Why You Need A Home Slab Wall

As a self-proclaimed low-ball roof boulderer, this post may come as a surprise. I LOVE SLAB. If you are building a home wall, I recommend building a slab wall. I wasn’t always pro-home slab wall. I was actually very upset when my coach told me, I needed a slab wall. He said it was to strengthen my legs and improve footwork skills needed for my roof projects. After the epic adventure of building my kilterboard less than a year earlier, I didn’t feel like building another wall-particularly a slab wall. But so far, my coach, Zach Bramel, hasn’t been wrong in his recommendations. So this roof climber embarked on her slab climbing journey.

1. Limited Space leads to Huge Gains

First, I’d like to mention that building a slab wall is easy and relatively cheap to build. I couldn’t decide on an angle, so my wall is adjustable from -8 degrees to 0 degrees. After doing research on the ideal angle, it seemed that the consensus was between -5 and -10 degrees. Currently, I’ve had my wall set to -8 for a month, and I am loving it. My wall is 11 ft wide and 9 feet tall. This is more than enough space to get a good climb in or an endurance climb in. I’ve been suprised as to how little wall space people actually need to enjoy slab. People have been enjoying climbs that use less than two feet of width. Many of my technique exercises use minimal space on the wall. A big slab wall isn’t needed to gain big skills!

2. Non-Climbers like Slab!

Another surprise benefit is that slab is actually appealing to more people due to it being more accessible than a 70 overhanging wall. My toddler can’t get enough of the slab wall. It’s the first thing he does in the morning and the last thing he does before bed. Building this slab wall is one of the best things I’ve done as a mother. Speaking of mothers, I’ve even gotten my own 68 year old mother to climb for the very first time by building this wall. She called it “invigorating” and now regularly climbs on it. This is particularly suprisingly because she is a life long non-athlete.

3. Become a Better Climber at all Angles

My coach was right. Slab climbing does help with roof climbing, as crazy as that sounds. After one month of slab climbing, I tried an old roof climb and every move that I had previously struggled with felt much easier. I even found improvements at moderately overhung climbs too. I’ve set up heel hook exercises on the slab where I do hamstring curls on the wall. I’m also doing pistol squats on the wall. Many of the leg exercises I was doing on the floor, I’m doing on my slab wall. For me doing squats on the wall translates to better climber quicker than doing traditional back squats with a barbell.

4. Climb while Injured

As a person with Ehler-Danlos syndrome, injury is a major part of my life. I recently dislocated my shoulder (by sleeping wrong) and now I don’t have to stop climbing. I can do one hour of one arm or no hand climbing on the slab and feel like I’m still working towards my roof climbing goals. Being able to climb, even just a little bit, makes dealing with injuries a lot less painful.

I hope this has convinced everyone to do more slab climbing! I promise you won’t regret it!