Isolation Games: Building a Home Campus Board

This article is a run-through of how we constructed a basic campus board for use outdoors, and potentially indoors depending on space or with modification. We have included materials, diagrams and photos. If you have any questions please comment below or get in touch.

Within a few days life changed a great deal for us, along with many people over the planet. We made the snap decision to drive back from Spain, leaving behind plans of bouldering, sport climbing, hiking and swimming for an intense two and a half day drive back to Gloucestershire in the UK, where we could hide out at my parents place until things settled. We took the decision to isolate when we got back, having just returned from a high risk country, and so had the drop on the rest of the UK. We are now on day 13, so no sunny climbing for us on the weekend that resulted in full lock-down. We were already planning a campus board that, if not enough to assuage our climbing pangs, would at least keep us a bit fit for the foreseeable future, and would also provide a bit of entertainment for ourselves, my parents (we'll make climbers out of them with this) and our neighbours, who watched the structure grow with bemusement.

Brief

The brief was to create a campus board that:

• would be moveable, so we wouldn't need to weatherproof it or, more importantly, retrieve shattered pieces from the neighbours greenhouse after high wind, which is common here; also so we can take it when (if?!) we leave
• would facilitate a warm up, as well as push ourselves
• we could add our fingerboard too
• could be used as an attachment point for rings and trx
• would be reasonably attractive – see parents and neighbours

The plan definitely evolved from our initial sketches, but the simple drawings shown in this article, although not to scale, are very close to the end result of the erected campus board.

Internet research led us to a simple A-frame design, with some modifications to suit our needs. There were a few things that we changed further as we went along, with a little consultation from an engineer (my Dad). We upgraded the 12mm ply to 18mm for added structural integrity, a good decision looking at the movement in it now. We were intending on further reinforcing the structure with wood cross-beams to the sides and diagonal struts beneath the board to add more solidity, but found that we were happy with the amount of movement, and the weight and manoeuvrability were more important to us. They remain open as future modification options.

The final change was making a bigger board: our initial plan was to use half a ply sheet (1200x1200mm), but we got overexcited and used ¾. This has made it more heavy and generally more of a pain, but it is also more versatile to use. Retrospectively, it's worth a little grumble re-erecting it each time to have the benefit of more rungs, more height, big air-time and we can always chop the top off if it becomes too much of a pain.

Campus rungs

Width of rung is generally recommended between 40-50cm. We elected for 50cm as we had the space, and to maximise comfort. We chose a larger rung, 47 x 50mm for several reasons: comfortable warm-up; practise new skills; 'off' days. The second set are smaller, at approximately 15 x 30mm -  for the gains! The distances between the rungs (measured from the top of one rung to the same point on the next rung) can vary depending on preference; there are guides available online that will provide parameters for different rung sizes and board angles. The setup we used is on the larger end of the scale, big rungs being spaced 25cm apart and 21.5cm for the 15mm small rungs. The treated wood (big rungs) comes 'regularised', so just needed a light sand. For the smaller rungs we used some scrap wood and took the sharp angle off with a knife, then sanded it smooth to create a finger-friendly edge. Campus rungs can be bought pre-fabricated from a variety of manufacturers but at a significantly higher cost.

Angle

Again there are a range of recommendations, usually between 15-20°. We went for 20°, in part because it seemed like a good round number, mathmatically speaking, and in part because a shallower angle can lead to banging into the wall and rungs below. Although 20° is steep, the inclusion of a larger set of rungs makes it less difficult. We don't worry too much about measuring the angle each time we put up the board, we just eyeball it based on the fingerboard, so chances are it's not accurate anyway.

Materials

1 x ply sheet, 18mm, 1800mm x 1220mm {bought as 2440mm x1220mm / 8'x4'} (board)  ~ £40
4 x treated 100 x 47mm {4"x2"}, 3.6m (frame) ~ £10pu / £40
1 x treated 50 x 47mm {2"x2"}, 3m (big rungs) ~ £7
2 x 30 x 15mm, 2m (small rungs) ~ £6
2 x coach bolt, M10, 130mm w/ nuts ~ £3 {bought as 10 pack ~ £15}
2 x washers 
2 x rope length, recycled climbing rope, 4m each approx (for A-frame supports) ~ free
Zinc-plated screws, M5 x 50mm (at least 100) ~ £8

Total rough cost ~ £104 (we'll update these when we get the bill through!)

​We used our local builder's merchant, Chalford Building Supplies, who provided great quality materials and plenty of patience and advice with ordering.

This is the basic workflow that we followed with the build:

1. Measure and cut down ply to size using hand saw.
2.  Screw ply board to two lengths of timber.
3.  Attach campus rungs using screwdriver (if using your own homemade-rungs, pilot hole your fixing points first, it might split the wood otherwise). A spacing diagram is useful here.
4. (see photo above) Clamp second two lengths of timber to the outsides of the first two, at 35cm from the top. Drill 10mm hole through both pieces at about 50cm from the top of the board (15cm from the end of outside length). Push through bolt, using hammer if needed. Add washer and bolt on inside, tighten to hand tight, remove clamps.
5. Cut feet of back supports at the same angle that the wall will stand at, for example 20° for us. 
6. Erect structure at desired angle. Drill holes through support timber to thread rope. We used height of 45cm from the ground on back supports and 50cm on front supports.
7.  Tie rope on back support, we used a double figure of eight. Tie each side to front support, using same knot and work slack through until it is under some tension.
8. Tighten bolts on pivot point of frame with a spanner/wrench. 
9. Get campusing, get swole!