For those seeking the ultimate challenge say hello to Grand Canyon’s Rock Wall

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Rock climbers from around the world flock to the Grand Canyon, and the reasons why are apparent to anyone who’s gazed upon the intricate, natural rock formations found at the park. They’re simply begging to be climbed, and thrill-seeking climbers can’t resist the beautiful scenery, challenging climbs, and constant thrill of danger and discovery. Soon, thanks to climbing wall creators Rockwerx, residents of Arizona will be able to enjoy the charms and challenges of the canyon’s gorgeous rocky walls in downtown Phoenix – but only for a very limited time. Read on for details about the wall, its construction, and where to go to try it out yourself.

The Grand Canyon Experience, a painstakingly created rock-climbing wall designed to harness the canyon’s natural beauty and challenge, will be the focus of the 12-square-block Verizon Super Bowl Central festival. Including a 20-foot waterfall to simulate the Colorado River and a massive 18-foot LED screen, the wall will be climbable to anyone over 6, but before we go over the times, dates, and cost of this attraction, we have a few facts about the wall that we found interesting.

  • The wall is dotted with roughly 400 hand and foot holds, each color-coordinated to provide varying levels of difficulty. For those seeking the ultimate challenge, the wall itself will be climbable to those skilled enough to scale it.
  • The 20-foot waterfall and 18-foot LED screen are both new innovations made by Rockwerx in partnership with Production Research Group, a New York company that teamed up with Rockwerx for this project.
  • The waterfall itself will be circulating about 3,000 gallons of water with pumps (and a little help from gravity).
  • To truly capture the textures and rocks found in the Grand Canyon, real sandstone mold were used to create the rock wall in incredible detail and authenticity.
  • The structure, including the water circulated, weighs nearly 100 tons. In pounds, that’s close to 200,000 pounds or the equivalent of over 14 fully-loaded Hummer H2s.
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The rock wall’s construction required over six months of planning and three months of actual fabrication, but after all of the components were designed and manufactured, the structure took only two days to re-assemble in Phoenix.

The creators of the rock wall are tight-lipped about how much, in total, this incredibly ambitious project cost, but considering the quality and authenticity of the wall, it’s safe to assume that you couldn’t reproduce it with some loose change. While we don’t know how much the wall cost to build, we do know how much it will cost you to try it out for yourself, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Anyone over the age of 6 can pay $5 to attempt to climb the wall, and that $5 cost includes everything you need. There are no separate rental fees for equipment. The wall has already been available for a few days at the time of writing, but here is a complete list of dates and times to reference if you’re planning on taking a trip down to the wall.

Wednesday, January 28th to Friday, January 30th, the wall will be open from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Saturday, January 31st, the wall will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Sunday, February 1st, the wall will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The wall will be located at the intersection of First and Jefferson in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, so take a trip on down, climb the wall, and enjoy the festival! This wall is a true taste of the Grand Canyon National Park, so don’t miss your chance to give it a try! If you could climb anywhere in the world, where would you go? Let us know in the comments section below!