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UPDATED: Rad Backyard Calgary Climbing Wall Must Come Down

UPDATE: “The wall has been saved!” was written on Calgary Climbing Centre’s Facebook. “Parties involved were able to come to a new agreement that worked. Annika is a dedicated young athlete that trains on our Youth Team at the Stronghold location.”

Annika Poffenroth is a 15-year-old Calgary climber who has competed in a number of provincial competitions. Her father, Steve, built her a solid backyard bouldering wall, but his insurance won’t cover it. Steve paid a contractor $3,000 to build the 3.5-metre wall. “I guess I was naive to think that I would get a rider added — similar to if I had added a home hot tub or something like that — and potentially pay an extra $10 or $20 a month for insurance,” Steve told CBC.

His insurance company Canadian Direct Insurance informed him that it will terminate his policy this month. Other insurance companies will cover the wall, but his home insurance will double. Watch Annika on her home wall below.

New route on the wall. Working on the crimps! @gopro #gopro #homewall

A video posted by Annika Poffenroth (@annika_poff) on

“I’ve never had any insurance company tell me how this would be any different than insuring a swimming pool or a trampoline or a tree house in their backyard,” Steve said. “At the end of the day, I’m not quite understanding how this is any more dangerous or implies any more liability than any one of those things.”

Many climbers have walls built on their properties, but they likely don’t inform insurance companies. The opportunity to train at home is a bid advantage for climbers. With so many walls out there, it’s surprising that Steve Kee, an Insurance Bureau of Canada spokesperson, said, “I have never heard of someone talk about installing a climbing wall. So, I’m sure that this is something that is rare, but with any activity that may have some risky or higher risk behaviour, insurance companies take that into consideration.”

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported there are over 3,500 drownings a year in backyard swimming pools in America. We have never heard of a death on a home climbing wall. On Instagram, the #homewall lets climbers show off their indoor and backyard bouldering walls. One of the most famous home training systems of late is the crack cellar, which you can watch a clip about below.

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