Sunday, January 23, 2011

Whats the best wall texture?

I have climbed on a ton of different wall designs and surface finishes. I am convinced that basic lightly textured, plywood walls are the best for versatility, longevity and maximum setting options.

I find the trend towards thicker, more highly featured texture is backwards. Commercially it looks nice and beginners associate the real rock look with outdoor climbing, but any experienced setter will hate them. The unevenness of the texture makes holds sit unevenly, exposing edges and breaking holds and it makes it hard to place large volumes. The built in features are also always there, on every route, on that section of wall, forever.

Also, most textures dry out with time and crumble on the edges and repeated set screws and screw ons lead to missing chunks of texture.

Not all textures are created equal however, and some companies do a better job then others, but overall I think a well constructed plywood wall with perfect joints is the best for getting strong and having the most setting options.

1 comment:

Zig said...

having set on both I agree