Home rock climbing wall

Last Saturday I began a project I’ve been planning on doing for a long time: I started building a home rock climbing wall.

My original plan was for an almost horizontal roof in the basement rafters but they have been unreachable due to the fact that I need a large workshop (for renovations) and the amount of crap Emily and I are storing in the basement. Saturdays are for brainstorming and working on house projects, so as I was organizing some stuff downstairs I realized I had a perfect start for the climbing wall under my stairwell due to my recent stair replacement project.

I started on the easiest to reach stair by cutting a piece of plywood and reinforcing it to the stair frame. Then, I attached a second plywood piece two stairs up. I opened my box of climbing holds [Thanks, Dave!] and decided on the optimum placement for each. Then I tested and played around until my hands lost most of their skin and I could no longer do a pull-up.

Future plans include filling the space between the two existing frames to smooth out the transition and continue up the stairwell for at least 4 more stairs. By then, I’ll need more holds and probably some sort of crash prevention system. It is important to note that you don’t want to screw up and fall, otherwise you’re in for quite a beating — remember, I’m climbing over a set of stairs.

One lesson I’ve learned is that an ultimate bachelor pad is incomplete without a climbing wall. This will be the prize attraction at my house for some time to come. I do fear that the cool factor is a bit lost on Emily and would probably be lost on the house’s next owners. But in the meantime, this thing ROCKS!