Five years ago, life got hectic for Max Taylor, so he decided to bring the climbing to his home in Salem, CT, and remove a big excuse to skip training. Check out past HWOW here.
When did you build your wall? Was it a COVID baby?
I built my wall 5 years ago right before my son was born, so I could continue to train without needing to leave home. I run an organic vegetable farm so I get really busy during the summer and getting to the gym is really tough. Covid has made it all the more valuable.
How long did it take you to build and what did that time look like?
It took me 3-4 days to design it and put it together. It was a lot of half days up in the barn loft cutting lumber and framing.
Not including holds and padding, how much did it cost you to build? Any surprises there?
The lumber was around $400 if I remember correctly.
What are you doing for padding?
I got really lucky and got two big pads from a commercial gym when they redesigned their bouldering area.
What was your primary incentive for the wall? Did anything in particular inspire your wall design?
I really wanted to find a way to keep training consistently while my life got more chaotic. I was really inspired by the spray walls I had seen at training gyms and the concept of cellar boards.
What was the most difficult aspect of the design and build?
Fitting it to the space and trying to maximize the area I had.
What would you do differently?
I have a kind of useless bit of head wall and no kicker. I would definitely make the head wall shorter or just eliminate it all together. It would also be nice to have more than one angle. I can crush steep stuff now but really fall apart on vert.
Did you make any mistakes along the way or choose to re-do any aspects? If so, what?
Some of the t-nut holes ended up being in front of the frame but I’ve been able to work around it.
What is your favorite aspect?
Just having it always be there, covid or not is really great. I love that I can set really hard problems with terrible feet and force myself to try. Having semi-permanent bench mark climbs has been so good for my development.
How often do you use the wall? Do you think you’ll still use it as much when the gyms fully open back up?
I use it 3-4 days per week, a bit less if the weather is good. I don’t think I would use it that much less if the gyms were fully open.
Any words of wisdom to aspiring homewallers?
If you can get into the little details of your climbing and setting and get excited about working on your weaknesses, then there is nothing better than a home wall. Even a small home wall is a great investment. My wall is 14’x8’ and I’ve been climbing on it for 5 years and I’ve never gotten bored.
Want us to consider your woodie for a future Homewall of the Week? Submit your homewall here to be considered. Winners get a $100 giftcard to Atomik to pick out some goodies for their homewall. Thanks Kenny!
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