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wandt
Jan 6, 2001, 9:35 PM
Post #1 of 4
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Registered: Jun 3, 2000
Posts: 341
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Hey,
I\'m glad to see folks getting into climbing. Building a home climbing wall is cool, and its nice to have at home, but its a big commitment. It takes time to do right, safely and still make it fun. It also takes money. A lot of money. I built a small bouldering wall under my back porch. Its about 8\' high by 8\' wide and overhangs at about 35 degrees. It did wonders for my climbing. But by the same token, it cost $500+ (Canadian funds, probably $300+ US) including 50 holds. Check out www.pusher.com, under training. They\'ll most likely have a link. Also the Metolus website and the unarved-block website. The uncarved-block one is very seductive, as it gives easy, step-by-step instructions and ready blue-prints as well as an online forum that lets people post routes so you can climb others\' works too. Watch out, though, the wall is 45 degrees overhanging (DAMN steep), you have to buy the uncarved block holds for the routes to mean anything to you, and most of the routes are V4 (5.11d) or harder.
Lets say you commit the funds and decide to build a wall. Find a god place to put it. Somewhere with good ventilation. Breathing chalk is not especially healthy. Next, try to decide on what sort of overhang you\'ll do. A vertical wall is good for climbing on for a long time, but about as interesting as a Microeconomics lecture. Steep overhangs make for cool moves and a larger climbing area (consult the pythagosomethingorother theorum for an explanation) but also mean that you can\'t climb for as long (unless you\'re a mega-hardman) and your choices for holds are limited. You can pretty much kiss most slopers and real crimpy edges goodbye.
To get around this problem it is possible to build a wall with an adjustable overhang. Its not easy, though, and it can\'t be big. Also, the wear and tear on the hinges mean that the wall will often be closed due to maintenance. But it is REALLY cool to have one of these walls. My buddy Florian has one, but he is blessed with an ideal facility... until the landlord finds out.
Boredom is the next factor. You\'ll always be wanting new holds. You\'ll want to extend the wall. You\'ll be trying to screw new routes all the time. Unless you have friends who also climb, you\'ll find that you\'re logging a lot of time alone. It doesn\'t impress girls nearly as much as it should, either.
Seriously consider just going to your gym often and leave the wall for a while. Climbing with and around better climbers makes you better too. Save your money and go on a climbing roadtrip. Thats more fun than any home wall. Locations such as Fontainebleau can often convince significant others to come along too. (Bleau is spitting distance from Paris. The Frankenjura is close to Bamberg and Nurnberg. Squamish is close to Vancouver. The Buttermilks are close to... ummm... yeah.)
Well, after writing this novel of naysaying, I also must say that with my bouldering wall I developed from 5.10c to 5.12a in 5 months. But that is with a very stringent climbing schedule, good diet, a second home in the local weight room, a physical job and a lot of free time. To make a way to long story somewhat longer, I\'ll just suggest that you keep going to the gym for a while and climb outdoors tons. The choice is yours in the end. If you would like any more information on construction, safety, training tips, games, etc., please feel free to contact me.
nwaber@hotmail.com
Good luck climbing, -Nick
colink (Colin K) wrote:
>I started climbing about 2 months ago and have progressed to about a 5-7 or 5-8 skill level. I talked to a kid at the indoor gym and he said he had won 3 bouldering competitions and had a wall in his basement. I\'ve considered the idea but would like to learn more before I attempt to build one myself. If anyone has done this or has sites or books that would help me please let me know.
>Thanks,
>Colin
>
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leadingedge
Feb 13, 2002, 2:41 PM
Post #2 of 4
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Registered: Jan 18, 2002
Posts: 185
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Climb for about half a year and see if you still enjoy it. A small bouldering wall gets boring. check out this site.
indoorclimbing.com
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daggerx
Feb 16, 2002, 5:57 PM
Post #3 of 4
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Registered: Sep 16, 2001
Posts: 761
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Go to you local gym, most likly they will have books on how to build your own wall.
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treyr
Feb 19, 2002, 10:05 PM
Post #4 of 4
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Registered: Nov 23, 2001
Posts: 549
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Good idea My wall has helped me improve alot goto indoorclimbing.com they have some good stuff on how to build a wall
TROB
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