Gym Rules

1Before you climb

• Sign the waiver. Every climber, once — and again only if we update the wording, which we'll tell you about first. Under 18s need a parent or legal guardian to do it for them. Sign it here.
• Do the induction. Everyone does it before their first climb — it takes a few minutes and runs on the hour and half-hour all day. It's not a formality; how you fall is the single biggest thing between you and an injury.
• Check in at the desk. Every visit, every time, even if you're a member with a wallet pass. If there's ever a fire, that list is how we know who's in the building.
• Warm up. Cold fingers and cold shoulders are how people tear things. Start easy.
• Don't climb if you shouldn't. Affected by alcohol or drugs, injured, unwell, or carrying an open wound — sit this one out.

2Falling is the sport

The mats reduce how hard you land. They do not make landing safe. Most injuries here will happen on the way down, not on the way up.

• Look before you drop. Check the mat below you is clear — of people, bags, water bottles and small children — every single time.
• Downclimb when you can. Climbing down from halfway is better for you than jumping from halfway. The tops of our problems are meant to be topped out or downclimbed, not leapt off.
• Land on your feet, bend your knees, roll if you need to. Don't put a hand out to break your fall — that's how wrists break.
• Never climb directly above or below another climber. If someone's on the wall, wait or go elsewhere.
• Move away from the wall after you land. The landing zone is not a resting spot.
• Climb within your ability. There's no shame in stepping off a move you're not sure about. The problem will still be there next week.

3Sharing the mats

• Don't sit, stand or lie on the matting under the walls. Rest on the benches or in the lounge. A person sitting on a mat is a landing zone hazard, and gets landed on.
• Bags, bottles, phones and shoes stay off the mats. Use the cubbies. Landing on a drink bottle rolls an ankle just as well as landing badly does.
• Take turns. If someone's working a problem, let them finish their go. If you're working a project, let people through between attempts.
• Give people space. Watching from a few metres back is fine. Standing right under someone isn't.
• Kids stay off the mats when they're not climbing. Same rule as adults, and it matters more.

4Kids and supervision

Kids are genuinely welcome here — a big part of why we built the place. These rules are conditions of entry, and they're conditions of a youth membership too, not just guidelines.

• Supervising means watching. If you're the supervising adult and you leave the floor, your child stops climbing until you're back.
• In a coached class, our coaches supervise the climbing — but a parent or guardian stays on site for climbers under 13.
• Our staff will ask a child to stop if they're climbing unsupervised, and will come and find you. We'd rather have that awkward conversation than the other one.

How we look after children here more broadly — Blue Cards, coach screening, photography, and how to raise a concern — is set out in our Child Safety policy.

5Shoes, clothing and gear

• Climbing shoes are required to climb. Not socks, not bare feet, not runners. Hire a pair for $5 if you don't have your own — free with any membership.
• Wear something you can move in. Activewear is ideal. Jeans and work gear will stop you doing half the moves.
• Take off rings, watches and dangly jewellery. A ring caught on a hold degloves a finger. This is not a hypothetical.
• Tie long hair back, and keep loose drawstrings and hoods under control.
• Keep chalk on your hands and off the floor. Chalk balls and liquid chalk are best. Brush your tick marks off when you're done with a problem.
• No headphones on the mats. You need to hear someone shout "below!".

6Looking after the place

• Tell us about loose or spinning holds straight away — don't just avoid it and move on. Same for damaged matting, a gap between mats, or anything that doesn't look right.
• Don't climb on a taped-off or under-construction section. If it's marked, it's closed.
• Don't move, adjust or remove holds or volumes. That's the setters' job.
• Water only on the mats. Food, coffee and anything else stays in the café and lounge.
• Clean up after yourself. Chalk, tape, bottles, kids' bits and pieces.
• No smoking or vaping anywhere on site. No alcohol or illegal drugs on the premises.
• No animals, other than assistance animals, which are always welcome.

7Being good company

This is the bit that decides whether the gym is somewhere people want to be.

• Everyone's welcome here — every body, every age, every level, every background. Harassment, discrimination and abuse get you removed, permanently.
• Don't give unsolicited beta or coaching. Working it out is the point. If someone wants help they'll ask, and then it's a lovely thing to give.
• Ask before you film. Plenty of people don't want to be in the background of a video, and the gym is full of kids. If you're filming your own project, that's fine — just be aware of who else is in frame.
• Follow staff directions. If someone on shift asks you to do something, there's a reason, and you can ask what it is afterwards.
• Be patient with beginners. You were one on a Tuesday not that long ago.

8When something goes wrong

• Any injury, tell the front desk — even a minor one, even if you're fine and heading home. We record every incident, and that record is what tells us if a particular problem or landing zone keeps hurting people.
• Our staff are first-aid trained. Let them help, even if it's embarrassing.
• If it's serious, we call an ambulance. We'll contact your emergency contact if you can't.
• If you see someone else get hurt, tell a staff member rather than assuming they've seen it.
• Spills, broken glass, a hold that's just snapped — tell us immediately and stay clear until it's dealt with.

9How we enforce this

Nine times out of ten this is a friendly word from whoever's on shift, and that's the end of it.

Where it's more serious, or where it keeps happening, we can ask you to leave for the day, cancel your membership, or ban you from the gym. We do that under clause 3 of our Terms & Conditions and clause 15 of our Membership Terms, and we'll always tell you why.

Think we've got it wrong? Say so — email info@gripswich.au and we'll look at it properly. How we handle complaints is in clause 16 of our Terms & Conditions.