Well, since you all have different approaches, it would be interesting to see these been taken a little bit further, so that the best way can be determined. Then you can combine forces over this best practice 
I am looking forward to trying all these. Does any one know how these will look in FPS? Will it be too cramped for any real overview of your climbing situation, and will you have to make your own (and distorted/stretched) animations/meshes specific for player, so that everything looks good, both form multiplayer and first person view?