Moon Board

Rarely do I get completely schooled at the gym, but last night was different. I spent some time on a Moon Board, created by Ben Moon years ago, to pack a huge training punch into a small space.

The English, having even less space then the average Torontonian, are famous for having small "Boards" tucked away in their flats. Hence, the Moon Board was developed to optimize the small space, yet still get really strong. Ben Moon the developer was a leading climber in the 80/90's British climbing scene.

What makes this Board different? Well, Moon sells the exact pattern to the same problems he trained on all those years and you can buy a set of the same holds and place them in the same orientation. That way you can train on the exact same problems, as anyone anywhere in the world. From his website you can buy the holds and the instructions to set up a Moon Board. Anyone with limited space will love this.

I loved the Board, the angle and the holds. I found the problems incredibly stout! Overall I would say the problems are not at all like north American ones. The moon board has mostly small holds, simulating real rock more so than just shapes. The holds are skin friendly, but small.

I looked at the problems and thought yeah, they are incut, but small, I can do this, no sweat. Wow was I wrong, the movement is hard and the flexibility is hard. Four to six moves of raw finger power needed. I am Weak! Oh no!

I hope over the next few weeks I will get a chance to try some more moon problems they are awesome. Check it out at Moon Climbing.

Below is a Moon Board at Boulderz in Toronto. Not all the holds on this Board are Moon products, only the little tiny yellow ones are.

Boulderz Moon Board.