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by Maya Gans /

Seeking climbing in winter, I made the pilgrimage to Joshua Tree National Park where I fell in love with the iconic classic line, ‘Leave it to Beaver’. In search for beta, I found myself watching John Bachar free solo it in a 1980 TV special “That’s Incredible!” However, even more interesting than the footage of the climb, there was a snippet of his training which included crimping varying sizes of wood nailed into the wall and swinging from one to the other like a child on monkey bars. The climbing historian in me then decided to trace the origins of the now ubiquitous piece of training equipment: The Hangboard (Fingerboard). In John Bachar’s ‘Training for Stone,’–a manual written to go with the 1980s Chouinard Equipment ‘Bachar Ladder,’–he lays out a training regimen that compliments weight and cardiovascular training with exercises to increase power, endurance, technique, and coordination. In the program, Bachar refers to “fingertip hangs” on “finger edges,” alluding to a possible first indication of the idea of the Hangboard. While Bachar himself cannot be credited with inventing this climbing specific method of training, these wooden blocks are the precursor to the hangboard.

Bachar

John Bachar hanging from wood blocks, varying in edge size. Photo: Reinhard Karl

Hangboards are one of the earliest climbing-specific pieces of training equipment to be invented, but the inventor of the contraption is not widely known. A hangboard is a tool made up of either wood, polyurethane, or polyester resin, featuring incrementally smaller holds and different grip orientations in order to train finger (“contact”) strength. The basic exercise is to deadhang from the varying grips for certain timed increments, but many exercises and entire regiments have been developed.

Bachar was using the wooden boards pictured above as early as 1980, and in the mid 1980s, Jerry Moffat designed a crude board that is currently featured in Nuremberg, Germany’s Climbing Center. In an interview with Cafe Kraft, Moffat points to a campus board and jokes, “All of this was me. Without me, there was no climbing. There was no strength, there was no power. People could only do one pull up!” A home video made in Moffat’s cellar in 1998 features a conglomerate of wooden holds, a slightly more sophisticated training set up than seen in Bachar’s 1980 video. In the interview, Moffat places the equipment in perspective as there were no climbing gyms yet with which to train. Cold winters in Germany made cragging impossible, bringing Moffat and his peers to the gym. Moffat trained at the Campus Centre, which housed a ladder of finger edges and is thus how the ‘campus board’ got its name. Wolfgang Gullich is credited with designing this method of training, and rightfully so–he broke most of the grade barriers from 5.13d to 5.14d. With the campus board providing plyometric training, it’s safe to imagine the fingerboard quickly followed suit as it trains contact strength on increasingly smaller or angled holds.

Gullich, Moffat, Candeleria

Left: Wullfgang Gullich on the original campus board. Center: Jerry Moffat’s hangboard at the Climbing Centre in Nuremburg, Germany. [Photo: Mark Anderson.] Right: Rob Candeleria’s first hangboard [Photo: DMM].

In the same timeframe, Rob Candaleria drilled varying sized holes into a wooden board, crafting a hangboard of his own. In an interview with Deadpoint Magazine, Candaleria describes himself as a ‘gym rat’ and was even accused of cheating in the mid 1970s because he trained for climbing in the gym! The board was crafted in the mid 1980s from a cutting board too large for Candaleria’s kitchen, “I just got a drill bit… put some holds on it and pinches on the side as well… and could start training on a rainy day,” he explains.

Wooden boards seem to have been the first finger training material used, but once training for climbing became more common and boards began to be mass produced, there was a shift to using polyurethane or polycarbonate resins. As Brooke Sandahl, the current VP of Metolius, explains, Smith Rock pioneers and crushers Chris Grover and Alan Watts traveled to Europe in the mid-1980s, where they encountered the first resin hangboard (made by Entre Prises).  Grover and Watts headed back to the US thinking, “We need to make one of these!”  The ability to train in winter and the foresight of training increasing finger power and strength made the production of an American hangboard necessary for climbers to remain competitive and innovative. Sandahl carved his first hangboard molds from wax, a now antiquated process as boards and holds are now shaped from foam. By the Simulator’s second iteration it was gaining popularity by word of mouth (the climbing community was so small advertisement wasn’t needed yet!), beginning its journey as the first resin mass produced hangboard in America. Metolius’s Simulator has now seen 7 generations of reforms and iterations. Transformations included tinkering with the texture and angles to make the holds both more comfortable and ergonomic. The biggest transformation the board underwent was in the early 1990s, when Metolius became the first climbing company to acquire a CNC machine to create molds which would produce perfectly replicated boards. Today’s Simulator 3D, a board that is thicker at the top than the middle and bottom, ensures an ergonomic hang on various holds. Currently, Jim Karn designs the boards on the computer, but he still molds some holds by hand.

