I've been mulling over building a climbing wall in our attic for a little while to help improve my technique, and now seems like as good a time as any to get going if we're going to be on lockdown.
The height of our joists in the attic means it'd have to be a wall for traversing - which is basically what I want anyway, I really enjoy the technical nature of traverses. We've got about 2.20m to play with.
My main question is do I go for vertical or slightly tilted? The traversing wall at my local bouldering wall is vertical but every online guide suggests tilting - but the guides all seem to be aimed at building narrow but taller walls.
If I go for vertical, what do people recommend in terms of construction? Could I just bolt the ply straight to the stone wall (it's an internal wall) or should I build a timber frame regardless? And if it's vertical some UKC threads suggest 12mm ply would be OK rather than 18mm - any thoughts on this?
Thanks.
Few thoughts. I did this a while back.
Are the structures in your attic strong enough to take the forces involved? In a lot of houses they aren't, or aren't designed to take forces in the direction you're going to be applying them. Don't underestimate the amount of weight, especially once you're on it pulling hard.
I would go for slightly tilted - it will give you a bit more height overall if you think about it, plus a better core and forearm workout.
12mm ply will be fine, although it may flex slightly depending on your method of attachment. I'd opt for some timber framing.
Presumably you're using t-nuts so you can swap holds around?
When I did mine in a garage, I doubled up the joists to strengthen them before starting, which was probably overkill, but the structure was bombproof in the end.
martinhutch - it's a big old Victorian house and the beams are big. Bigger than in a modern house. Also, given that it's in an attic, I was going to try and avoid setting routes that will be hard enough to risk big falls. I'll measure the joists tonight.
I intend to use t-nuts on a grid so I can have a bit of variety, set a new route every month or so.
I built this in the back garden a few years ago - it's at an angle of 40 degrees which is too much. I'd say no more than 20 degrees, otherwise it's too much when you start with minimal warm up. You probably wouldn't just want flat, as it'd be very boring.
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If you start with slightly tilted, you can screw on wood volumes to adjust the actual move angle and make use of smaller holds. Using a vertical 'kickboard' for footholds for the first six inches of height also makes setting much easier.
As far as 'big falls' go, unless you are setting heel hook moves, then in most cases it will be a controlled stepping-off on a slightly overhanging wall.
Buy the screw-in t-nuts. Loose ones are a PITA once the board is up.
I built ours in the garage and had a mix of vertical, roof and tilted.
if you only have one option or limited space then go for tilted as it gives more of a work out.
make sure your loft floor supports are strong enough as if you fall off from the top of the wall the last thing you want is to go through the ceiling
I built this in the back garden a few years ago
The risk of falling off onto that kettlebell must add some incentive to stick the hard moves.
Luckily i've put down some celotex to absorb the fall 😀
A wall like this is useful for building up strength (which is why it needs to be overhanging) but technique is something you really learn climbing outdoors (get yourself up to Salisbury crags south quarry after the park rangers have gone home 5.30pm ish).
Your slates weigh several tons, I wouldn't worry about loading on the rafters.
I would love to do this in our garden when I am feeling up to it. I have been indoor climbing and bouldering for a number of years and this looks a great way of building something at home.
Before I go on a crazy google search, are there any great resources I could use? Also, some recommendations for good quality holds and fittings would be appreciated. My precious purchases in this area have been limited to ropes, harnesses and shoes.
Make it adjustable by using hinges at the top and a chain or chains back to a hook from the bottom. Do a lap, step off, shorten the chain by one link. Do a lap. repeat. Surprising just how soon that "reasonable" hold becomes anything but.
Ebay for holds unless you get lucky and find a climbing wall emptying out.
chuck them in the dishwasher and they clean up a treat
Mine from 20 years ago! All
The bits in the garage, time to rebuild in daughters room! Great call!
Used to train (a long time ago) on a 50 degree board in a warehouse cellar, it was brutal. Total board was about 4m long from memory so with sit starts you could put together some fairly desperate problems. Great times and got immensely strong though didn’t translate all that well to routes as was running out of gas on anything of any length!
Anyway, some general guidance on board building here on Moonboard https://www.moonboard.com/how-to-build-your-moonboard
to help improve my technique,
It won't do much for technique but will let you get strong enough that technique doesn't matter so much!
Definitely make it overhang, c20 degrees and just go with big jugs to start. You'll see a lot that are steeper but they're usually for those already climbing pretty hard.
