Selecting Climbing Holds
Selecting Climbing Holds
Believe it or not, climbing holds are usually the most expensive part of building a climbing wall.You’ll be interfacing with them more than all other parts of your project though, so it’s worth taking some time to choose the ones that suit you best.
Consider Your Goals
Ask yourself how your home wall is likely to be used and who will be climbing on it. Selecting holds becomes much easier by keeping these answers in mind.
Wall Angle
Many home walls are built at an overhung angle to maximize the small spaces they’re packed into. Not all climbing holds on the market are meant for such low angles. Keep an eye out for how incut the holds you’re purchasing are and how they’ll function once rotated to your wall angle.
We’ve given each of our hold sets a difficulty rating for vertical and 45° walls, but even these are subjective to skill level and how the grips are being used. When in doubt, we suggest choosing more incut holds.
Variety of Holds
Unless you’re building strictly a training board, you’ll probably want a mixture of holds on the wall. That means plenty of larger grips to warm up on and then some more difficult slopers, crimps, and pinches to push yourself on during your sessions.
Budget
In general, the cost of a hold is mostly determined by its size. For home walls, it’s a good rule of thumb to get most holds in the medium — large size range to maximize your budget. Don’t shy away from XL+ sizes though, they can add a lot of interest to your wall and the more fun your holds are, the more time you’ll spend climbing.