Glowacz, Yaniro

Left: Steven Glowacz uses a combination of inset wooden holds and Metolius’s Simulator (1988) to hangboard aside his van in Smith Rock, OR. [Photo: Uli Wiesmeier for Wild Country Catalog.] Right: Another early board hand shaped by the training guru, Tony Yaniro’s PowerProducts, produced in the 1990s under Trango (now produced by Atomik).

Metolius still produces this modified version of the Simulator along with a cast of other boards worth checking out for your specific training needs. Today, hangboards are manufactured in a multitude of shapes and sizes with holds varying in orientation, size, and depth. There are many great fingerboards out there being produced by many brands, but it seemed relevant to showcase the history and thought behind the two most commonly used boards in Momentum, the Beastmaker 2000, and the Trango Rock Prodigy Training Center.

Ten years ago in Sheffield, UK, Dan Varian and Ned Feehaly were frustrated with the grips on hangboards as (1) they didn’t offer enough difficulty, leading them to either add weight or time to their hangs, and (2) the resin of boards left their fingers rough and blistered. The result was a wooden board, the friendliest material to the skin, with radiused holds (to avoid finger injury). According to Dan, the board’s most unique feature is its distinct inset bottom row so fingers not engaged within the pocket aren’t impeded by the lower layer. Dan explained that prior production boards may have been tapered to try to minimize this effect, “but we used to get ‘knuckle violation’ training on other boards, especially when training the back two grips, so we eradicated [the issue] completely.” A main tenant of hangboard training is using holds that are ‘bad’, increasing your ability to remain in contact with these holds. With that mentality, Dan created the board with holds he himself initially had trouble hanging on to. The design was further refined with Ned at a Sheffield University, and eventually they recruited friends to create a CNC machine to produce the boards on a larger scale as it gained popularity. In 2007, the first Beastmaker was produced and has now seen two successors, the Beastmaker 1000 and 2000.

Beastmaker Evolution

Left: The 2007 Original Beastmaker. Right: Their most recent board, The Beastmaker 2000.[All photos from www.beastmaker.com]

The Trango Rock Prodigy Training Center (RPTC) was first manufactured in 2013 and designed by brothers Mike and Mark Anderson after writing The Rock Climber’s Training Manual (2014). Not only are the Anderson brothers crushers, but they approach training with an incredibly calculated, scientific zeal and seek objective ways to quantify their progress. After writing the book, Adam Sanders at Trango approached the Anderson brothers to design a hangboard–a fantasy Mark’s had since he’s worked with fingerboards for over a decade without ever being satisfied. What sets the RPTC apart from its predecessors is its ergonomics: it is the first (and only) hangboard that features two mirrored pieces which can be placed at varying width and angle, so no matter the holds being used the shoulders can remain in line. The holds are incrementally more difficult, and the pinches are set at an angle which allows them to be more wrist friendly than other boards. The Rock Prodigy went through many iterations in both the hold sizes and shape as well as textures and it was finally settled that the most comfortable and economical for production would be to cast the board in a dual textured resin. The Rock Prodigy now has a successor, The Forge, which is a more compact version of the RPTC with some modifications. Mark explains the Forge as a compliment to the RPTC rather than a superior model, as its hold sizes fit in between the RPTC’s to insure incremental progress moving from one board to the other.

RPTC Evolution

Left: The first sketch of the Rock Prodigy Training Center. Middle: A Computer Aided Design model was made to ensure holds are ergonomic yet challenging Right: The final product, the RPTC. [All photos from www.rockclimberstrainingmanual.com]

These two boards are two modern takes on a classic innovation that take training in seemingly opposite directions. As the sport of climbing evolves, there is also the evolution of niche training, with people becoming experts at specific styles of climbing. From the hardest trad route which combines delicate movement with a headspace to place protection, to the gymnastic strength of competition climbers (and soon to be the Olympics), there are different hangboards to fit these different niches. The RPTC and The Forge include almost every hold and hand position, providing a tangible way to regiment and track progress and increase finger strength, while The Beastmaker provides holds for the advanced climber looking to push themselves to the limits of the sport. Depending on your aspirations within climbing there are now options for different hangboards to assist in your climbing goals. There are many hangboards on the market and alongside them many training regiments with which to improve contact strength. In fact, if you’re looking to incorporate hangboarding into your training routine but aren’t sure where to begin, Momentum has great personal coaching deals from the experts who can help to tailor the perfect regimen for you to see gains. Who knows: without the hangboard climbing may have never seen the visionary ascents it has or will have in the future!

