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!

The First Semiperiodic Garage Bouldering Competition and Barbeque in Nishiokoppe

This is bouldering

Last weekend, my garage bouldering wall had its first real public debut, in the form of a (extremely casual) climbing competition and (deadly serious) barbecue! Everything went off without a hitch... more or less. Hitches encountered were small and easily surmounted. Well, they could have been bigger. Nobody died.

None of these holds broke and injured anybody. Success!

I worked overtime to make sure I had at least part of the vertical section up on the wall, which I thought would help with developing problems that beginners could do. More than half of the attendees had little or no climbing experience, and having this section proved to be a good idea, especially with the kids.

Preparing to climb. Safety first!

In the context of Hokkaido spring, the weather was fair: almost ten degrees above freezing and not actively downpouring. Although the competition took place in the garage, barbecuing and general grab-assery were slated for the yard outside, so the off-and-on drizzle posed a problem. We solved the problem with several beers, a few feet of twine, a big tarp, and two convenient laundry poles, but due perhaps to the beer nobody actually thought to take a picture of our makeshift shelter. This regret will live with me until my dying day.

Let the climbing begin!

The format of the "competition" was, let us say, "casual". I prepared eight problems in four ranks of ascending difficulty, and originally had the idea of giving each climber five minutes to try each problem before putting the next one up. Since I was trying to cook and mark problems at the same time, I quickly decided that timekeeping was simply too much work.

The green one! The OTHER green one!

When everyone had climbed a given problem, I marked the next one in chalk- the school kind, not the hand kind. This was super-visible and worked great for the first few, but turned out to be a bit tough to erase. I'm not sure if I'd do it this way again.

Which way is up?

Setting interesting and enjoyable problems on a wall the size of mine required some creative thinking. A few of the problems had foot goals- to complete the problem, the feet had to be placed on a specific hold. This worked out well and added a lot of length. Another option was downclimb problems- start at the top and get to a hold near the bottom, which really changes it up.  Adding these variations helped keep it interesting, given that the only others were really short straight climbs and traverses.

Potential for head injury: fun!

I learned a lot from hosting this event, and would like to do it again. A few kids from the village even showed up and tried their hand at climbing; this is where the vertical wall really saw a lot of use.

Pictured: not a village kid

I even cued up music for each of the sets of problems, but I turned out to not have an extension cord. Added that to the shopping list for next time, along with more seating.

This was probably a foot goal problem

Some things I would change for next time: more cameras. We only really had one camera, which means limited pictures and angles.

Sometimes holds need tightening... mid-climb

I'd also give myself less to do at once. I tried to cook, run the competition, socialize, and take pictures all at the same time... it didn't work. Better organization would help things run more smoothly, even if it is just a casual event.

The Magic of Climbing

All in all, though, a great night and a reassuring sign that my construction techniques, although perhaps let's say "unorthodox", were sufficient to create a structure capable of being climbed on all night without murdering anybody. So that's good. Hope next time will be even bigger and better, and thanks for reading!

My New Arete + Metolius Hold Mini-Review

Welcome back to the blog! I've been away for a while, but progress is continuing. The snow is finally gone, so I've been out trying out some real rock- but that's a story for another blog post. I've just got two quick mini-posts for you today.

First thing: The arete section is (mostly) complete! If you recall, I had a gap between the 40 and 30 degree sections of my wall:

Welcome to the spider kingdom

And while this did allow for some interesting movements...

Don't say stuck. I'm not stuck.

I knew that a proper arete segment would allow for a lot more. And now it's done!

Phase 1

Phase 2

A small hole is still open at the bottom, but I'll cover that as soon as I have a scrap of plywood the right size. As a side effect of this piece of wall, I now have no access to the back of the wall. Hope I don't need to get back there for anything!

Placing the arete allows for more interesting transitions between the two sections of the wall, and allows me a place to use holds that would otherwise be unusable. The yellow hold you can see near the edge and the orange sloper above it fall into that category- terrible holds that would have been nearly useless, even on a normal vertical section of wall. Here, you can wrap around and grab them- they aren't great, but they can be used to make challenging and interesting movements. Climb on!

To finish my post today, I'd like to offer a quick mini-review of some Metolius holds I picked up. There seems to be a real lack of information about individual Metolius holds on the internet, including on their site- it can be hard to tell what you're getting, exactly. Since I have a fair number I'm going to periodically go through and post my thoughts.

