I recently expanded my home climbing wall, adding a big 45 degree wall. It was the one key angle I had been missing. When I went through my hold collection to see which holds were most suitable for going on the 45 I discovered a bit of a pattern. Holds were either too big and juggy and I could campus on them. Or they were too small or slopey to do anything other than bump off or compress with because they were actually designed for less steep walls. And pinches. God, it seemed like everything I put on the 45 turned into a pinch. I have 500+ holds to choose from on my woody, and yet I struggled to find small, powerful edges that would work correctly on the 45 (edges which worked on my 30 and 40 degree walls often weren't good enough for the 45). So I started shaping some holds out of wood and they are great, if a tad unrefined :)
I was then approached by Rob from
Indoor Climbing Productions (a very cool, local climbing hold company) who suggested I have a try at shaping up some holds using molding clay. That was quite a learning process! I knew what I wanted, but sculpting it in clay was something else entirely. Anyway, after some trial and error I shaped my first set, and Rob set about taking my initial designs and crafting the holds. I am stoked with the result. The holds climb fantastically. Some of them are little flat one-pad edges (great for powerful, long movements) and others are fiendish half pads which really require some power. Have a look at the pics:
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| Holds shaped in clay |
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| The finished set!! |
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| One pad |
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| One pad, a micro jug |
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| My favourite hold. You can use it on every orientation. Half pad. |
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| Very powerful half pad hold. Love this one. |
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| Little dogbone, less incut but bigger active surface. |
So if you have a steep home climbing wall and are keen to check these out, you can pop over to
Upskill Climbing Gear and grab a set. Make sure you give me some feedback too. I will be keen to shape and design some more goodies over the coming months.
$40.00 $34.95
I was then approached by Rob from Indoor Climbing Productions (a very cool, local climbing hold company) who suggested I have a try at shaping up some holds using molding clay. That was quite a learning process! I knew what I wanted, but sculpting it in clay was something else entirely. Anyway, after some trial and error I shaped my first set, and Rob set about taking my initial designs and crafting the holds. I am stoked with the result. The holds climb fantastically. Some of them are little flat one-pad edges (great for powerful, long movements) and others are fiendish half pads which really require some power. Have a look at the pics:
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