My Woody

I built an indoor climbing wall in my basement. I tried to track my progress as best as possible, showing how I did certain things and why. Clicking on any of the mini pictures will download a larger version.

 
Here is all of my lumber. I used pressure treated wood for all boards that come in contact with my concrete basement floor. I also decided to go with 2 x 6's on excessively overhanging walls. The plywood is high quality ¾ inch.

I framed the entire climbing cave using 2 x 4's. Then I placed 2 x 4 blocks between every vertical frame piece to make it more stable.



Note the massive ½ inch carriage bolts that I used to attach the 2 x 6's to my floor joists. It was probably big-time overkill, but I wanted it to be bomb-proof!



In the background is a 50° wall. The front overhang is only 20°. I plan to have some necessary nice sized jugs on the 50° wall.

These are my H.I.T. Strips. They were designed by Eric Hörst and are available here. I installed the H.I.T. Strips on my 50° overhanging wall (as instructed).

Here Joe is attempting to get that last blasted screw that the drill couldn't get to (note the 20° 2 x 6 that is blocking the way). Mostly for safety, we ran 2¼ inch wood screws in at 6 inch intervals.

Here you can see the H.I.T. Strips in place. I have found that my greatest finger and pinch strength improvements are coming from this workout. It is an awesome workout! If you are looking to improve in any aspect of climbing, I highly recommend these. NO, Nicros is not paying me to shamelessly plug their products, I just feel that it is the best, period.

This is me (Vaughn) performing the H.I.T. Strip workout. Believe me, it is tougher than it looks! BTW - the H.I.T. strip workout is fantastically strenuous.

Notice that I painted my overhangs with textured paint. It adds a little grip where needed! Also, notice my hangboard and chin-up bar. I am trying to create the ultimate home climbing workout.



I put a negative 20° wall (or, less than vertical) behind my 50° wall. This wall is for children to play on and also is a great warm-up area. It is also great for slab work. Note the plumbing access hole. When I build the vertical wall I am planning to create a small access door incase of emergency.

I recently added custom made 1 foot thick gymnastic mats. They are available at www.tiffinmats.com. These are great for falling on. Even a drop from 6 feet on your head is soft!

When I added the back walls, I left a 1½ inch gap between two of the boards to simulate a crack. Also, the entire back wall is 0° vertical.

When I was creating my 0° vertical wall, I had to install a little door in the bottom left corner to allow access to a plumbing clean-out fixture. If I skipped this step, I would have to remove the entire 8 X 4 wall section to let a plumber snake my pipes.

This picture shows the completed 0° vertical wall with the plumbing access door. I placed the access screws high on the door so I could open it without moving the 1 foot thick mats.

Here is one of my roof panels. You may be able to notice that I placed a lot of screws to make sure this was bomb-proof. I prefer to place roof screws every 4 to 5 inches. This assures a sturdy roof to hang from.

Here is another section of roof. Notice the two cutouts I made. One is to accommodate my finger hangboard and the other is to allow space for my big head when doing chin-ups.

Here is the final roof panel in place. It also includes a cutout for the other half of the chin-up bar. I started this project in June 2000 and finished it in November 2002. 2½ years is a long time for a small project, but I tend to procrastinate a little.

Here is a picture of one section that is completed and covered with holds.

This is the wall as it stands in September 2003. I have around $1500 in holds. Before the project is complete, I plan to add another $1500+/- worth of holds to it.

This is the adjacent workout area that I have created. On the far wall is a roman chair/dip bars/chin-up bar station. And, hanging from the ceiling is a 100 lb. heavy bag. In the middle are three machines: a VersaClimber, a treadmill, and an Elliptical (from left to right). Directly up front is an ab board/hyper extension station.

Here is another view from inside the workout area, which shows how I incorporated the climbing gym.

This is a VersaClimber. I originally saw it on K2 the movie. You can check them out here. As far as a good cardio workout is concerned, this machine is AWESOME!

This is a "Mr. Pinch-o-Grip" lateral row system. Instead of holding a bar or dumbbells, you have to pinch the 2 x 6's and do rows holding the weight with your finger tips. Very nice exercise.

If you have any question or comments concerning my woody, please feel free to email me at: climber@virtualinks.com. I will answer all questions to the best of my ability. And, comments are welcomed!