First there was Smith rocks, Ceuse and Hueco.

In the 80’s and 90’s Smith and Ceuse held sway over shapers imagination with their simple pockets and crimps. Holds from these places were easy to replicate for early shapers. Then climbers and shapers headed to the steep dishes of Hueco Tanks and the strange cobble stones of Maple Canyon, Utah. Here they were inspired to challenge conventional thinking and to re-imagine the potential of indoor climbing holds.

And then there was Fontainebleau.

Font was both a conundrum and inspiration for shapers of the late 90’s. How were they to re-create large, full-on, double-handed and belly rubbing slopers? How to mimic the brain rumples and elephant skin ripples of this ancient sandstone? Fontainebleau’s exceptional morphology brought about the most profound change to the thinking of shapers of the time.

Thus was born the giant hold.

The Original

Perhaps the single greatest hold shape of our lifetime is “The Boss”, by the now legendary hold company, Pusher. This hold revolutionized the hold industry and made setters and shapers alike rethink what was possible with plastic. “The Boss” introduced the world to its first “giant” hold, and the now ubiquitous Font style shapes.

“The Boss”, along with it’s two brothers “The Beast” and “Jabba”, was a setters dream come true and could be counted on to provide the makings of jaw-dropping hard problems. Now setters and climbers could feel what it would be like to climb on the world famous boulders of France without leaving their dusty local climbing gyms.

Present day

Today you can go into almost any climbing gym and find yourself in a land not unlike Brobdingnag; a land of giants. These giant holds are a part of the very culture of indoor climbing. It would be hard to imagine a gym opening up now without a cache of extra large holds in the setting closet.

Hollow backing: Light as a feather, hard as hell to hold

The best part of giant holds is that they are damn huge! The worst part about these holds is that they are damn huge. Setting with these giants can be like wresting with a refrigerator to get it up on the wall. This can be especially difficult when hauling them up an extension ladder or trying not to drop them while on rope. One technique hold companies have created to help route setters manage these beasties is to pour the holds with a hollow back.

Hollow backing is a process where the back of the hold is scooped out so only the core bolt and the rim is left, which allows for significantly lighter holds. Even when these holds are hollow backed and made with light-weight urethane, however, dealing with a hold that is two to three feet in length is still going to be awkward.

Caveat

It’s a shame that wall manufactures are still producing walls that do not allow for these extra large holds. If your wall is concrete finished, highly featured or has a “real rock” texture, these big holds will not sit flush to the wall and will be more prone to chipping. It’s best to think twice before spending your entire hold budget on just a few holds that you will only be able to use in a few select places.

The review

Below is a sample of some of the offerings of the best hold companys’ bolt-on giants. Giant in this case refers to holds that are around two feet in length or diameter. Though don’t hold me to that, I didn’t get my measuring tape out to measure every one. (Listed in no particular order).

• Nicros: This old school grip maker has by far the lightest large holds on the planet because of their “Extreme Hold Technology” (a lousy name for an awesome invention). They use fiberglass to make lightweight, super strong holds that are even lighter than some of their original jugs. However we would like to see them step up and use this technology for even bigger holds than they currently make. We’d also like them to show some restraint on their EHT webpage, where their excessive use of the word “extreme” makes us want to vomit.

• Stone Age: Stone Age leads the way with the largest variety and selection of giant holds, with an amazing thirteen 4XL and three 5XL behemoths. The standard bearer in this collection is the “Colossus”, which is perhaps found in every commercial gym in America, and is the bane of crimp crushers everywhere. All of Stone Age’s large holds are hollow backed as well.

• Revolution: They have weakly continued the tradition of big holds from their predecessor, Pusher. Though each of their lines carries a “Huge” hold, none steps up to the standard of the original “Boss”, now redesigned and simply called “Font huge”. Revolution states on it’s website that it will start “hollow-backing about a dozen more of the XXL and Huge Holds” in 2007. I’ll believe that when I see it.

• Teknik: This small grip company took the market by storm in 2000 with fresh, smooth, original shapes. After getting their holds onto the test problems of the now defunct PCA, they gained a reputation as a hold company that actually had their stuff together. While they only offer three shapes that fit into the big hold catogory, their “Pinchite1″ and “NRK1″ have become staples of competition setters everywhere. All holds are now made of tough urethane and hollow backed.

• Entre Prises: Say it French, man! EP may be one of the oldest, if not the oldest hold company on earth. But it took them until the new millennium to catch up with the American tradition of BIG, when they brought in professional shaper Boone Speed to put a cowboy-boot-kick into their Euro grips. They now offer seven giant holds that are all hollow backed, with smooth, clean lines. The best of these is the “Brain”, which is so similar to the Revolution “Font huge” and the original Pusher “Boss” that we think Boone might be a Francophile. The “Granddaddy” also offers a smooth, big groping hold that’s akin to wrestling with a dinosaur egg.

• ETCH: ETCH came on the scene around 2003 with a bang, with many original giants to play around on. They now have three “mega features” available to the public. The best are the “Big Worm” and “Grapes of Wrath”, which are very original and hollow backed. ETCH also has their “Features” that include the unique “Orbship” and “Breast Plate”. Routesetter.com can’t wait for Ben Montgomery to put out some new shapes.

• Atomic: If there was an “Ugliest giant hold award” it would undoubtedly go to Atomic for their 3XL Fontainebleau sloper. However, they deserve mention for designing it “so that the larger holds are angling the opposite way when using the intended harder [orientation]; making it harder for the climber to cheat their way around the intended move.”  This sounds like common sense for holds with many hand position possibilities, yet so many other hold companies seem to have missed this point.

• Metolius: The Metolius “colonettes” are a little behind the times but are original and are the only kind of this type on the market.

• So Ill: Entered the market recently with two giants. The price alone is reason enough to take a second look at these wonders. See previous review here.

• Morganic holds: Claims to have “some of the biggest [shapes] on the market”. This of course is unsubstantiated. Although for a hold company many setters outside of Utah have never heard of, these guys do have a prolific collection. However, many of their shapes look like rip-offs from the EP and Teknik catalogs.

For the money

If my boss was holding the whip over me to buy giant holds “and keep it under $100 you ladder monkey”. I would place a call to Stone Age, where all the 4XL holds are the same price ($59.00), and order the “Cortex”. Then I would ring up the ETCH factory in Baltimore to order their “Orbship” ($54.00). Even without shipping I’ll have to take a few lashes, but it would be worth it.

If on the other hand I worked for a benevolent dictator of a boss who asked me politely to order two of my favorite giant holds, “and don’t let the price get in the way my beauty”. Well, I would shoot over to the Entre Prises’ website and pick up a “Granddaddy” ($89.00) and then for nastalgic reasons head to Revolution for a “Font Huge” ($69.00).

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