If you are thinking about buying big climbing holds for the first time, you might be a little hesitant. They can take up a lot of space, and can be quite expensive. This page is dedicated to discussing some of the questions you may be thinking about. We hope you find the answers you need!

What is a Big Climbing Hold?
For the sake of this discussion, the volume of a Large Hold will be "the minimum volume of material required to make a functional hold in any style" (jug, crimp, sloper, etc.). XL will be "anything that is bigger than and not more than twice the size of a large hold due to artistic requirements or a unique function" (eg. something big enough to grab with both hands at the same time). Big Holds will be anything bigger than XL.

Big holds look nice. They provide variation that smaller grips cannot. Some of these are so big that it completely changes the way a climber must move in order climb past it. They can make certain moves like a "dyno" or jump impossible. They can also make certain moves like "mantling" possible. If a big hold is part of a climbing route or boulder problem, that route definitely gets more attention than routes with only normal size grips.

Are huge holds really necessary?
This is a broad question and has many answers. The most obvious answer is NO. If your goal is simply to get climbers from the bottom of the climbing wall to the top, huge holds are not necessary.

Lets take a look at the needs of a commercial rock gym. Rock gyms need a lot of customers coming and going on an almost constant basis and repeat customers are essential. To keep customers coming back, you need to know why they come in the first place. Some climbers do it for fun occasionally, some do it for a good workout, and for some climbing is almost more important than eating.

Will the recreational climbers come back to your gym simply because you have big holds? Maybe. It might depend on whether or not the gym accross town has them also. For most recreational climbers, I would bet that getting up high is much more important than climbing on huge features.

For those fitness climbers out there big features may or may not be helpful to keep them coming back. I don't know about everyone else, but for me exercise can get boring. I need variation to stay committed. If you want to keep your fitness climbers from getting bored with their routine, big features might be a good idea.

Now for the serious rock climbers, the people that are in the gym every tuesday and thursday, watching bouldering videos online daily, and climbing outside somewhere on the weekends. Indoor climbing is different from outdoor climbing. In my experience big holds can help make the indoor experience a little more like it is on real rock. Many times, a memorable or "classic" boulder problem or route has a big prominent feature that makes it unique. You make a few moves, jump to a big ledge, make a couple more moves, and finish the route. In this way adding some big features to indoor routes can help simulate climbing outdoors. Another way big features satisfy serious climbers is by bridging the gap between the short people and the tall people. Many times big features have secondary areas that can be grabbed in additon the easiest spot. A tall person may be able to reach all the way to the easiest spot. A shorter person may not be able to reach all the way to the good area immediately, but they might be able to grab the secondary area that is closer, and bump to the good spot. If not for the big feature and the different ways to use it, the route may be easy for tall people and impossible for short people.

I believe using big holds in addition to regular size grips will enhance the experience of serious climbers. At the same time I think they are going to train and hang out at the gym, whether the routes have big holds or not.

Route Setting...
While this isn't so much a question, it is important to consider. If you want to keep customers coming back and enjoying the gym you have to have good routes. Each route comes from the imagination of the route-setter. Route setting like any job, if done long enough can get boring. If setters are bored or uninspired it's going to show in their routes. New holds, especially big ones can breathe new excitement and inspiration into your route-setters. Excited route-setters make better routes, and give your customers a better experience.

Bottom Line, You Decide.