Well, an obvious idea really.

Just like those walking machines they have in gyms for people who don't like walking outside, have a vertically-mounted conveyer belt with hand and foot-holds attached to it which goes round fairly slowly, allowing people to climb up it.

No safety equipment required as you'd never be very far from the ground.

The machine could have something clever inside to rearrange the hand and foot-holds as they travel up the back of the belt or alternatively, the back side of the machine could be open for people who want to practice climbing down.

Only one interesting link for "Endless climbing wall" from Google. The song "No time this time" from Regatta de Blanc by The Police contains these words:

If I could, I'd slow the whole world down
I'd bring it to it's knees
I'd stop it spinning round
But as it is, I'm climbing up an endless wall

I think this is clearly what Sting meant.
-- hippo, Dec 28 2000

Endless swimming pool http://www.endlesspools.co.uk/index.html
[hippo, Feb 28 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

The Treadwall http://www.brewersledge.com
as a link [RayfordSteele, Oct 04 2004]

Jacob's Ladder http://images.onesh...0/01/jacobimage.jpg
there are warnings on this equipment re need to have very good level of cardio fitness to use [xenzag, Nov 10 2013]

However, would this provide the user with more than just exercise? To me the concept of climbing without ever arriving to the top would limit my motivation. But then again, I consider the stairmaster to be tantamount with Sisyphus forever pushing a rock up a hill.
-- RobGraham, Dec 28 2000


Baked. I forget the name of the place, but I once went to an indoor climbing wall that also had one of these. You could adjust both the speed and the inclination, but you couldn't move the hand/footholds.
-- nick_n_uit, Dec 28 2000


Rob: How about a tethered harness and a mechanism so that for every 10 feet of "wall" climbed, the wall would move down 9 feet and the user up 1 foot. Thus, climbing to the top of a 20 foot wall would require climbing about 140 feet (assuming the user's hands started 6 feet above the ground).
-- supercat, Dec 28 2000


Sounds like a great analogy for life, too.
-- Ander, Dec 28 2000


It's called the "TreadWall". It was invented YEARS ago during the beginning of the current climbing boom. I believe the original was made out of pressure-treated wood in Newton, MA, USA. Check out http://www.brewersledge.com/
-- mlengowski, Dec 29 2000


I have seen these on TV and think they are a great idea because I myself quite like climbing but I am utterly cursed because I have a fear of heights.

Buggered or what?!
-- chud, Dec 29 2000


That "Treadwall" is exactly what I meant.
-- hippo, Jan 02 2001


Just couldn't resist adding the "Endess Swimming Pool" link. Halfbaked or what?
-- hippo, Feb 28 2002


Well from the date of his last anno, it appears as though [hippo] has discovered time-travel and is holding out on us.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 10 2013


[2fries] ?
-- hippo, Nov 11 2013


Ah, no - I was referring to [mlengowski]'s annotation (Dec 29, 2000) which had a URL in it. [RayfordSteele] must have seen this in 2004 and public-spiritedly added it as a link. I am not Benjamin Button, living my life backwards.
-- hippo, Nov 11 2013


Great.
Now I have to call off the surveillance team working over-time on Rememberance day no less... and they already don't like me much.

It's going to be a long Monday.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 11 2013



random, halfbakery