Further Reading:

Mo’ Training: “How to Hangboard”: https://vimeo.com/174560436

EpicTV: Hangboard Training for Softies: http://www.epictv.com/media/podcast/hangboard-session-for-softies–a-beginner-oriented-hangboard-drill/605682

Metolius Simulator Training Guide: http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/training_giude_10_min.html

Mark and Mike Anderson’s Blog: https://rockclimberstrainingmanual.com

Beastmaker: http://www.beastmaker.co.uk/

1988 Metolius Catalog: http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/pdf/1988-Metolius-catalog.pdf

Yaniro Power Board: https://www.atomikclimbingholds.com/yaniro-power-hang-board-2

John Bachar’s Training Journal: http://www.garagegymtraining.com/2011/04/john-bachar-training-journal.html

91 Comments

  • carolyn gunnell says:

    Carolyn Gunnell

  • Erin Olson says:

    Love the article!

  • Jesse says:

    Jesse Cooley

  • Tiffany Nicholas says:

    Tiffany Nicholas

  • Jen Heaps says:

    What an informative article! Thank you!! I am new to the sport and so excited to increase my skill and strength!!! I hope I can use one of these someday! Haha!! I feel a little weak right now. Thanks again for the information!!!

  • Julie says:

    Entering the free membership contest.

  • Carson Nicholas says:

    Carson Nicholas 🙂

  • Aidan Bradney says:

    Man, reading all these stories just make me want to climb more, just recently bought my own harness so here’s hoping!!

  • Shonnee Goodman says:

    Hangboards are such a killer workout! Interesting read and well written! Thanks!
    -Shonnee Goodman

  • Paul Jones says:

    I love my hangboard. It has really helped me move to the next level.

  • Jordan Burke says:

    Jordan burke – win a free pass!!

  • Spence says:

    Loved the history of the hangboard . I love the blog! Thanks

  • Spence says:

    Loved the blog ! I also enjoyed reading about the hang board history .

  • Bruce Carlson says:

    Interesting take!

  • Aaron Brower says:

    Aaron Brower

  • Carrie Greenberg says:

    Thanks for sharing. It’s fun to learn about the origins of gym climbing!!! Loved the pictures too.

  • Alyssa Kresge says:

    Great read. Working on my hang game and those things are perfect.

  • Tiana Smith says:

    It’s like the early days of America Ninja Warrior 😉

  • Tyler G Beckstrand says:

    Nice read! I made my own hangboard to work out on and its awesome for training….just like a free month membership would be. Haha! -Tyler Beckstrand

  • Kenneth Fairchild says:

    Really cool article. I would love more about life saving equipment, like the quick draw and GriGri articles from before.

  • Bryan Love says:

    That was a great article… thanks!

  • Lien Shen says:

    Hi I have been climbing for years but never feel I have real progress. I know training is important but a lot of training manuals require serious devotion to it. I wonder if you guys can spread some tricks and quick tips for people who are busy at work and home but also can feel some change/progress of climbing?

  • Hannah peterson says:

    This was a beautifully written article about the revolution of hang boards and the change that they have made in the sport of climbing. Furthering many climbers success.

  • Makenzie volksen says:

    Went to momentum in lehi with my brother to try it out and I loved it! I have been thinking of giving It a try! My name is kenzie!

  • Natalie Davis says:

    I really think I need a hang board after reading this!!

  • Lauren Jones says:

    Super interesting article!

  • Callie Hale says:

    Interesting to learn how the sport has grown even since the 1980s.

  • Sarah Reale says:

    That VW bus set up is *by far* the best set up! Oh, and the short jean shorts! 🙂

  • Cara Fitzpatrick says:

    Interesting Read!

  • Sam Larsen says:

    love it

  • Cassidy Heaton says:

    This was a really interesting article. I am just getting into climbing and have fallen in love with bouldering. I think that practicing on the hangboard would really really help as I build up my grip strength.

  • Wendy Sunderlage says:

    Very informative post. I love it! I want to win a month membership to get me started. ?

  • Callie Clark says:

    I’d love to climb and train with a pristine grace one day..

  • Rachel Rigby says:

    This blog post is just what I needed to read this morning, I have been looking into getting a hangboard for the days I can’t make it to the gym.

