Training- is it for me?

It’s no surprise to any of us that climbing has hit the mainstream. From underground counterculture origins we are now in the age of indoor gyms with cafes, coaches and couches. Everything you could ask for, from graded problems to light up boards. 

Every aspect of climbing has been explored and is at our disposal, even crack climbing! This has been a revolution to the days of cave dwelling and dirt bagging from crag to crag. 

The Evolution of Indoor Climbing

With the expansion of commercial gyms, we have seen the climbs getting more and more creative. Problem solving abilities has been stretched in every direction possible and these ‘work of art problems’ have started taking over more and more space of the gyms. This sounds amazing right; more climbs every week to test our skills? But this has come at a price for the more experienced climbing connoisseur. These commercial sets are at the expense of stripping the traditional training equipment that climbers want- nay, need, to progress and reach their elusive goals.

What I’m talking about my dear climbers is our beloved Spray Walls. Chaos over Order! Anarchy V’s Organisation! The tool we all need and the one that trumps them all. Pretty lights and coloured problems are great but cannot take the place of any spray wall for quality training and progression of our climbing.

We have heard the war cries from pro climbers; gym revolutions have gone too far. Our ear has been to the ground, and we are now seeing this revolution come a full 360 back to what works and has always worked- SPRAY WALLS!

A tried and tested board of every hold imaginable. Every crimp, sloper, pinch, pocket, edge and jug. Every angle and every possible movement you could ever need for the best training imaginable. Here in-lies the problem. Where to start if I have every option possible… an all-too-common trend we hear from almost every member. So how do you get the most out of this magical training tool?

As strong as my fingers are, they are not strong enough to fill this article with all the different ways a board can be used. But I can offer a starting point, a window into the world of chaos climbing. Let’s dive in.

The Case for Spray Walls

The Why:

The freedom of having endless holds to place your feet and hands. This teaches the body where YOUR balance point is and where YOU need to be to gain control. This is something we as setters cannot teach when following well-crafted colour climbs, and is a valuable skill when you pull on to rock and have no ‘red’ to follow. 

These boards will also allow for creativity. To give you an idea of how you can move and what is possible (a glimpse into a setter’s mind). Hiding the grades, and ‘chaos’ climbing instead, can be very freeing on a day you don’t feel like pushing the limits. Some days this is more fun than slipping off that a4 you normally do with your eyes closed.

The Why Not:

“I’m not good enough to use them”, “I’ll wait until I’m a little better”… these are concerns that are very quickly washed away. Our number one tip for a quick cure for this is to get to know the boards, the holds and where you can move. Once you know the easier ways around these boards you can slowly grow your movements.

These boards take up a massive section of Alpine and we consider them a very essential part of our journey. If you are holding off from using them then you are missing out on a lot of what we offer. 

How to Use Spray Walls

The 15 Degree

This board can be used as a good warm up wall. As all the boards we are talking about, familiarity with the holds will make them much easier to navigate. This board, and our BM Robina board, are set up for circuits and now have coloured circuits or numbered holds to follow. This is a great way to feel how you are processing or feeling on any given day. This board is all about feet, play around with foot placement to find the easiest positions. You can use any foot placements when following these numbered circuits at Robina, the hands are designed to be left, right, left, right, etc. Once you have mastered a circuit then try to see how many laps you can do, or try swapping hands to start the sequence, or limiting the circuit to blue feet only, even numbers only… the list goes on. 

The 30 Degree

This board is set up with coloured problems but is also dense enough to make the most of this board as a spray wall. Make up your own climbs and challenges using all colours. Our old school setting style on this board is very popular with anyone that enjoys outdoor rock. 

This is where endurance meets power, and dynamic meets static. A great place to practice bigger dynamic movements right down to tiny crimps. It’s not just about pulling hard, look for rest positions within this board. The ability to find efficient movement and rest positions is a very needed skill when your forearms tell you they have had enough. 

The 45 Degree

The monster of the boards! Get to know these holds well because you won’t have long to look around at what to grab next. This will teach you cave climbing and body movement very fast. Don’t forget how effective heel hooks and drop knees can be at this angle, although cutting feet can also be very efficient on this board.

All these boards are ideal for repeaters; the classic 4×4’s are a staple in our base training. This is where you make your way to the top, once you have jumped off then it’s straight back on the wall for 4 laps, rest and repeat. Spray walls are ideal for this as you are collectively climbing 16 metres of different holds.

The Games

An easy way to start using all the boards is to incorporate games. Here are a few of our favourites:

• Plus one: A game to play with friends. The first climber picks hand holds and feet holds, and the next climber follows the same sequence then adds a hand and a foot hold. Play on repeat until you knock your partner out. 
• Twister: Your ‘friend’ (choose wisely) can yell out your next colour that you must use. 
• Circuits: Using the numbered and coloured circuits, see how many laps you can complete. 
• Traverse: Simple but effective. Once you’ve completed a board, try and remove a full colour set. Repeat.
• Stokt: Our favourite board app. Download the free app, search for ‘Alpine IC‘ and set your own climbs. See what other members have set and try and repeat their sends. This app is currently live on the 45 degree board.

Writer’s Suggestions

Play. Climbing is about playing around, seeing what works, and just as important, what doesn’t work. Learn the holds, move around on these boards every session, and find movements that you haven’t tried before. Given a very short amount of time you will find yourself dwelling with the rest of us scatter wall dirt bags and pushing your creativity in directions you haven’t even thought about yet!

These boards are our go to training tool for most of our training classes. Our coaches periodise the year and use these boards to train the most efficient energy system needed for the time of year. For more info on our training classes, see our training article or chat to our staff. Our training teams can be joined at any time with a performance membership- check out our current training schedule here.

The resurgence of these boards has been driven by the training ethos of many of our idols. Janja Garnbret has admitted to exclusively using spray walls in every session. Adam Ondra has been quoted saying 80% of all his climbing, since pulling on at 6 years old, has been on spray walls. These stories go on and on, and they paint a very clear picture- if you’re not already using our spray walls, COME JOIN YOUR TRIBE!