For many years climbing gyms have used the same combination of open-cell urethane, polybond or rebond foam under a carpet-bonded top layer in roped climbing areas. In a short period of time, these floors become wavy and lumpy, creating tripping hazards and looking generally unsightly. This is due to the fact that the top and bottom layers expand, contract, compress and wear at different rates. Carpet-bonded surface products tend to disfigure and degrade so quickly and drastically because they are designed to be placed directly onto a firm surface (usually concrete slab) rather than on the commonly softer sublayments of open-cell or rebond foam historically utilized in most commercial climbing gyms. In this combination, the base layer is the problem; it breaks down and becomes unstable, causing the layer above it to do the same.
BETTER BASE. As with all of our flooring products, we have spent months and years experimenting, testing and innovating alternative options that will outperform and outlast the previously accepted “norm”. We are proud to introduce our exclusive F-80 Flooring System, which includes an extremely stable base layer that carries a 10-year warranty, and in combination with a 1.25” carpet-bonded foam top layer has an ASTM Head Impact Rating of 10.7’ (ASTM F-1292-13). Additionally, the F-80 layers are not glued together so the top layer can be easily replaced while the base layer is preserved for many years. Base layer interlocking 6’x4’x2” panels are lightweight and easy to install, making this product ideal for faster, lower strain self-installation. Best of all, F-80 is highly price-competitive with the typical roped flooring options available from other flooring providers. This system is available to the climbing industry exclusively from Futurist.
BETTER AESTHETIC. Who says floors can’t be sexy? We recently took our roped area flooring one step further with a bi-color curved pattern at Momentum Indoor Climbing in Sandy, UT. Using laser projection technology we can dimensionalize and pre-cut the top carpet layer to create patterns in multiple colors – lending a clean, modern, professional aesthetic to the facility. Momentum’s black sections also serve as an intuitive “walkway” through the climbing areas, keeping walking traffic naturally segregated from climbers and belayers.
We invite you to visit our gallery to see images of our recent F-80 installations, and feel free to give us a call or inquire through our website to learn more about this advanced flooring option.
Momentum chose black and white curves to make their flooring look as sexy as their Walltopia walls.
Adventure Rock put in over 4,000sf of F-80 in their Milwaukee location, and will be installing over 3,000sf in their Brookfield location in November.
First Ascent chose F-80 for the roped areas in their Avondale location in Chicago.
Additional facilities with F-80 installations:
Approach Climbing Gym
Bliss Bouldering & Climbing
Climb Lafayette
Rock Climb Fairfield
Climb Iowa
Skynest