The set I got for this review is from the Incut Edges Macro line, I believe set A. The set consists of two no-frills ledges, a small one and a large one.

The smaller of the two is about a pad and a half deep, with plenty of room for four fingers and even a somewhat sketchy match. The texture and shape feel very comfortable to hold. I have this on the 30 degree section, where it feels like a pretty good jug; on the 40 it would be almost flat on top, and probably still usable. As a foothold, the gripping surface is wide enough to stand on, and getting a toe into the hold would be a tricky but doable move.

The larger of the two I have set as a goal on the 40. It's huge, with plenty of space for both hands- really more of a ledge than anything. This thing is ridiculously deep and positive, and would remain bomber on anything less than a roof.

The complaint I have with this one is that it spins. The thing is huge and invites hanging on one side or the other, but only has a single bolt hole- no set holes for screws. I've never seen a screw hole on a Metolius hold, but if anything needs it it's this one. I quickly had to place two below it. This wasn't an issue with the smaller of the two holds.

And that's that- stay tuned! I'll probably review more Metolius holds at a later date, especially the ones that came in my starter box.

The March of April Progress

We're getting to that part of the book where everything accelerates and begins to spiral inevitably towards the conclusion like a spider getting sucked into a drain. This is a metaphor, with "The Book" being the construction of Kuraimu V4 (I think) and the sucking pull of plot resolution being the dual forces of 1) my finally being able to clean my house, and 2) my inevitable overuse injury from climbing in my garage every day. Whew! What I'm trying to say here is that things are coming along.

Before. Before THE PARTY that is!!

Amidst a lovely light spring rain/sleet/snow we assembled the second of the two main sections, which astute readers will remember is a 30-degree segment. After a few late nights of hurried T-Nut installation, the big day arrived and my free labor friends arrived to help. First step: moving the damn thing out of my house.

"I'm not sure this is going to work"

"That hasn't stopped me yet."

I have a lot of regrets

That's not a door, that's a window- I think. A big sliding porch-style window-door thing, minus the porch. If you ever decide to assemble a climbing wall inside your house, don't. If you do, like me, make sure you actually figure out how you're going to get it outside before crunch time- I didn't measure anything, and it's only because heaven smiles on fools that I was able to get this thing outside.

This is how we party in Hokkaido

You can see here, as in the first picture, the unnatural blue glow of my garage. I picked up a string of Christmas lights on the cheap to provide lighting inside the garage at night, figuring the soft glow would serve to illuminate the wall without causing issues with shadows, glare, or excess heat generation. It works quite well, although I wouldn't mind a bit of heat right now. The blue glow pulsing out under the door also serves to keep curious children away, but the tradeoff is that it attracts curious ravers.

hup

hup hup

We hoisted the wall section into place (it fits!!) and then kind of stood around for a bit considering what to do next. Since the angle of the wall is shallower than that of the A-frame, there's a gap between the two. I filled it in with some supporting beams, but these had to be cut first since I didn't actually know how long they'd have to be.

Then I had to get behind the wall to secure everything.

Who likes spiders???

Luckily, as it turns out, I was able to get through the gap and into the dark and webby netherworld of Behind the Wall. I wasn't sure how this would work before we actually did it- if the gap wasn't big enough, the plan was to get the wall raised up with me behind it and then scramble out over the tiny gap at the top. Which would have made for a pretty funny picture, I'm sure.

Welcome to... the Netherworld.

Here I am behind the wall, taking a selfie while waiting for more screws. I had to climb up the back to screw the supports into the top beams of the A-frame. You can see the supporting beams of the garage itself in this picture, but the wall isn't attached to them at all- I didn't trust the structure of the garage enough. You can also see the gap I was planning on squeezing through to get out. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

After securing everything (for now) I got back out and we were done. The 30 degree section will need more beams supporting it, but since I can get behind the wall at will I can do that any time. And the result...

Tadaah!

Both sections of the wall, loud and proud. I put a few holds up on the left side, for testing purposes only. I promise I didn't climb on anything before the wall was properly supported.

Birth in Reverse

Here's the gap between the two sections. Once everything is squared away and I don't need to get behind the wall any more, I'll put a small section of plywood here as a transition. This will provide for cool arete moves and let me use some of the terrible slopers I have that would be unusable anywhere else.

