Anyone climbing plastic?

[that dude who did that thing]

Any of you maggots have a home climbing wall?

The gable end of my one-car garage (which I use solely as a workshop) is 14' wide, and about 15' to the peak. I'm going to convert this to prime, outdoor, home climbing space as soon as the weather is warm enough to do paint the plywood panels.

Anyone else done somethign similar? Do you actually use it much? Was it worth the trouble and expense? I have a daughter who has taken to climbing like a spider monkey, joined a team and is going to competitions, so I figure she'll at least get plenty of use.

[and before you suggest it, yes, I've already prowled the internet climbing sites for ideas and advice, just thought I'd try to start a new conversation here].

[jfost]

get her into triathlons so she can annoy people year round with training stories/"solutions" to the new 5.6a that her dad just set up on the garage wall?

[zartagen]

A short vertical wall can get old pretty quick. Overhanging is the way to go.

[schuss]

Yeah, definitely do overhanging. I have a gym ~2 blocks away, so that's where I go.

[that dude who did that thing]

Yeah, I'm going to add a little overhang, maybe 20 degrees on part of the wall, then plan on building VERY LARGE volumes in miscellaneous shapes to bolt on. Also planning on building the girl a wall that is movable and can actually be cantilevered out over the deep end of the swimming pool.

[Chugach001]

Go for it. I've had several indoor and outdoor walls. They are always works in progress but with creativity you can do quite a bit. Depending on personal goals, etc I've used mine for intensive aid, ice and trad training.

[that dude who did that thing]

Chugach, how do those white plastic fake ice holds work. I've seen pics, but never handled one in person. Can you actually stick a pick in them? Or is it dry tooling only?

[jma233]

Id make the whole thing at least 20 degrees or more overhanging. Any part that is vertical won't get climbed much. Check out an actual climbing gym that has a vertical wall and notice how it isn't used except by rank beginners.

[bfree]

Id make the whole thing at least 20 degrees or more overhanging. Any part that is vertical won't get climbed much. Check out an actual climbing gym that has a vertical wall and notice how it isn't used except by rank beginners.

Not really true, the routes are just going to be different. A V4 on a flat wall is going to be crimpy and generally tough moves. A V4 on a big overhang has to be juggier to compensate for the gravity. I actually like the more vertical walls because it closer simulates outdoor climbing, but the overhangs are definitely safer for gym bouldering (fall to ground instead of hitting rock on the way down).

[concretejungle]

actually like the more vertical walls because it closer simulates outdoor climbing.

This place is like the fucking epicski of climbing.

Practicing aid climbing on plastic is even dumber and more boring than actual aid climbing.

[bfree]

This place is like the fucking epicski of climbing.

Practicing aid climbing on plastic is even dumber and more boring than actual aid climbing.

Hah whatever. I'm not an elite climber and I'm going to the rock gym so I can get more comfortable leading big 5.9 routes in the alpine, not so I can sit in the gym all year and climb the hardest overhanging shit I can find.

[concretejungle]

Overhanging means elite?

[mcsquared]

This place is like the fucking epicski of climbing.

Practicing aid climbing on plastic is even dumber and more boring than actual aid climbing.

Where did he mention aid climbing? V4. Bouldering. epicski indeed.

But yea, a totally vertical wall will be lame in about 2 weeks. Especially only 15 feet of it. Overhanging. The more the better up to 45d.

[Vandeezy]

Here is my home wall: http://andylibrande.com/homeclimbing...climbing-wall/

The best source for inspiration on the web is this collection of photos: http://www.mountainproject.com/v/wha.../106606591__18

Hit me up if you have any questions.

[that dude who did that thing]

Vandeezy, I've been looking at your site for weeks. I found it via the mountain project thread. I'd love any advice you might have.

For a while there I was having a serious struggle between using my existing, but vertical wall, and building a structure like yours. My carpentry skills are more than adequate for either. Ultimately, backyard space is not unlimited, and a freestanding cave takes up space.

This structure is pre-existing, and it's not like I'd be covering up a pretty surface.


