UKC

REVIEW: Moonboard

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 UKC Gear 04 Apr 2016
Moonboard Review Montage Image, 4 kbIn early December, UKC received an invitation to review the latest incarnation of the Moonboard. Never one to shy away from a challenge UKC accepted the offer and sent Rob Greenwood along to test it out.

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In reply to UKC Gear:

No way!! For my A-level Technology project I created a (to-scale) climbing wall with LED's to show which hold to get next, admittedly it featured a randome problem generator that was obviously not great but more to serve a purpose to pass my coursework. I should have flipping patented my idea! :P
 Lord_ash2000 04 Apr 2016
In reply to Duncan Campbell:

It's something that's been mulled over by me and a few wall manufactures for a while. It's nothing new idea wise it's just an issue of cost and practicality.

The basic idea would be to have a grid of LED's linked to a small computer or tablet which has a record of loads of problems and you can can select one and the right set of holds will light up. Also with an option to record and save new problems for others to try.

There are several ways you can go about it. The simplest is having the LED's in the panels but there could be issues if the hold covers over it. This seems to have them in the T-nuts but it's no idea if you have no free T-nuts next to the holds you want to use. The other is to have light up holds with some sort of connector at the back.

The issues are cost and difficulty to retro fit to existing walls.
In reply to Lord_ash2000:

It was a joke... hence the emoticon!
 1poundSOCKS 04 Apr 2016
In reply to Lord_ash2000:

> the right set of holds will light up

If you could manage this trick with the footholds at Malham, I'd be ticking the routes a lot quicker.
 jon 04 Apr 2016
In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

You'd have to have yet another type of ascent, the onlight.
1
 Dominic Green 04 Apr 2016
There's a few systems out there that use a kinect and video projector:-

youtube.com/watch?v=UNr3bxysSb0&

youtube.com/watch?v=oI7kLrpoqMs&

Not sure they have quite the hardcore training foundation to back them that Moon has!
In reply to UKC Gear:
I built one back in Feb 05(?) and got back on it recently. It's really very good. The original problems were all sandbags. But other than that... excellent!

If you're thinking of building a home wall it's the best bet.
Post edited at 16:52
In reply to UKC Gear:

Hmm, I want one!
 Brian H 04 Apr 2016
In reply to jon:

> You'd have to have yet another type of ascent, the onlight.

Or the ledpoint.
 jon 04 Apr 2016
In reply to Brian H:

Ah yes, even better!
 douwe 04 Apr 2016
In reply to UKC Gear:

I've always wondered about the grades of the problems on the moonboard, supposedly very sandbagged. Can somebody quantify that? Are the grades at least consistent throughout the given grades?
 Sean Kelly 04 Apr 2016
In reply to UKC Gear:

I notice that Rob has a new UKC tee-shirt. Why are they not on sale? My original one fell apart years back!
 biscuit 04 Apr 2016
In reply to douwe:
I've tried one with the LEDs it was really good having used ones without.

As far as grades go I'd suggest it's commensurate with outdoors. At most walls I flash up to V5/6. Outdoors it's more like V2/3. The moon board brings me back down to (real) earth. I've only ever been able to get up to V6 on it. This was years ago when my mate had one we used to use once a week. That fitted with my outdoor grade at the time.

It's a disaster for your ego, but great for your climbing.

 Mick Ward 04 Apr 2016
In reply to biscuit:

> It's a disaster for your ego, but great for your climbing.

It may well be that wiser words about climbing training have yet to be written.

Mick (whose oh so fragile little ego gets tons of shit, tonight, tomorrow night, again and again...)
 ericinbristol 04 Apr 2016
In reply to UKC Gear:

That's actually amazing, especially having watched the video.
 jon 05 Apr 2016
In reply to UKC Gear:

So I'm a bit confused here. For Ben's 1200 problems to work, I'd have to replicate the board in the video. That's in fact three sets of holds. And not only would I have to get the holds in the right place, I'd have to fix them at exactly the same angle as on that board? Is that right?
 biscuit 05 Apr 2016
In reply to jon:

Yes. The set up plan comes with the angle to put the holds on and there are little indicators on the holds I think. You can still access many problems if you only have one set. It's not that tricky to do and they don't need moving once on.

 jon 05 Apr 2016
In reply to biscuit:
OK, thanks. Does that mean you've got one?
Post edited at 08:48
In reply to douwe:
> I've always wondered about the grades of the problems on the moonboard, supposedly very sandbagged. Can somebody quantify that? Are the grades at least consistent throughout the given grades?

The earlier problem sets were absolutely nails. I did a 7B+ on my moonboard back in 06 that I maintain to this day had the hardest moves I've ever done. I honestly think 7C+ was probably nearer the mark.

As time went on the grades began to settle and were more realistic. The more recent problem sets tend to be pretty fairly graded in all honestly. Though they're never ever a pushover at any grade. I think the ethos is 'better to sandbag than to inflate'. Which I think is good personally.

As an earlier poster said, the moonboard will never flatter you. But it will make you incredibly strong.
Post edited at 09:11
In reply to jon:

> And not only would I have to get the holds in the right place, I'd have to fix them at exactly the same angle as on that board? Is that right?

Yep, the board is drilled in a regular matrix with columns lettered A-J and rows 1-20 (or something similar). The holds themselves are all numbered and have a little 'north' arrow on them.

Basically you then take a problem sheet and set the holds on the board as described. So for example hold number 23 goes on position I8 at orientation North West. Once you've set them all up the problem sheet will tell you which holds make up which problems. I just use electrical tape of different colours to mark under the holds so I can see the different problems easily.
In reply to A Longleat Boulderer:

Mrs Paul_in_Sheffield was chatting to Ben the other weekend at the School Room, where Ben admitted that even the early 6as were 'nails' and 'sandbags'!
Really agree about the board not flattering you. Very much like the Beastmaker.
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

> Mrs Paul_in_Sheffield was chatting to Ben the other weekend at the School Room, where Ben admitted that even the early 6as were 'nails' and 'sandbags'!

Interesting! I actually put up one of the first three problem sets last weekend for one of my friends to try. I think it was the set when Ben graded 6-, 6+, 7-. 7+ etc. Really good problems but you had to work very hard for them!
 biscuit 05 Apr 2016
In reply to jon:
no but used to live near a mate who had built one about 5 yrs ago

 Tyler 05 Apr 2016
In reply to douwe:

> Are the grades at least consistent throughout the given grades?
I can't really comment 'throughout' the grades as I have only managed the easiest grade but that was consistent! The grades are a total sandbag, I took multiple sessions to do each of the 6b+ at Rochdale, I never managed a 6c. I'd expect to get 7a outdoors or at other walls with a similar level of effort. Bear in mind the problems play more to my strengths (no heel hooks, dynamic, positive footholds) than my weaknesses (its a bit steeper than my favourite/best angle)

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