Nothing sadder than Christmas lights in daylight

Here you can see the gap between the top of the 30 and the A-frame crossbeam. After adding a few more support 2x6s in here, I'll put a short roof section here. This roof section will actually be slightly MORE than horizontal, with a slight angle down from the top of the 30. This should provide some interesting potential for underclings and the like.

And there you have it. These two pieces form the main bulk of Kuraimu V4, and I'm excited as hell to have them up. The next step, after finishing the transition and mini-roof, will be to add in the proper roof section- more on that later.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned next time for A Very Special Edition of Fantasy Gyms. Stay loose!

Getting Your Kicks

You already know this, and I already knew this, but the last few days of climbing on my semi-completed wall has confirmed a basic fact- without some seriously stupid foot holds, getting a start on a 40-degree overhang is tough work.

I don't want to put anything bigger than a foot chip down low, so that means a kicker- a small section of flat wall at the bottom of a steep bit, for starting your feet on. I put this in yesterday.

I guess I could just use this as a foothold. If I was LAZY.

First, I put up some wedges to support the kicker, one on each end. These triangular chunks are actually the discarded ends from the 2x6s I cut to make the side supports- waste not want not, and they are already at a perfect angle!

Look how clean it is!

Likewise, the plywood I used is a cast-off bit from one of the wall panels. The panel is really short, about fifteen centimeters. This is fine, as it just needs to provide a surface for foot chips/smearing, and the smaller it is the longer the main climbing surface is.

Ready 2 Climb

I threw on a few chips- these tiny-ass holds are basically useless on anything much steeper than vertical, and would be unusable (by me) on this steep of a wall, or even on the 30 that hasn't gone up yet. But they sure make it easier to start a problem!

And that's that- short update, but things are progressing. I'm nearly done putting the T-Nuts in the 30 degree section, at which point I'll put it up as soon as I can get the help. This will involve getting behind the wall for the last time and (hopefully) squeezing out over the top at the end- it should be a great time. Until then!

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!

Stress-Testing for Fun and Relaxation

This weekend, a new milestone was reached in the construction of Kuraimu v4- an adult human being hung on the wall and didn't die. Multiple adult humans, actually! Not only that, but nobody sustained grievous bodily harm and the wall didn't break. Things are looking up!

Pictured: Me, alive

It all started when I invited my dear friends and climbing buddies over for a pleasant lunch breakfast-y burrito-things. If it doesn't taste good, I always say, just add more sriracha.

No, it doesn't include the honey.

Once I had my guests fed I sprang my trap: T-nuts, and lots of them. 

Pictured: T-nuts and Element Formula K-2

holds, aka bugs

Just like that, I had a work party going, making good progress on the 200+ T-nut installations I still have to do. Between the three of us, we finished at least fifty of the little buggers, along with a good number of beers. We eventually called it a day and turned to focusing solely on beer, but that didn't last.

Hmm...

We had a big, structurally-complete segment of climbing wall lying around. Our eyes kept returning to it. The framework that eventually hold the wall sections up hasn't been built yet, so I hadn't planned on doing much with the wall other than getting it ready... but we soon decided to have a test. If the wall itself wasn't strong enough to hold up climbers, we reasoned, wouldn't it be better to know now, when reinforcing would be easier? When you've made a decision, it becomes easy to justify.

So we hoisted the wall up against the, uh, wall. The wall of the house. We did so in a controlled and thought-out manner.

I didn't make this face for the camera.

Functional Stength

And then we had a wall, propped up in a very secure and not-at-all life-threatening manner.

Note the highly technical support 2x4 wedged

against the bottom

So now the critical moment came... would the wall hold? Or would there be a cracking noise and a visit to the hospital? This thing weighs well over 200 pounds, a thought that was at the forefront of my mind as I got into position. And...

Yes, I know I already used this picture.

Success! I was able to get all my weight onto one hold, with a minimum of flexing. The wall felt surprisingly stable. I had my (taller, heavier) friend get on after me.

"I'm scared"

I'm now going forward with a great deal of confidence, knowing that this thing is capable of staying rigid. More testing will have to take place, of course, but for now I'm thrilled with this weekend's experimenting.

Stay tuned!