+1 for overhanging, it increases the length of the climbing surface and you will be surprised how quickly you adapt to the angle.
If you genuinely want to improve, my advice is to buy or make small & crap foot holds, smaller than you think. It will help improve foot work and improve core strength.
Increasing the angle over time is also a good shout, I had hinges on my set up, the only issue is it may require a bit of additional building if you want to maximise the length of climbing surface with each angle change.
For building advice, have a look at www.metoliusclimbing.com where they have download able guide on building a home wall.
When I built mine (about 30 years and 3 houses ago) I got lots of plywood sheets from a theatre that was throwing away stage sets after their panto was finished. Had some vertical and some overhanging sections. Very rewarding and good fun to build but got bored of it after a year or so. To me, climbing is a social thing...........
climbing is a social thing………..
Me too. Luckily, my children and wife started bouldering some time ago and also a few friends who will come over.
I have an L-shaped space tucked away that can go up to about 2.75m with a short side of 2m length and a long side of 3m. Should be big enough to create some interesting problems.
Technique is largely about body positioning which is largely about footwork. Outdoors you use the foothold that's in the right place (however poor), on a wall you develop the strength to use wrongly positioned footholds but don't learn how to use for feet to take the strain off your arms (on routes you spend far more time hanging on than doing moves) . It's surprising how few really strong wall climbers make top notch outdoor ones.
Where do you buy the holds?
My father in law has been climbing all his life and attached lots of holds around the archway leading into his kitchen about 15 years ago 🙂 An early 20s me was well impressed!
It’s surprising how few really strong wall climbers make top notch outdoor ones.
Definitely this. When I started climbing there where around five or six walls the whole country. Richard Dunn’s in Bradford, Guiseley, Mile End and a few others. You got your technique outdoors, mostly on grit for me, and only went indoors when conditions were shit. I remember when the Foundry opened in Sheffield and driving down from Bradford and being totally blown away, there was nothing else like it in the country.
Roll forward 30ish years and got talking to a lad down the wall recently who’s been climbing a couple of years and never been outside. Madness.
I’ve been indoor climbing for a few months as a place just opened 5 mins walk from me. Really convenient & great socially as it’s always really busy (closed at the mo obviously!) Might go climbing outdoors at some point, might not. Doesn’t really interest me at the moment. If I’m going to go to the faff of doing an outdoorsy trip it’s probably gonna be biking related.Roll forward 30ish years and got talking to a lad down the wall recently who’s been climbing a couple of years and never been outside. Madness.
I find a bouldering trip outside is probably less faff than a biking trip. Just chuck the matts in the car, drive to nearest spot and go bouldering for an hour or two. No washing bike, mechanical maintenance.
Where’s your local wall @zilog6128? Happy to recommend some good outdoor venues if that helps.
In answer to where to buy holds, I'd look on either Rock and Run or Bananafingers website if buying new, or perhaps contact some walls (if you can get a reply now) and see if they have any old holds they're prepared to sell.
Did munrobiker ever build his wall?
Lots of reminiscing going on about the old days. Do many of you guys still climb?
Mine is still in parts under a groundsheet in the garden.
Might be a bit cold to start putting it together. I built one in middle of lockdown for my daughter which has a been a godsend. With the new lockdown it really does help having the ability to just go in the garage for a few hours and burn some energy
Did munrobiker ever build his wall?
He did, you can trawl through the pages of the exercise 100 days til christmas 2020 thread, will guess it's in the latter half.
I'm fairly sure that he did built it....I'm sure he posted pictures of it in the 100 day exercise thread. I'm inspired to build a home bouldering wall myself now! Not climbed in 18 months....managled my heal after missing my mat in August 2019. Took until early 2020 to get anything like back to normal, then Covid struck.
Need to get back on it. Suspect at best I’ll be climbing in the 5’s to start again but was getting close to 7a or thereabouts about 18 months to 2 years ago. There’s still a load of great problems in the Peak I want to get ticked but hard to motivate myself when climbing on my own, much easier to go with someone who’s stronger and get psyched by them making things look easy. That’s what did it for me when I was a lot younger.
Thanks guys, i will check out his posts in a non stalker fashion.
We concentrated too hard on training in early lockdown. It really did effect her enjoyment. Now the wall is much more of a haven to get away and just burn some energy doing the one exercise she loves. We can train and catch up later, at the moment its important for everyone to just get some enjoyment out of exercise. I bet cyclists, fun & competitive have been in a similar situation
