NuclearNed's climbing wall project diary ***IT'S <sort of> DONE!!!***

[NuclearNed]

I still think you should dig a hole below the climbing face of the wall for a snake pit. It's the only way you'll ever really have incentive to get better.

...or punji sticks.

 

[zinfamous]

...or punji sticks.

you're going to use your own pooh to prime the punji sticks, right?

 

[NuclearNed]

New photos here:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=ZGs4b1l6MlZoREZlRWNYOUtoLTNxSzllTzlOelBB

It was a momentous occasion; we did our first official roped climbs this weekend.

But first, I backed all the bolt-on holds with wood for extra support & stability. After all, I don't want my guests to do a big move and rip any of my holds right out of the wall. Plywood worked pretty well for a lot of the holds, but some of the holds didn't have much bolt sticking out of the back on which to mount a piece of wood. Some of them stuck out just enough that I was able to mount a nut with no washer, which works but isn't ideal. So I went way back to my original plan - to back the holds with some of the 3/4" oak flooring pieces that I have. I bought a 1" shovel bit and drilled holes deep enough in the wood to countersink a 1" washer and then torque down a bolt. This worked incredibly well. It worked so well that I'm going to redo a few of the holds that I have already backed with plywood because I think the oak will provide more solid support.

I've been a little dismayed to find that some of my holds are loose. I would have sworn that I had torqued them down hard, but I've already found 5-6 of them that are spinning with a 1/8" gap between them and the wall. The Metolius guide book says that this is common on new walls, so I guess I'll just tighten them down & expect this to happen for a while. I intend to frequently inspect the wall anyway, so no big deal.

Mrs Ned & I spent yesterday climbing below 12'. This limitation was due to the fact that until yesterday, Mrs Ned had never belayed anyone ever... All week long I've had her practicing her figure-8 knot. Then yesterday we spent a long time in climb school - teaching her how to put on a harness by herself, tie in to the rope, set up the belay, etc. Then I did some low-level climbing & falling to give her some practice. A couple of times I went pretty high & was going to the top, but she called me down. That's ok - it was the rule of the day that we both agreed on. At the end of the day she told me it was a lot more fun than she thought it was going to be... I couldn't be happier. Hearing that sort of thing makes this project totally worthwhile.

 

[highland145]

So when's the kegger?

 

[NuclearNed]

So when's the kegger?

No joke - I think we're going to do something like this because I have a lot of friends, family, & acquaintances that want to try the wall out. But if you're just in the area, swing by anytime.

 

[skyking]

very cool Man!!!

 

[NuclearNed]

So the local utility company got me another pole today, which I'm going to use as a belay post. Mrs Ned can belay me, but it takes her a lot of strength & effort. The post should fix that. The pole is 9' long and is friggin huge - a diameter of close to 2'. Thankfully I can (with a great deal of effort) move it by hand, so basically I just need to dig a big hole & dump the end of the pole into it. Pack dirt & rock back in, then I have my belay post. I'll drill a couple of holes all the way through it, thread a heavy cable, connect it's ends and then it will be ready to use.

 

[NuclearNed]

I got the hole for the belay post dug to a little more than 4' on Saturday, attempted to muscle the pole into it, and failed. Sunday I dug a small shallow trench leading into the hole, muscled the beast again, and this time got it in. I backfilled the dirt, and now I just need to drill a couple of holes through the pole so I can attach a cable, to which I will attach my carabineer/belay device. I'll probably get most of that done this week. Sunday I think I'm going to do the little bit of painting that's left so I can quit worrying about it. I still have some dirt I need to move somewhere. Other than those things, I think all work is done for the winter. Next Spring I'll probably paint the backside of the wall.