Rock-Climbing Wall
Project Summary
With the closure of gyms and rec centers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to pursue my rock climbing hobby was abruptly halted in March 2020. After a couple months, it became clear that even as the world "re-opened," it was much safer to stay home and continue social distancing precautions to minimize the risk of catching or spreading the virus. As a result, I decided to design and fabricate my own small rock-climbing wall; it is freestanding, adjustable between 15 and 60 degrees of overhang, and has approximately 75 sq. ft. of climbable surface area. Constructed to code for a large deck, the wall is strong enough to support multiple climbers at a time and large, dynamic movements.
The Design Process - Sketches
Before jumping into CAD, I almost always begin my design on paper. When designing the wall, I often made conceptual sketches as I thought through the mechanical aspects, particularly with respect to rotation at the joint.
Here, the first two pages pertain to my initial concept for the wall (32 sq. ft. climbing face), while the remaining pages are for the final concept (75 sq. ft. climbing face). I developed a CAD model for each of these designs, as seen below in "The Design Process - CAD".
These sketches include both freehand and to-scale representations of the climbing wall, and illustrate the iterative process I used when determining the wall's final design.
Climbing_Wall_Sketches.pdfThe Design Process - CAD
The First Model
Developed in April 2020, the first CAD model featured a 32 sq. ft. climbing face and could adjust between overhung (slanted towards the climber) and slab (slanted away from the climber) angles. A key feature of this design was its compactness - the structure could fold nearly flat for storage. However, it soon became clear that 32 sq. ft. was not a sufficient area for meaningful climbing - the wall needed to be larger.
Model in overhung position
Model in slab position
The Second Model
Developed in June 2020, the second CAD model was motivated by the realization that there was no hope of the pandemic stopping before the end of Summer 2020. The second model (also the final model), is significantly larger with nearly 2.5x the climbable surface area. It features a 16 in. kickboard (also known as a kickplate), which provides vertical space at the base of the wall for starting footholds at steeply overhung angles.
Although not quite as space-efficient or as versatile as the first model, this model is still quite compact, folding vertically to have less than a 1.5 ft. x 8.5 ft. footprint. Although not pictured in the CAD, ratchet straps were planned between the base and legs to ensure safety at all times and can be seen below in Construction.
Construction
With the generous help and support from my family, I began construction of the climbing wall in the middle of July.
The project took about 7 days of work to complete, although the time was not contiguous. The wall was finished by August, leaving us just under a month to climb before returning to school.
The small footprint allows the wall to be stored in front of a vehicle in my parents' garage - one of the constraints placed on the design.
Here, you can see a picture gallery of the wall's construction. The images also feature my father, brother, and boyfriend, who assisted with the construction (and "playtesting") of the wall.
Climbing!
Drawings
These plans are not to engineering drafting standard, rather they were written up for personal use during construction. I am not a certified practicing engineer, but this PDF is free to use in whatever capacity is helpful.
Drawings.PDF