Video: The Evolution of Climbing Holds
Adam Ondra explores how artificial holds have changed over the decades
Most of us climb at a gym, some for a few months of the year and some year-round. If you’ve been climbing for a few decades, then you’ve witnessed the evolution of artificial climbing holds.
The first were made by the French wall builder Entre Prises in 1983, and then Metolius introduced them to the U.S.A. Metolius co-owner Brooke Sandahl recalls in The Climbing Dictionary, “We would shape in clay, let the clay master harden, and then paint the whole hold in resin.” Some early holds were carved rock or fired clay, but eventually hold-makers started to shape with foam before making a mold for polyester resin.
Groperz first used polyurethane to make holds in 1991, which has a high strength to weight ratio and enough flexibility to allow it to be bolted to many wall types without cracking.
In this video, Adam Ondra talks about the evolution of climbing holds. When I think about climbing in the gym, I believe that climbing holds, and secondarily, the route setters really make a climbing gym. You cannot really make that many variations when it comes to the wall itself. Various steepness, aretes or dihedrals. But that’s it. Actually, holds are what is giving you the opportunity to climb up the walls. The history of climbing holds is fascinating. I have been climbing for almost 25 years, and the climbing holds have changed radically. Watch the following video to find out more about history, evolution, development, see some incredible old-school climbing holds and learn about the presence and possible future of climbing holds.
Climbing Holds
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