A HOME WOODY

with Nathan McNeil

Building a climbing wall at home is not as difficult as you might think, says Wild Earth Ambassador Nathan McNeil.

Been climbing for a while and looking to up your game? Want the awesomeness of a bouldering gym in the convenience of your home? Sounds like it’s time you built a ‘woody’! A woody is the suspicious name climbers give to home climbing walls as they are predominantly made of timber, therefore … woody. Fun, isn’t it? So I set myself a goal over this last summer to finally build my own woody. I got a few things right, and definitely learnt a few things too, so here’s what I learnt that will help you when building your own home wall.

1. FIGURE OUT ANGLE AND DIMENSIONS. Your woody needs a home, so figure out where you’re going to put it and then work out what size wall you are going to make/can fit and what angle you want it to be; this is the basis for everything else; spend the time to get this right. I went for a 35° wall and 1.5 sheets of ply wide (3.6m) and 2.5 sheets of ply high (2.8m) plus a 400mm kick board at the base.

2. CONFIRM HOW IT WILL BE CONSTRUCTED WITH FRIENDS OR PROFESSIONALS. Once you’ve worked out where it’s going, figure out how you’ll put it together. If this isn’t your forte, ask some chippy mates or even draw up a sketch of your wall, and get some photos of the space and ask the staff at your local building supply shop. Knowing exactly how you plan on constructing the woody will save you from making on-the-fly decisions and wasting materials and time.

6. ONLY DRILL HOLES FROM THE FRONT FACE OF THE PLYWOOD. When drilling the T-nut holes, only drill from the ply’s front-facing side (the side your holds will attach to) as that will leave the cleanest hole. The ply’s back side will usually crack and break when the drill bit pushes out the other side. This means you need to mark your grid on the face side also.

7. MARK FRAMING LOCATIONS ON PLY SHEETS AS YOU'RE FITTING THEM. As you put ply sheets on the wall, mark the locations of the studs/frame on the ply sheet before putting the next one up. Otherwise, when you’ve fully sheeted the wall, you won’t be able to see where the framing is to screw the rest of the sheets off. This is a simple time-saving technique but a super useful one. Hot tip—fit the kick board sheets first and make sure they’re level; that way you can sit the bottom sheets of the wall’s main part on top of them for support.

3.

CONSIDER COST-SAVING OPTIONS. Things like using form ply over marine ply will save you big bucks. Also consider not using T-nuts, and simply screwing holds to the wall instead. This will not only save you money but you'll also save a heap of time and heartache. There are many ways to build a wall for less.

4. KNOW WHAT YOU NEED BEFORE YOU GO TO BUNNINGS. Write up a list of materials you’ll need before going shopping. Try and cover off everything you need to start and finish the project. Otherwise expect to spend half a day in Bunnings walking around the aisles aimlessly. If you really want to save time, order it online and click-and-collect!

8. BE SAVVY WITH BUYING HOLDS & MATTING. Holds and pads can be expensive. I found lots of holds on marketplace, as well as cheap boulder pads. Even ask mates if they want to sell an unused one that’s been sitting in the garage for years. For most of the holds, I waited for a sale and bought a bunch from Climbing Anchors. Wild Earth also sell holds, as do a heap of other places, so keep an eye out. Also check with your local climbing gym; they often sell old holds super cheap.

Having completed the wall now, it’s definitely been a worthwhile exercise. The actual act of building the woody wasn’t that hard or time consuming. Most of the effort went into planning and design, but once I’d figured that out, it was just a matter of putting in bolts, cutting and screwing timbers, and putting the thing together; it didn’t take all that long. It cost me around $1700 all up including holds and pads, and it's rad!

5.

MARK AND CONFIRM T-NUT GRID LAYOUT BEFORE DRILLING ANY HOLES. The T-nut pattern for me was the crux. I didn’t know what was right and wrong here. In the end, I just went to the gym and measured their T-nut spacing and went with that. I used a 150mm grid which meant a lot of T-nuts, but you can do any spacing you like really. Just make sure you are happy with your spacing before drilling any holes.

Remember, you can make this project as big or as small as you want, and there are many cost-saving options for penny pinchers. If you’ve been thinking about building a home woody but haven’t been sure where to start, this is your sign! It’s time to turn your home climbing dreams into reality.

(A longer, more detailed version of this piece is available online at wild.com.au/build-a-home-woody)

CONTRIBUTOR: Adventure photographer and filmmaker Nathan McNeil can usually be found camera-in-hand at the crags around SE Queensland. He is an Ambassador for WildEarth.com.au