This is an older neighborhood with the garages built on alleys, so this is all behind the house, not visible from the street, and inside my fence line. I only open the doors on rare occasions, since that's my workshop, not a place to park cars, and there's a man-door on another side. I'm still in design stage, since it's too cold outside to paint the plywood right now. The problem with overhang on this, is the same problem you had on the backside of your cave: overhang enough and the backside gets exposed to weather and if you want it to last you have to treat it like an exterior surface.

Suggestions appreciated.

[berko]

I cant tell from that pic if the garage is up against anything, but if you have the room, build a traverse all the way around the thing and do laps. Use tiny holds for your feet and big open handed holds.

Also, bulid the wall so you can vary than angle of overahang to make it a little more versatile.

[that dude who did that thing]

great idea berko. The building is on two property lines, and thus a fence line and the gate. But I could easily build a traverse across the front (shwon in image) and then around the right side as shown in that image.

[Ccard257]

we built a small one in the spare bedroom of our house my senior year. I agree about the lack of vertical being the way to go. We had a small kick plate for starting feet and that was it. If you're not constrained by a ceiling like we were you may want a little more though. The nice thing about ours was that it was free standing so we didn't do any major damage (key in our rental situation) to anything and it could be broken down into 3-4 sections and easily moved.

[jamesp]

What's the point of making it outside? Cold climate = put it inside so you can actually use it in cold weather, then when its warm then climb outside on real rock.

Its got to be be overhanging (20-30deg) otherwise its too easy & gets boring fast. Even more so if kids are on it, their power-weight it better than adults.
Don't make it so high that you need to use ropes.
Make it so circuits can be done, climbing back & forth gets boring.

IMO something like this would be awesome, depending how big you want it



or this tucked into a corner. You can build a bunch of storage space in behind the wall if its planned well.

[Chugach001]

Chugach, how do those white plastic fake ice holds work. I've seen pics, but never handled one in person. Can you actually stick a pick in them? Or is it dry tooling only?

You can stick in them but tips pop out unexpectedly. I've had better luck with a 2"x10" screwed into my wall as a traverse. It can still pop, holds better than expensive plastic holds, and more like ice. The "shit, I hope this holds factor" is more lifelike than the following options. I have also used wood holds and 1/2" drilled holes that are very secure and great for strength training. Good luck.

[that dude who did that thing]

jamesp, it's going outdoors because there simply isn't any room indoors. The price we pay for living in the neighborhood that we prefer is a tiny house. We have regular family discussions about whether we'd like to move to the burbs and buy 2500 square feet of bliss and a three-car garage. And the family unanimously says "not a fuckin' chance."

Boise has pretty mild winters, though. In fact, on a sunny day with ambient temps in the 30's you can climb the local crag sine it faces south and is black obsidian so it warms up in the sun. Building this outdoors will not prevent it being used. Also, in the summer, my daughter will climb it when I am not availalbe to take her to the crag. She would climb 7 days a week given the chance.

[jamesp]

ok fair enough. Do make it over hanging though.
My buddies used to put grease on the back of t-nuts & bolts on their outdoor walls, they were covered with tarps etc. Lots of bolts still rusted after a couple years which pretty much fkd the wall, holds got loose & spun or the t-nuts spun & tore the ply wood apart. Cover the top properly if you can, plastic roofing sheets or something (?).

[jma233]

Adjustable angle climbing wall using 1" or larger pipe as a pivot at the bottom and chain at the top to adjust the angle. Even better would be a 1-1.5' vertical kicker at the bottom then the pivot. I've seen a couple examples on the interzweb....popular for inside garages that you still want to park cars in. People claim they are sturdy...I've never built one.

There's a park in SF that I take my 4yo nephew to that has a lot of climbing structures for kids. I'm amazed at how difficult little kids can climb. They obviously have limited reach but I kept imaging everything scaled up to my dimensions and there's no way I could climb that stuff.

[jamesp]

another friend of mine had part of his wall attached to the garage ceiling above where the car was parked. Pivot at the top of the section, then some pullies to lower it down when it was climbing time. Instead of a kick panel he had a couple short legs (2x4) to raise the bottom of the wall off the ground.

[philth]

This place is like the fucking epicski of climbing.

Practicing aid climbing on plastic is even dumber and more boring than actual aid climbing.

Hhahahaha thats funny..…with some truth. Fuck it though I still liked spending days on ElCap nail ups. Beers in a portaledge? Nice times indeed.