Hypertufa Climbing Wall - Do You Want to Build One?

I got this email today...I had been wondering how they made it. The paint
Hi,please advise me, I'd like to make a rock climbingwas still wet when I got there and I asked one of
huge boulder w/ climbing holds for children to practicethe guys what the wall was made of.
and play climbing...will hypertufa be the answer? howIt was spray on foam over a plywood base. The
do I do this?thanks for any help u can offerhandholds where steel, they come pre-made and are
I thought it would make a good subject for an article.screwed on. They foam guy builds up around them
Here is my reply...and they use templates to show where to put the
Thanks for asking:high and low spots.
I don't think I would use Tufa for what you areThese things are a work of art; they take 4 guys
doing. It is a bit soft and crumbly if you get the mixabout 2 days to set up on average. Once they are
wrong. You don't want anyone to have a handholddone they come back and do repairs and maintain
break off.them every day. They last about 3-4 weeks and
Go with concrete. It will be a big job.then are taken down and destroyed so that no one
I would go to a couple of places where they havecan get hurt playing on them.
them and ask how it was done. I have never doneThey cost about $8 - 10000.00 including the daily
anything like it and would not like to give advice thatmaintenance. Foam and plywood makes sense, it
may be wrong.keeps the wall light and easy to move. The foam is a
Delspecial blend that gets a thick hard skin on it when it
To elaborate on this a little I will add that I went to asets. This makes it more realistic and of course
local store where I had seen them setting up adurable.
climbing wall on the weekend.Now you know as much as me.