Climbing walls with REAL rock holds. Thoughts Please.

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Rouge

Boulder climber

Sacramento

Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 25, 2011 - 07:31pm PT

Recently a friend of mine has become very adamant about the viable use of real rocks as climbing holds on indoor walls. Find appropriate shaped rocks, saw flat side, drill bolt hole and PRESTO! Real rock climbing holds. But of course it's not just that easy. Rock type and hardness, no consistent product, no duplicates, quality control, shipping weights, need diamond coated tools, where to get the rocks AND do people really want real rock holds or are they fine with pulling on plastic. Or would the option be nice to have. I personally don't see it working financially for a company and I don't believe people really want real rock holds. I've worked at a climbing gym over 4 years now and just recently starting assisting in manufacturing climbing holds. Let the debate begin!

Vulcan

Sport climber

Aug 25, 2011 - 07:34pm PT

it's been done. petrogrips tried it. failed.

p-owed

Trad climber

Ramona ca

Aug 25, 2011 - 07:35pm PT

I have made some to for my wall!

tolman_paul

Trad climber

Anchorage, AK

Aug 25, 2011 - 07:37pm PT

Trying to make climbing gyms more authentic? That's just too funny!

From a business plan, I think you'll find the cost of tools, labor and consumables will show that it isn't viable as a way to turn a profit. Then you've got the added weight driving shipping costs through the roof. Unless you can compete on a cost basis with synthetic holds, it's done for. I don't see people paying a premium for real rock holds.

Having drilled rocks to make holds, my conclusion was I'd rather buy them, and that was back when I didn't put much value on my time.

scuffy b

climber

dissected alluvial deposits, late Pleistocene

Aug 25, 2011 - 07:40pm PT

People can get very adamant about nearly anything.

Rouge

Boulder climber

Sacramento

Topic Author's Reply - Aug 25, 2011 - 07:41pm PT

there I fixed it. *adamant

Kurt Ettinger

Trad climber

Martinez, CA

Aug 25, 2011 - 07:50pm PT

I would be suprised if most gym climbers cared whether they were pulling on real rock or not. For me the gym is just for practice/conditioning so makes no difference to me.

Griddable

climber

Originally?

Aug 25, 2011 - 08:17pm PT

My gym here has a slab wall which uses tiles of real granite to simulate the common outdoor experience, and it works pretty well. I finally had a partner and gave it a shot, and it felt nearly as exposed as the outdoor slab in the surrounding area (full disclosure, I mostly boulder and am weak-sauce on the ropes). It was quite fun though, to have a climb that was challenging for a reason other than "my arms are tired!"

As for real rock holds on an artificial wall, I'm not sure it would make much difference to the overall gym experience; it is what it is. As others have pointed out, it's just not cost-effective.

Captain...or Skully

climber

or some such

Aug 25, 2011 - 08:22pm PT

We had stacks of real rock holds in our old gym. I liked 'em.

ncrockclimber

climber

The Desert Oven

Aug 25, 2011 - 08:27pm PT

One of the guide services at Seneca (Tom Cecil's SRMG?) has a small wall with a "real" rock crack and features that they use for teaching classes on placing gear. I am not sure how much climbing is done on it, but it looked cool when I saw it.

Gunkie

Trad climber

East Coast US

Aug 25, 2011 - 09:53pm PT

I bought a refurbished hammer drill just to turn river rocks into climbing holds for our basement wall. Nice change of pace. If you get the right piece of rock, it can make a great hold. I don't go to the trouble of grinding the back, so we get our share of spinners.

johntp

Trad climber

socal

Aug 25, 2011 - 09:58pm PT

Dale did it on his wall in Round Valley using highway dot glue instead of t-nutting. Seemed pretty solid. He used smooth, flat sided river rock in lieu of cutting and drilling. Easy on the finger tips.

People don't really want real rock holds? What is up with that?

Lambone

Ice climber

Ashland, Or

Aug 25, 2011 - 10:27pm PT

one problem, from a setters standpoint, is that they are damn heavy to lug up the wall in a bucket.

klk

Trad climber

cali

Aug 25, 2011 - 10:32pm PT

yeah, a lot of labor and extra heavy which means that on a really steep wall, it's not realistic.

if yr worried about texture, synrock's holds feel an awful lot like good sandstone and are really tendon friendly.

jvSF

Trad climber

San Francisco

Aug 25, 2011 - 11:32pm PT

the Lindseth Climbing Wall at Cornell University has real rock embedded into a cinder block wall. i always thought it was pretty cool, except that the holds were always the same.

doughnutnational

Gym climber

its nice here in the spring

Aug 25, 2011 - 11:50pm PT

To prevent spinners I have used Bondo on plywood and then drilled them. I have a hundred and some home made real rock holds on may garage and I probably spent more hours drilling them than climbing on them.

bvb

Social climber

flagstaff arizona

Aug 25, 2011 - 11:58pm PT

tits on a bull.

blacksun

Trad climber

South Lake Tahoe, California

Aug 26, 2011 - 02:45am PT

I've used found rocks on home walls before. I wouldn't try and make a business out of it, but it sure is fun hunting around for unique, and free, holds for your wall. I had good luck with real hard granite, basalt and the rocks found on railroad tracks. Whatever that is. Many will break. Some will not. You'll burn through lots of drill bits. They need to have flat backs or they will flex and break easier. You must drill perfectly perpendicular to the flat side. I imagine you could create a rubber coated backing for them if you wanted to.

It's fun, but in the end real gym holds are just a better use of time and money.