Definitely paint my woody, right?

Textured paint? Regular paint then textured clear coat? What did you use? 

Somebody told me chalkboard paint was a good idea, but I’m not sure, sounds fake.

Looking for inspiration. Don’t be shy, show me yours!

We used chalkboard paint and it’s great. We also use chalk to tick routes. 

Another vote for chalkboard paint. Very durable and let's you mark problems with colored kids chalk. Make sure you do a lot of layers. I'd also recommend waiting at least two or three days before putting on the holds. I put mine on the day after finishing painting and now they are stuck in the paint and super hard to get off.

Chalkboard paint it is then. Thanks for the help! 

Chalkboard paint rocks. Definitely use primer first.

I sanded mine and used WATCO Danish Oil, I think a couple coats. I liked it.

Also used chalkboard paint.  

HOWEVER, I stopped using chalkboard chalk (calcium carbonate) to mark problems.   The texture is very different than climbing chalk.  It *will* get on your holds, and it *will* make them more slick.  

EDIT: Textured plastic holds might be more forgiving when dusted with calcium carbonate.  My experience is with wood holds only. 

100% recommend painting. It makes the board much, much more durable.

Personally, I really dislike texture on a training board. It just wears out your shoes and risks hurting your skin. I don't rate chalkboard paint much, either. Even on my board, which has like 300 holds at this point, I memorize the routes and don't have trouble finding them at climb time. (Though I could see that being more of an issue if you have a lot of Tension holds, which all look very similar…)

If I could go back and re-do my panels, I'd have them bolt into the frame instead of screw, and I'd put a thick, polished, shiny layer of polyurethane on to protect it from moisture. (I'm in the PNW and the humidity is absolutely brutal on a board, even in a garage.)

Agreed, I’m glad I stained and then coated with 2 coats of poly. In the end, decided against the chalkboard paint mostly because it’s expensive, but now I think it would have been a huge mistake. On small holds, there’s been a few times where my fingernail will dig a little behind the hold if I roll into a full crimp and thinking about that happening on chalkboard paint gives me the heebie jeebies.