Head Rush Technologies’ TRUBLUE is the world’s best auto belay, ideally suited for college and university climbing facilities. They serve as an integral part of any climbing wall and are a great way to encourage beginning climbers and provide training opportunities for students to climb without a partner.
Texas A&M Rec Sports partnered with TRUBLUE to enhance their climbing wall experience. Jason Kurten, the Director of Outdoor Adventure at Texas A&M University, shares his experience working with the company.
How did you first hear about TRUBLUE and why did you decide to partner with them?
JK: I have been climbing for about 20 years and running our climbing program for about 16. Since the early days there has been some form of auto-belay around, but the ones that were coming out originally were spring-loaded and had a lot of maintenance associated with them and in some cases were un-reliable. So when TRUBLUE came out a friend of mind told me about them at a conference and then one of their representatives came on a speaking tour and had these demo units. He came by and dropped off a unit for us to use. We tried it out for a little bit and I asked him some questions about how to manage it, what issues they had and it seemed like a really elegant and simple unit. The install was easy and the maintenance too. We started asking our participants how they liked it and the response was very positive. They really loved it. It fit this really cool niche of climber for a very specific need that we had. They used it and they liked it and so we bought a few more.
What are the benefits to the rec center as a result of the partnership?
JK: There is a financial benefit to the facility because now with the three auto-belays right next to each other, if I have a birthday party with a bunch of kids coming in, one instructor can take care of three kids simultaneously. Instead of one-on-one it is one-on-three. So it increases my client to instructor ratio. Now, instead of having to hire four people to work a birthday party, I might only have to hire three. So it saves me a little money and makes the programming a little more efficient.
What are the benefits to the students?
JK: One is convenience to our climbers. Most the time climbing is a partnership sport. You come in with a partner — they belay you and you belay them. But there are times when you are strapped for time and it is really convenient for one climber by themselves to come into the facility, have me or my staff clip them in and then they can go up and down the wall a few times. It takes about half the time it normally does because they are not having to stop and belay someone else. They can also get a continuous workout, so they can lengthen the intensity and time of their workout.
What else can you tell recreation professionals about the benefits of working with TRUBLUE?
JK: These units need to be refurbished once a year, but that process is super-efficient. You take the unit down, put it in the box the it came in, put a shipping label on it, ship it off to the company. Then it comes back a few weeks later, you can put it back up and it is ready to go. There is not a lot of complexity to the process which is nice.
For more information visit at www.headrushtech.com.
