This Article was originally posted in Urban Climber magazine in #55 and was one of the last “Show Us Your Woody” winners since the magazine unfortunately closed down a few months later.
SUYW 55 – Build Your Own Boulder
By Andy Librande
Spread the knowledge and the love
My current woody is an outdoor, freestanding wall in Denver that has served us well for the past three years. We just hosted our second Backyard Bouldering Competition on the wall. It’s a friendly competition, party, and BBQ, with about 30 climbers who participated this year. The entry fee was a six-pack of beer, and there was a costume contest with various prizes for men and women.
This is my fourth climbing wall. We built the fi rst one in 2005 while I was in college. To appease the landlord, we figured out how to build a freestanding structure, and we’ve had several versions. Our current version is big enough to support 10 unique problems for the comp, with the longest being 15 moves. It can also support two climbers at once if the problems don’t overlap. The wall is outside, but luckily the weather here is mild enough year-round that it’s only unclimbable during really cold snaps.
When we built our first wall, the information on woody construction was limited, and understanding hold selection, volume building, and setting was virtually nonexistent. Since then, it’s been really cool seeing the home woody trend grow. As a side project, I have been compiling a website (andylibrande.com/homeclimbingwall) for people that own home climbing walls or are trying to build a home wall. The goal is to focus on the basics of building walls while also giving tips about holds for your first wall, deals on hardware, basic routesetting, building climbing volumes, and so forth. Most current woody resources only focus on climbing hold reviews or instructions for building walls. I wanted to include all of the extra tips and tricks that will make your woody that much better.
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