Paige Claassen - Building a Home Wall
La Sportiva climbing athlete Paige Claassen shares steps for creating a climbing wall in your home ...
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We're settling into month five of the Covid-19 pandemic, and we've seen home walls popping up in every free inch of space in garages, basements, storage units, and even closets. Having the space and resources to build a home wall is certainly a privilege. The video below should give you a good starting point for assembling your home wall, but I also wanted to offer a few tips if your space is limited or the cost of holds is a barrier.
• If you don't have space for a home wall, consider making use of the space over your door frame to expand your hangboard setup. Scattering a few holds around the hangboard will allow you to incorporate campus sessions into your training routine.
• While typical home walls are 8' x 12', a home wall setup is fully customizable. A four-foot wide section of wall will allow you to set powerful boulders, and rotating a few holds each day will keep things interesting.
• Holds are expensive, but gyms occasionally give away or sell old holds, which can be a great way to start accumulating a stash. Alternatively, trimmed down 2x4s make great pinches, edges, and even underclings, after a bit of sandpaper love.
• Padding is another expensive barrier to building a homewall, but Craiglist and Facebook Marketplace often have listings for free mattresses that people want to get rid of.
• If you have access to a high powered drill, make your own holds by throwing some river rocks up on your wall. Old gyms were almost exclusively equipped with homemade holds, which also mimic outdoor climbing better than plastic holds.
• If you have a friend with a home wall, consider arranging a hold swap to keep your sets dynamic and interesting.
If you have additional questions about building a home wall, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram at @paigeclaassen.
Happy climbing!
Shopping List:
_ (3) Panels of Standard Plywood (greater than 2/3 inches)
_ A pack of 3 in decking screws
_ T Nuts
_ At least (5) 14 ft 2x4s
Tool List:
_ Claps
_ Measuring Tape
_ Stud Finder
_ Markers
_ Markers
_ Circular saw
_ Hammer
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PAIGE CLAASSEN has been a member of the La Sportiva Climbing Team for 9 years.
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Jul 14, 2020, 1:18:00 PM
