Growth & Reinforcements

As our children have grown, we have raised the Ninjaline accordingly.  That is why we needed to add reinforcements.

Saturday August 22, 2020

Several support pieces were added on the swing set side of the Ninjaline.

Sunday August 23, 2020

Play time for kids and adults!

Let the competition begin

It has been two years since we built the climbing wall in our garage.


New Adventure


ANW - American Ninja Warrior.  This is how our newest adventure began.

For those who don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, there is a show on TV called American Ninja Warrior.  Contestants compete on an increasingly difficult obstacle course, racing against time and one other.


Family Night

ANW has become our family night viewing during the season.  We pop popcorn, eat treats and spend time together.  In 2016, there was a competition at a local gym named Obstacle Warriors.  I took the girls (because Z wasn’t feeling well).  We had the opportunity to meet several guys that compete on ANW.  When my kids see them on TV, they say it’s Daniel Gil or the funny guy, Jake Murray, or the genie pants guy, Thomas Stillings.  They also recognized Steven Tucker when they saw him on Ultimate Beast Master.

The questions began, when can we build ninja obstacles?  After a year of persistence and consideration on my part, we decided to build ninja obstacles at home.


Design

Three criteria were considered in designing our obstacles: 1) Ability to build 2) Safe for kids and adults 3) Fun.  I asked the kids, Christa and even some of the ANW competitors (via social media) their input on what to build.

After deciding what we wanted, I sketched the obstacles on a piece of paper and shared it with Christa.  She then thought of the best way to make it structurally sound and made an inventory of needed materials including cost.  Then we purchased the wood, hardware and introductory obstacle course kit.  (This included numerous trips to the home improvement store.)

Portion of materials

Build

This is best illustrated through pictures:

Beginning of structure

S - Sanding

Christa - Cutting support pieces

J. J. - Drilling holes for bolts

Z - Sanding by hand

E - Learning to use the drill

Tweaking & Enjoying

We added more wood to the frame, two straps to add stability to the structure and changed the location of the Ninjaline introductory kit.

First Course Finished!!!

First Course Finished!!!

First Course Finished!!!

Dream Realized

In my last post, I discussed obstacles that we overcame.  Now, I will show you how the wall was built using pictures.

2*4 attached to studs.



Picked up Plywood at local hardware store.



Prepped for painting.



Painted with outdoor green paint mixed with sand for texture.



Drilled approximately 76 holes per sheet with spade.



Plus 17 holes on an additional small piece of plywood. 



Next hammered in t-nuts for bolt on holds.



Then mounted sheets of plywood.

Blank Slate



Stopped to plan out holds.

Holds Placed



Initial Wall COMPLETE!!! (July 2015)




Improvements since...

Step added under right section. (August 2015)



Climbing routes designed. (October 2015)



Tada!!!



Campus rungs added to right wall. (December 2015)



Transition step mounted. (January 2016)



Latest addition done!

Final Wall (until the next addition...)

Why Not Now?

Overcoming Obstacles


There were many challenges we faced to build a climbing wall but I'll focus on the top three.


First, we are renting the house we live in and our lease was nearing the end.

Second, the cost and location also needed to be determined.

Lastly, how do you build a climbing wall anyway?


I'll discuss how we overcame each one in reverse order.


How do you build a climbing wall?

I googled this topic which ultimately directed me to Pinterest.  After joining, I perused many ideas and discussed them with Christa.  We used the following two websites to design and build our wall:

http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/pdf/How-to-Build-a-Home-Climbing-Wall.pdf
https://www.atomikclimbingholds.com/how-to-build-a-rock-climbing-wall

Where & how much to spend?

We could have built a portable free standing wall but determined an open spot in the garage was best after considering the possibilities.  I researched the price of materials and different sets of climbing hardware.  With an approximate cost in mind and my birthday coming up, I began to believe that building a wall could actually happen in NOW instead of later.

The second half of cost: Our lease.  

Housing prices in are area of North Dallas are high and increasing.  We scheduled a time to meet with the owner to discuss renewing our lease and approval to build the wall.  At our first meeting he approved the wall (Thank you Mr. Prewitt!) and at the second we signed a new two year lease at a good price.

Two days later, Pop gave us my birthday present to go with an unexpected gift from another source.


Summary

Dream, wall designed, location and cost determined, lease renewed and building approved, now cash in hand to build...IT'S GO TIME!

We'll discuss the building process next.

Consider the Possibilities

During a visit from a friend of ours about a month ago, the idea of having a rock climbing rock was introduced.  I filed that under that would be great some day in the future.

The following week the thought hit me, "Why not now?"  It would be easy to dwell on the reasons not to build a climbing / bouldering wall in our garage but instead we decided to focus on what it would take to accomplish it NOW, instead of some day.

Why consider this?  

First, my wife, 3 kids and I love to climb.  Having a climbing wall at home would enable us to climb more often and over time actually save us money (versus taking the family to a climbing gym).

Second, how cool would it be to have our on climbing gym at our house.

Third, climbing is a great way to get in shape while having fun.


Next post, I'll share how we overcame the obstacles we faced.

The Beginning

It all  started my sophomore  year at Berkner high school in Richardson. 

My AP computer  science  teacher led a student club called the social  club. The only  activity  I remember is rock climbing.

He instructed us  on how to tie knots, climb and repel.