  • Mark Squire says:

    Great place to climb! Now enough chalking and talking I need a free membership please. M Squire

  • Preston Larson says:

    awesome article!

  • Haley Jenninfs says:

    Haley Jennings

  • Mike Cowdell says:

    Great blog. I’m getting myself a Beastmaster ASAP!

  • Ember Bradbury says:

    Super empowering and really well written.

  • John Bickerstaff says:

    Thanks for the article! Fun to see the history, and all the way through I was hoping there would be some links for training since I’m not sure how to train on hangboard / campus boards yet. Awesome that you included those!

    It would be sweet to have some workouts printed and kept by the equipment at each gym for those of us who are unsure how to build a good grip training workout… I volunteer to type them up if someone wants to work with me on it…

    –JohnB

  • Leslie Gornichec says:

    Good read. I have two little girls and we are starting to bring them climbing with us. So fun!

  • Haley Hunsaker says:

    Momentum climbing membership

  • Karlee Dorman says:

    Interesting article. Loved all the links to tutorials for hang board training & the bucker ladder. I’ve never known how to train on one and have never asked so this was all nice information to have! Also, I’m thinking I want a hang board setup on the jeep like Steven Glowacz had on his bus.

  • Jed Wood says:

    As an aspiring chef I don’t think there’s such a thing as a “cutting board too large,” but I admire the resourcefulness. 🙂

    We just moved into a place with a unfinished basement. No excuse not to put up some hangboards!

  • Branton Peay says:

    This was a nice blast from the past! This was very educational, thanks!

    – Branton Peay

  • Ryan says:

    Awesome!

  • April West says:

    Interesting read, thanks!
    April West

  • Ariana Fuller says:

    So interesting!

  • McKenzie Gummersall says:

    I had no idea! Grateful for modern technology, that’s for sure!
    -McKenzie Gummersall

  • Ryan Comte says:

    It’s amazing how fingerboards and indoor training has revolutionized the climbing industry. It’s almost reversed now: more gym rats with less outdoor climbing experience. I think allowing climbers to do more indoor climbing/training greatly increased the popularity of the sport and opened possibilities for a myriad of others. Great article!

  • Julie Evelyn says:

    I love learning things about climbing. Especially new grips and holds, anything to make my technique better. I love climbing and this blog was pretty cool. Did learns a couple new things I can practice and get ready for summer trad climbing thanks ??

  • Chantel Hunt says:

    My brother had one of these in his apartment above the stairs. I was always too short to reach it, but even if I wasn’t my fingers are so weak on their own I don’t think I would have been able to hold on to any for long. Something like this in my own place might be worth getting my hands on! Get it? Get it? Ah, sorry.

  • Lacey Romrell says:

    Amazing how rock climbing and bouldering lead climbing free climbing has come such a long way and now it’s becoming very popular sport

  • ERiK says:

    Thanks for posting this comprehensive history of hangboards! Very cool to see Bachar free solo Leave it to Beaver.
    Time to get off the keyboard and on to the hangboard.

  • Luke Eastman says:

    Thanks for all the great info! Really good stuff.

  • Rylee hargrave says:

    Very interesting story, love the old pictures of the old setups a lot too

  • Ryan Thompson says:

    As a new climber I’m in such awe of the power, control and beauty that can be achieved through climbing. These training tools have evolved as climbing has innovated and evolved over the last several decades, but it hasn’t changed the basics: you, the hold, and gravity. Great article! Thank you.

    Ryan Thompson

  • Brian cherrington says:

    Thanks for the links. This may be what I’m missing to push past my plateau.

  • Mark Elliott says:

    Cool history! I have a 1988 Metolius Simulator hanging up in my house.

  • Whitney says:

    Love the little fingerboard birth story!

  • jill adler says:

    I’ve had a finger board hanging up in my house for 15 years. Still can’t do a pull up but it looks pretty!

  • Erin Kaufman says:

    Would you recommend hangboard training if you have problems with your wrists? I always worry about straining them.

    PS- Would love to win a month of free membership ; )

  • Noelle Nelson says:

    I love rock climbing and I think it’s so cool that it’s a dynamic and changing industry. There are so many ways to get involved, and Maya did a good job outlining the concept and ideas behind the hangboard. It would be dope if I won the free month, because I don’t have any money right now to experiment with a real membership. It would be a good way for me to see if this is a sport that I like enough and works for me enough to continue paying for a membership in the future. Thanks for the opportunity!
    -Noelle Nelson

  • Aaron simon says:

    Hangboards, and training for climbing have come a long way. Makes me appreciate the pre made hangboard I bought even more. Aaron simon

  • Chelsey Wood says:

    This is a great article!

