State of the Onion: June

Just a quick update: I am actually still working on my wall. Weekends I'm trying to get out as much as possible and climb on Real Rock or at least Real Indoor Rock, but weeknights are all sawdust, all the time. I've started a real training regimen on the wall, too, which I'll detail later.

Here's the State of the Wall as of June 19th:

Not much has changed on the main section, save for the addition of some new holds. Holds density is starting to get decent, and the most frequently used ones are getting that nice chalky look. In the lower left of this picture, you can see that the corner has mostly been filled; even with no holds, this provides a nice area for smearing. The hole was awkward.

The arete is complete, and that is su-weet. Lots of interesting moves and problems can be made in this area. I still want to put up a few more holds here, especially for heel-hooks and corner pinches from the right.

The biggest change over the last month is the flat section:

It just keeps growing! I originally didn't plan for a very big vertical section, reasoning that the limited height of the wall would make it less useful. As I built, though, I came to realize a few points in favor of this sort of traversing area:

• It lets me use a lot of holds that would be nearly impossible to use on the steeper sections, at least for me
• It lets me practice more technical movement on bad holds, something I'm weak at.
• It gives the kids and beginners something to do when they lack the power to use the steeper areas, even with good holds

So I've built out, and a bit up. The highest point of the flat wall I can barely reach from the ground, so with careful setting I can make problems that take several moves to get to the top. Traverses are good, too. I'll probably build this out with one more half-length panel (each of these is roughly 450 cm in width)

I've also made the garage a more appealing place to be, with better lighting and music. And a heater, which I should't have to use until fall. You hear that, Hokkaido? I shouldn't have to use it. I should not be using a heater in June. Ahem. Anyhow, that's it for the update. Stay tuned for another Fantasy Gym coming soon, and a profile of a non-Fantasy Gym, aka a real gym, the one I go to most often. Cheers!

Little Garage of Horrors

Spring is here. How can I tell? Because spiders are alive. If you want to know how I can tell that, well, it's because I've been spending a lot of time in the garage, like all proper young men.

Here it is:

Who wants a snowboard??

Yes, it's awful. I'm working on it. The shed where a lot of this crap is destined to live is still covered in snow, however, so for now it all floats around like a herd of awkward, unwanted children. That you found left behind when you moved in. Everyone's been there, right?

Oh yeah, you can see the frame that will support the wall. We built that over the weekend. The whole thing is made of 2x6s, and in these pictures the bottom supports- what keeps the legs from coming apart like those of an overeager gymnast- haven't been put in yet.

Yeah, none of this would pass mustard in an inspection.

The little support tying the two legs together is a placeholder, but I do want to put another one like it further down. The bulk of the weight of the wall will be held up by these legs, and the force will want to push them apart; better safe than sorry.

Note to self

Well, I do

And then, last night, I finished putting in the base supports and added in the first wall piece:

It's aliiiive!

It fits! I was kind of holding my breath, imaging that we wouldn't be able to get it in there. It took some wrestling but we managed to get it in place, more or less.

Not approved for climbing... yet.

Right now, the wall is just sitting in the frame, not actually fastened in. When it does get attached, it will be pushed flush against the side, and I want to add some additional reinforcement before that happens. In this picture you can see the bottom support, which is just a really long 2x6 that both legs of the A-frame are attached to. This makes the side a big triangle, and I have it on good authority that triangles are totally legit.

There's still a lot to do, but it's really starting to look like A Thing. I have to restrain myself from jumping on it every time I walk by. I know this because I tried (see holds) and the thing shifted a little too much for comfort- remember, it's not actually attached to anything. There's also some outward bowing of the top bar from the weight of the wall/climber, so I might run another beam along it to reinforce.

We're getting there!