Moonboard - climbing by numbers or rather LED lights

[Simon Lee]

What a frickin brilliant innovation - especially for those like me befuddled when confronted with a woodie with an immediate desire to run for the hills

Anyone used this down the schoolroom yet ? How well does it work in pracrice

Reviewed by Robin of Greenwood on UKC: www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=8014

 

[dave]

Anyone used this down the schoolroom yet ?

It's been up all winter and I've never seen anyone on it. Mind you that was the case before the lights were fitted too.

 

[slackline]

What a frickin brilliant innovation - especially for those like me befuddled when confronted with a woodie with an immediate desire to run for the hills

I'm curious if it was Saquatch's mate Chad who first did this out in Alaska that has stimulated its subsequent development and incorporation into the official Moon Board.

Saquatch's post about it here in the forum bringing attention to it is dated the same as a post on the Moon Blog about it. Both are 16th January 2015.

 

[T_B]

Anyone used this down the schoolroom yet ?

It's been up all winter and I've never seen anyone on it. Mind you that was the case before the lights were fitted too.

Ben is on it every time I go in for lunch. The app is pretty cool - you just swipe across problems and the lights change on the board.

 

[highrepute]

What a frickin brilliant innovation - especially for those like me befuddled when confronted with a woodie with an immediate desire to run for the hills

I'm curious if it was Saquatch's mate Chad who first did this out in Alaska that has stimulated its subsequent development and incorporation into the official Moon Board.

Saquatch's post about it here in the forum bringing attention to it is dated the same as a post on the Moon Blog about it. Both are 16th January 2015.

Chad developed the system Ben is using. it says so in the video in the UKC article.

 

[cha1n]

They should have LEDs built into the holds, you could then have the electrical connections made via the t-nuts/bolts. Suppose it'd be a pain if the LEDs blew though...

Good idea, it could be the thing that makes the moon board more accessible, I mean, who actually wants to remember sequences?!

 

[dave]

Having LEDs in the t-nuts (or next to the t-nuts and having transparent holds) would also free up a hell of a lot more space for more holds. If I was building one of these as my own sole home board I'd be wanting about double or triple the hold density of the moonboard for a board that size.

 

[Percy B]

Put these on a moon board and it would look very smart...
http://www.luxov-connect.com/?lang=EN

:geek:

 

[slackline]

Chad developed the system Ben is using. it says so in the video in the UKC article.

Thanks, I hadn't watched the video because...

...and on Vimeo...

 

[tim palmer]

It seems like quite a nice idea but seems to require someone having made the board to the exact moon board spec with all three sets of moon board holds?

Plus it isn't exactly a cheap bit of kit for a home board.

Presumably the moon board thing also means you can exclusively use moon holds?

 

[highrepute]

It seems like quite a nice idea but seems to require someone having made the board to the exact moon board spec with all three sets of moon board holds?

Plus it isn't exactly a cheap bit of kit for a home board.

Presumably the moon board thing also means you can exclusively use moon holds?

you need to build a 40 degree board. You need at least one set of the moon holds.

I wouldn't go for this because it's a bit overkill. But I understand there is a growing community of people/climbing walls who have built moon boards and contribute to the online database of problems. Ben's a business man, he obviously thinks he'll be able to sell a few, perhaps climbing walls is his target market.

 

[tim palmer]

you need to build a 40 degree board. You need at least one set of the moon holds.

I wouldn't go for this because it's a bit overkill. But I understand there is a growing community of people/climbing walls who have built moon boards and contribute to the online database of problems. Ben's a business man, he obviously thinks he'll be able to sell a few, perhaps climbing walls is his target market.

Yeah I was a bit confused about the 1000 problems thing as there is only 150 problems on the moon board website (which you need all three sets of holds to do). Are these just pre-programmed problems?

 

[Will Hunt]

There are various standard placements for each set of holds and then people have made various problems based on those. Each hold has a "North arrow" on it so if you've built a to-spec Moon Board you can orientate the holds according to the standard placement quite accurately. Some of the problems in the database will use holds from one, two, or all three of the individual sets of holds.
I have a 40 degree board (shorter than a real Moon Board) so bought the moon holds as they were designed for that angle. My problem with the concept is that it uses a feet-follow-hands format. Obviously no right thinking person would actually do this so I use screw ons for feet. Even if I had the space to build a Moon board (I can see a huge benefit of sharing psyche and problems with lots and lots of people) I would be reluctant to use it in the way intended purely because of the feet-follow-hands issue.

I think boards work best when there is a regular scene of people using them. You need other people to set different problems to generate the element of competition and psyche. It keeps things interesting. This is where the Moon Board comes in

 

[SA Chris]

My problem with the concept is that it uses a feet-follow-hands format. Obviously no right thinking person would actually do this so I use screw ons for feet.

Why not. Using hands for feet is good for training. Using screw ons only is also good for training.

 

[Will Hunt]

So you don't get nasty horrible boot rubber on the precious expensive holds.

 

[dave]

My problem with the concept is that it uses a feet-follow-hands format. Obviously no right thinking person would actually do this so I use screw ons for feet.

Why not. Using hands for feet is good for training. Using screw ons only is also good for training.

+1

 

[tim palmer]

There are various standard placements for each set of holds and then people have made various problems based on those. Each hold has a "North arrow" on it so if you've built a to-spec Moon Board you can orientate the holds according to the standard placement quite accurately. Some of the problems in the database will use holds from one, two, or all three of the individual sets of holds.

So you do need all three sets of holds and maybe to change round the holds to play?

 

[slackline]

So you do need all three sets of holds and maybe to change round the holds to play?

This, this and this probably answers the majority of your questions about construction/setup.

 

[tim palmer]

No it doesn't that is why I was asking.

The video makes reference to >1000 problems, but there are only 160 on the website (which you need all 3 sets of holds for), so are they something you get with the LEDs?

 

[slackline]

As far as I can tell no one you are asking actually has a Moonboard with LEDs themselves to be able to answer your question.

You could try installing the application (for free) to see if the database holds the stated number of problems you are querying.

Failing that try the horses mouth at @moonclimbing. If he doesn't know no one else will.