer enough protection. "You walk a fine line between enough regulation to be safe," Hebert said, "and too much that it becomes a hassle."

The Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center in Newton erected a 30-foot wall in 1999, and Bryan McCormick, the wall's director, said he doesn't think regulations would be such a bad thing. "It depends how much the state listens to the professionals," McCormick said. "If they listen to the community, they can be a good thing. It will bring more professionalism to the industry."

But some industry observers warn that the regulations could drive up costs for the operators and encourage lawsuits, because the new insurance requirement would guarantee a payout in a successful personal injury suit. "What you're telling them is, if someone gets hurt in a climbing gym, there's going to be money," said Miles Hoisington, a climber and lawyer based in Westport, who still sees a need for some regulation.

If the regulations are adopted, Massachusetts would become the only state to actively regulate indoor climbing walls as amusement devices. A similar regulatory system was adopted in New Jersey in 2004, but last month a judge ruled against the state, concluding that the New Jersey Rock Gym couldn't be considered a "carnival-amusement ride."

Bill Zimmermann, executive director of the Climbing Wall Association in Boulder, Colo., said he feels that the Department of Public Safety is misinterpreting the term amusement device.

"There's a fundamental difference between a rider at an amusement park and a participant in a recreational sport," Zimmermann said. "I find the whole argument, the whole impulse to regulate rather reactive."

The climbing wall rules were proposed as part of the department's overall effort to increase inspections after three fatal accidents on amusement devices in the past three years. In 2004, two men died on high-speed rides in Agawam and Shrewsbury. In the case of the 2005 death at the Tweeter Center, the state settled with the Danvers amusement company, Just for Fun, which agreed to suspend the use of all inflatable devices 12 feet or taller for the remainder of its license, which was to expire in 2006.

Last summer, when the state first held a hearing on the proposed regulations, about 100 people attended to object. After a June hearing, the state delayed the matter until this month, and Zimmermann planned to again be in attendance for today's hearing, scheduled for 10 a.m. at One Ashburton Place in Boston.

Over the past few months, Nantel said the Department of Public Safety has made some changes in the proposal after hearing from the climbing industry, including Zimmermann and Pat Enright, the owner of two of the state's biggest indoor rock walls. Enright's first gym, called MetroRock, opened in Everett in 2004. He opened a second facility last year in Newburyport.

"They realized they had no idea what they were talking about," Enright said. "Right now they've got a proposed statute that we [climbers] wrote."