Oh the great tape debate…
Tape? Photo: Kyle Rurak
Or No Tape?
As I am sure you have all noticed we have been slowly getting rid of the tape at Base5 – This was a big decision, that didn’t come lightly, it came from a lot of discussion and consideration and ultimately we settled on trying it out. Below I have listed a pros and cons list for both tape and tapeless set-ups!
My biggest motivation is the efficiency and cost effectiveness of going tapeless. The tape we use at Base5 equates to about $3000 a year – which I know isn’t a massive expense, but it is $3000 we could spend on new holds and wall improvements. Not using tape also means the crew can work about twice as fast, this means that we can provide you guys with more routes every week with all our extra time!
This is the second time I have done this at a climbing gym and it is always a hard adjustment – old hold stock means the shades of each colour don’t match, certain colours only have a hand ful of jugs, limiting where you can use these colours, but you need to trust that these are all just growing pains. We are trying to move the Base5 setting program into the future, and one of the ways to run the program most efficiently is by nixing the tape.
What we can say is that we are doing everything we can to make it as “pain-less” as possible, we are planning several large hold orders to fill in our weaker colours and get closer matches on the shades. We are moving things around to avoid classic “bad matches” like red on top of orange, or purple on top of blue – and we are trying our hardest to keep our ears to the ground and listen to what the members are saying.
Even though we know this change is hard – bare with us, it is for the best!
Base5 Setting 