How To Make A Climbing Wall

Do you want to know how to make a climbing wall? Having the chance of training at home is great. When in off season, keeping your body fit can take not more than 45 minutes of climbing per day. To do that, you have to make your own climbing wall. 

To make a climbing wall you will need:

• strong structure
• Plywood
• drill
• power screwdriver
• Climbing holds
• Bolts
• T-Nuts
• Old mattresses

1. Determine the placement of your climbing wall. This will depend on the space available. If the supporting structure available is a wall, make sure it´s thick enough to support the weight you will put on it.
2. Place and bind the plywood to the structure using bolts. A 5/8" plywood will be strong enough, and also quite light. If the climbing wall will be outside, you will have to protect it from the elements with two layers of synthetic coating. The bolts must go at least 1 1/2 inches into the wall, and be at least 1/4" thick. Stainless steel is recommended.
3. Determine the disposition of holds. To do this, think that the fewer holds, the grater the difficulty, and vice versa.
4. Perform the holes for the holds. The width of the holes must be exactly that of the nuts. A good choice will be stainless steel, and the size will be determined by the space available for the bolts on the holds.
5. Place the holds and fasten them using bolts and T-nuts. To perform this, you might have to take the plywood planks off the structure, and then replace them. A good idea is putting numbers on the back to be able to reposition them in the right order. Also, the bolts should have flat head not to protrude once the holds are installed.
6. Put a few old mattresses at the bottom of the climbing wall. This will help in the event of a fall.
7. If the wall is taller than seven feet, you´ll have to install a top rope. To do this, simply place a 5" U-bolt going at least 4" inside the wall at the top of the climb, and clip a couple of locking carabiners with opposing gates. This will be your top rope anchor. Place one anchor for every route on your climbing wall.

Remember that even in a small climbing wall, danger exists. So use a helmet and protect the climber by top roping when possible.