  • Jacklyn Chiu says:

    So amazing that one person could come up with all this!!

  • Kelly says:

    That was a really great read! Learning the history behind such a fundamental training tool will make training sessions feel more inspired.

  • Sharon Juang says:

    Truly motivating!!! Gotta get back into climbing!

  • peijung tsai says:

    interesting history regarding to fingerboard. The modem version started a lot later than I imaged.

  • Marissa Marrero says:

    Momentum is awesome. I just started going and I love how open the gyms are! And that the kids have their own areas! That was my biggest concern at my last gym! The routes are fun and there is a great range of easy to difficult! I love the sandy location but I can’t wait to try the mill creek location soon! Thanks so much momentum for an awesome clean and spacious gym! I have definitely had a great experience and plan on going back more often. CLIMB ON!

  • Christine Lasher says:

    Great story!!

  • Jennifer Chase says:

    Love the article, especially since I’m in the market for a hangboard!

  • Katherine Veeder says:

    Interesting to see that climbing-specific training equipment has come so far in such a short time span.

  • Matt Beatty says:

    I’ve been wanting to make a hangboard, or pegboard. Nice history!

  • dustin hill says:

    “Knowing is half the battle.” – G.I. Joe

  • Jason Mueller says:

    Love fingerboards and the benefits they’ve given me over the years.

    I remember when I first got into climbing in the early 2000s, I started bouldering and using fingerboards along with hitting the gym for some balanced strength training. Fingerboards were seriously my crux at the time, my hand strength was questionable and I could hardly do a few pullups with proper form.

    Training smart and finding my weaknesses allowed me to utilize the board setups at my local gym to give me that power. I went from little to no pull ups to being able to do 3×30 pullups with 20-30lbs of weights on a belt in under a year. My grip when using the boards improved so much, I was nailing my first feature-rich 5.12 thanks to having that raw hand strength and grip/techqnique. This was one of my most thrilling moments in climbing when I first started as I had worked hard to hit that point.

    finger/hangboards are seriously one of my favorite tools to train with for climbing.

  • Tanton Jeppson says:

    Very interesting read! I’ve been looking at hangboards recently and it’s super cool to see the history of them and how far they’ve come. Excited to see how training in the future improves even more!

  • Amy Clawson says:

    Need to get training! Sending season is almost here

  • Andrew Ipsen says:

    Great article! Would love the bus with the hangboards on the side…

    – Andrew Ipsen

  • Nathan Peterson says:

    I love climbing and always have but I just don’t have the money to buy a gym membership. Hopefully I win the free month and I know I would put it to good use.

  • Andrea says:

    My name is Andrea and I’m from México, I’m working as an aupair here in SLC. Since I knew I was coming here I made a personal goal about trying things I’ve never done before, so indoor climbing was one of them. Last week I did it for the first time and I absolutely love it! I can believe how awesome it was and how every part of your body and you mind get involved. I really want to do this more and more, and get better at climbing every day!

  • Anna Diederich says:

    So crazy! Wish I’d known about the climbing center in Nuremberg when I was there this summer.

  • Caitlin Morgan says:

    Interesting read, thanks! It’s always amazed me how people can hang from a finger or move around on these. I can barely hang from a solid bar but I’m going to work on it. My husband is always hanging on the door frames at home and anywhere we go. Good training!

  • Halle Allsop says:

    I recently got into bouldering this past weekend up at the red rocks in Nevada. So interesting to learn more about where it came from. Really love momentum! Amazing vibes and great fellow climbers.

  • Mathew Jensen says:

    Thank you for the information, it is always interesting to read about how climbing training has evolved into what it is today.

  • Kandy says:

    Who doesn’t want s free month membership? I’d really love to read a post on building mini Rock walls for kiddos inside. It would be cool to hear an experts opinion.

  • Jaynelle Jones says:

    jaynelle jones
    New favorite place to go with the family!!!

  • Stephen Fox says:

    I never would have thought rock climbing training equipment had such an extensive history. I’m impressed. Hopefully, I’ll grow to learn more as I become a more regular practitioner

  • Matthew Funke says:

    Great insight into the world of climbing. I love the picture usage.
    -Matthew Funke

  • Laurie Bischoff says:

    It’s always interesting to know the origination of things. My daughter has loved beginning to learn the art.

  • That is really a very informative blog about the origination of hangouts. Although there are lot many climbing options available now a days but knowing about options available at that times is just amazing.
    Thanks for the informative article!

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