The Wall
When I take a friend into the aircraft hangar you would think they would get totally excited about the airplane. Most of the time people’s eyes gravitate toward our climbing wall instead. It is 30 feet wide by 13 feet tall. It is painted and beautiful with many colors of holds speckled throughout the adobe colored paint. That wall is one of the main reason’s we are here. We love flying our airplane. But our love of climbing started together. It is a passion that doesn’t make much sense. Neither of us are great climbers. We are the weekend warriors that are lucky to climb 5.11 cleanly. Most of the people that we have met throughout the years don’t climb anymore. You need a partner and life gets in the way.
We started climbing in the Red River Gorge and we had no idea that we were in one of the best climbing areas in the world. We moved to San Antonio and found some pretty decent climbing in the area. Our move to Miami would prove to be very sad because there were no mountains. We had been to a few climbing gyms in the past. But now we knew that we needed to find one, and quick. We researched and visited several gyms. And as fate would have it we found Extreme in South Miami. It was one of the largest gyms with the best routes that we had ever seen. We drove an hour to get there and it was totally worth it. Our two years in Miami made us fans of bouldering. We rarely roped up even though there was a ton of tall stuff in the gym.
Our passion for indoor climbing definitely stemmed from this experience in Miami. Mike started to read books about route setting and building home gyms. We put up a hang board in the garage along with a small climbing board. The next move was into Fort Worth, Texas where we had several climbing gyms and a nice little place called Mineral Wells State Park. There he put up a small climbing wall with a kick panel and he was starting to collect holds. I would buy him holds at Christmas and we probably had more holds than room to put them on the wall. We decided that this would be where we would be for a while and we started looking for a home. One day Mike was checking on the Internet and found an airpark with lots for sale. We both love airplanes and we love climbing. With a hangar we could combine the two passions into one place. Unfortunately, we didn’t really have the money to build a house and a hangar at that time. So we started with the house.
When we started planning for the hangar. There was consideration for the airplanes that we might one day own. Other priorities included the sound system, disco ball, sink and work area that would be important for maintaining the airplane. But the most time was spent with the design and location of the climbing wall. At one point Mike actually built a three D standing model with cardstock. This was going to show us what the wall would look like when it was finished. We had been in many different climbing gyms throughout the country. At one point we planned our vacation to visit “The Spot” in Boulder, Colorado to see what one of the finest bouldering gyms in the world looked like. These experiences were the inspiration for making the gym that we could love to work out in for a long time to come. We had many discussions about what we wanted the wall to achieve. Mike also called friends from the past who were route setters and climbers to get their advice on what they would want in a home gym.
Mike completed most of the work himself. I would come in and help occasionally but he works better by himself. It took around 4 months to finish because he wasn’t able to do it full time. The wall has no metal in it except the screws and t nuts. The old climbing walls that we took down from the garages are built into the new climbing wall. He didn’t want to waste any of the hard work he had already put into his other walls. I insisted that the wall be painted to keep the hangar looking pretty. We used paint with sand in it to have a little texture. When it came to padding there were lots of different options that we had seen used. Ultimately, we decided to install gymnastics padding which was more expensive than the materials for the climbing wall itself. Now we realize that it was the best option because it is easy to clean with a vacuum and it is cheap insurance to keep our friends safe from the hard floor.
It has been a year since we finished our indoor climbing wall. We don’t use it everyday like you dream of doing when you are building it. We climb outdoors on a beautiful day when we have time to go to the crag. But anytime, day or night, hot or cold we can go out into the hangar and work out on the wall, if we chose. We can share it with our friends and neighbors right in our home. When I take people out to show them the airplane. As soon as they spot the climbing wall they are drawn to it. They want to touch it and then they want to climb it. They have forgotten that this is an aircraft hangar. It feels like a climbing gym too.
We started climbing in the Red River Gorge and we had no idea that we were in one of the best climbing areas in the world. We moved to San Antonio and found some pretty decent climbing in the area. Our move to Miami would prove to be very sad because there were no mountains. We had been to a few climbing gyms in the past. But now we knew that we needed to find one, and quick. We researched and visited several gyms. And as fate would have it we found Extreme in South Miami. It was one of the largest gyms with the best routes that we had ever seen. We drove an hour to get there and it was totally worth it. Our two years in Miami made us fans of bouldering. We rarely roped up even though there was a ton of tall stuff in the gym.
Our passion for indoor climbing definitely stemmed from this experience in Miami. Mike started to read books about route setting and building home gyms. We put up a hang board in the garage along with a small climbing board. The next move was into Fort Worth, Texas where we had several climbing gyms and a nice little place called Mineral Wells State Park. There he put up a small climbing wall with a kick panel and he was starting to collect holds. I would buy him holds at Christmas and we probably had more holds than room to put them on the wall. We decided that this would be where we would be for a while and we started looking for a home. One day Mike was checking on the Internet and found an airpark with lots for sale. We both love airplanes and we love climbing. With a hangar we could combine the two passions into one place. Unfortunately, we didn’t really have the money to build a house and a hangar at that time. So we started with the house.
When we started planning for the hangar. There was consideration for the airplanes that we might one day own. Other priorities included the sound system, disco ball, sink and work area that would be important for maintaining the airplane. But the most time was spent with the design and location of the climbing wall. At one point Mike actually built a three D standing model with cardstock. This was going to show us what the wall would look like when it was finished. We had been in many different climbing gyms throughout the country. At one point we planned our vacation to visit “The Spot” in Boulder, Colorado to see what one of the finest bouldering gyms in the world looked like. These experiences were the inspiration for making the gym that we could love to work out in for a long time to come. We had many discussions about what we wanted the wall to achieve. Mike also called friends from the past who were route setters and climbers to get their advice on what they would want in a home gym.
Mike completed most of the work himself. I would come in and help occasionally but he works better by himself. It took around 4 months to finish because he wasn’t able to do it full time. The wall has no metal in it except the screws and t nuts. The old climbing walls that we took down from the garages are built into the new climbing wall. He didn’t want to waste any of the hard work he had already put into his other walls. I insisted that the wall be painted to keep the hangar looking pretty. We used paint with sand in it to have a little texture. When it came to padding there were lots of different options that we had seen used. Ultimately, we decided to install gymnastics padding which was more expensive than the materials for the climbing wall itself. Now we realize that it was the best option because it is easy to clean with a vacuum and it is cheap insurance to keep our friends safe from the hard floor.
It has been a year since we finished our indoor climbing wall. We don’t use it everyday like you dream of doing when you are building it. We climb outdoors on a beautiful day when we have time to go to the crag. But anytime, day or night, hot or cold we can go out into the hangar and work out on the wall, if we chose. We can share it with our friends and neighbors right in our home. When I take people out to show them the airplane. As soon as they spot the climbing wall they are drawn to it. They want to touch it and then they want to climb it. They have forgotten that this is an aircraft hangar. It feels like a climbing gym too.
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