The video below shows the construction of a home climbing wall. Whilst we’d say that the design of the wall is flawed, in terms of getting the most ‘bang for your buck’, the construction principals and materials used are sound.

If we were to recommend how to improve this design we’d suggest the following: the ‘steep’ board (on the left) should made steeper – anywhere between 30 and 50 degrees is standard home training board angle – however judging by the room/position in the video, 30 degrees would probably be the most efficient angle. Possibly the biggest error made in this video (in our view) is the height of the ‘kick board’. This is the vertical section below the steep board, and to ensure you get the most out of a board this size, you don’t want this any higher than 35-40cm, although don’t go below 20cm as you’ll want to keep your heels off the ground on sitting starts. The final tweak we would make to this design would be to the back wall, which we would make vertical for two reasons: a) to have a warm-up area and b) to allow you to get the most out of your steep section – i.e so it’s not in the way. In fact looking at the wall in the video, we would (structure permitting) switch the steep board to the back wall, which appears to offer more room allowing for a wider steep section, and make the smaller area on the left the vertical warm up surface.