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Review > Element Climbing > Ions

Element Climbing sent us a box full of their new shapes. They’re a relatively new company and are working hard making their mark on the climbing community. From our experience climbing on their holds in the past, Elements shapes are unique, versatile, finger friendly and from our first impression of these holds we expected no less from this weeks featured set, the Ions:

The Ions are an eight hold, medium to large pinch set. The Element medium and large size have a wide range of sizes and if you compare the size to that of some other companies holds, you could say that the set incorporates three different sizes, small, medium and large. The smallest of them all is two finger pinch with the largest, make that the two largest, are big enough to match. The design of each hold is based upon the same theme: an incut pinch with a bulbous area to grab that helps keep your fingers in the groove of the pinch and prevents your nail from scratching along the wall when executing the more dynamic moves. As similar as they are, the shapes are all different, ranging from size and the angle of the incut and our first thought was to get them up on the 45... but Nick got them first

Nick was given the rare honor of getting the holds brand new, straight from the box without anyone touching them other than us with our usual walk through shenanigans. Nicks a new climber and he's never set before, so we let him play and helped him on his way with a wrench and some bolts. The one thing that we forgot is that Nick, like Seb, is have quite the span on them and they've got way more reach than either Noodles or Chris, so what Nick set was quite a surprise as the last move was pretty damn long :) For someone that's been climbing for 3 or so months he's setting some stuff that's pretty hard, and if he can do the moves and can complete the route then it means that they're pretty beginner friendly

So we went to work setting another problem on the 45. After taking a closer look at the holds we realized that we may have been a little over zealous on our assessment. Our original idea was to get them all up on the overhang, traversing across and finishing up high; but the smaller holds from this set could set off a finger injury and we decided to use the larger holds only. These pinches aren’t for the faint of heart, they’re narrow and you might let out a grunt or two when climbing on overhanging terrain. What saved us was the incut, they have an incut on either side that will allow you to get your thumb around the underside of the hold and you can really clamp down on the hold. Getting the route from start to finish was really hard and quite taxing; but as always we carried on and got the job done.
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We probably went a little overboard with putting these holds up on the 45, but what’s life without a little adventure. We’ve had other pinches up on the 45 and Chris has spent weeks trying to get up the problem, without any luck. We set a very similar problem this time with the Ions and it took us a couple of tries before we got to the top of the wall. They’re hard, but not impossible.
They're pretty interesting to climb on, pretty friendly for people that have trouble with their pinch strength these are a good step to getting some power on shallow angled walls, if you're strong then crank the angle up and bring the pain

Put the holds flat in the horizontal plane means you're going to get some nice semi incut edges that have a round edge, they're not the most comfortable but they work pretty well, the good thing about these holds in this rotation is that you can match most of them much easier than when they're used as they were intended


Versatility: Pinches or edges
Screw Holes: No

Interview > Beta Clothing

There's a company that you may have noticed that pops up on our site from time to time; Beta Clothing. We have a long running relationship with them, pretty much from the start of climbingholdreview we've had most of our t-shirts printed by them; they took our logo and reworked it into what you see on the back of our shirts.

Beta has been a Tour De Bloc sponsor for some time and they're producing some products that stand out from the normal run of the mill products that you sometimes see. Let's have a chat and see what's what :)


1: Name and job.
David Smith, Owner / Director of Beta Clothing Designs Inc.

2: Beta is a Canadian clothing company, how long have you been operating?
Beta was established in 2001, just after I graduated from Industrial Design at OCAD in Toronto, however it really only got serious around 2005. Since then every year Beta has doubled in size and evolved into what it is today.


3: What's the goal of Beta?
To deliver quality products, at affordable prices WITHOUT cutting corners.

4: Any stand out products that you're really proud of?
The two-tone Tektonic zip hooded sweatshirt from last years fall collection is probably my most favorite as of yet. It was the first product of ours to truly explore original design and move in a direction that we could call our own. It was a very small step, but a huge success and the beginning for what is to come.

5: You sent us a bunch of Cadence shorts telling us that they'll last, they do! How long did they take to design?
Each product is a labour of love and takes a long time. I personally research the fabrics, develop the fit and style, develop the colour combinations, and create all of the artwork for each product. Essentially I am responsible for the whole package, overall I try to ensure that every product is truly the best it can be with the resources we have at hand.

6: We get our shirts printed by you, can you talk us through the design process step by step?
Everything we do, we do to the best of our ability…whether it is our custom collection or branded clothing for you guys we oversee and manage every step of the process to ensure the highest quality and the best results. For your shirts, we track down the suppliers, develop the artwork with the client (as you know) suggest ink colours and locations, we will go as far as to produce colour mock-ups of what the finished shirt will look like BEFORE anything happens. This way the client is sure they know what they are getting. We essentially take on all of the responsibility and headache that comes with developing and producing branded clothing and allow our clients to relax knowing that they simply place their order with us and can rest assured that the end result will be delivered on time, on budget and with the highest level of quality available. We try to make every project as stress free as possible; we know that our clients have better things to do, so we take on all of the responsibility to ensure that the final product is where it needs to be, when it needs to be there, with no stress and no surprises.

7: You're also a Tour De Bloc sponsor, how did you come to fit with the climbing community? Are you a climber?
Are we climbers…ABSOLUTELY, Beta is currently staffed by some of Ontario’s strongest climbers and our team definitely includes some of Canada’s best. We have all been climbing for many years, and have been around the Tour de Bloc since its inception. You could say that Beta was born in climbing and has been raised in the city…We have been a Tour de Bloc sponsor for the last 6 years straight.

On a more personal note, I have been climbing for 10 years, I have climbed all over North America from here in Ontario to the New River Gorge (WV), The Gunk’s (NYC), The Red River Gorge (KY) and Mexico to name just a few. I trained and traveled most frequently with my younger brother Mark. My hardest red point is 5.13b (8a), though I was painfully close (last move of the crux) to my project at Lions Head, Lion King 5.13c/d (can’t claim it yet). I train twice a week in a gym and do cardio training and hot yoga on the side.

My goal is still to redpoint 5.14, which I know I am very capable of doing, though it is quite difficult to maintain that degree of fitness while managing a company as involved as Beta. I have told many of my friends that for now Beta is my 5.14 and when it is where it needs to be, it will be the greatest redpoint of my life. In the meantime I just want to maintain my fitness and enjoy all that is going on right now.

8: Being a clothing company, we know you sponsor a bunch of people (We'll we co-sponsor one of the athletes) who are they? Anyone famous?
As mentioned our company team boasts some serious talent, all team members contribute to the growth and development of the company on different levels based on their skill sets. But at the end of the day, Beta would not exist without the quality people that make it work. They are (in no particular order) Dustin Curtis (National Team Member), Bonnie de Bruijn (National Team Member), Daniel Martian (All round amazing climber, one of Ontario’s strongest climbers), Mark Smith (My traveling and training partner and again one of Ontario’s strongest), James Stuart (13 years of climbing), Frank Kocis (5 years of climbing) and myself (10 years of climbing).

9: What's new with the company this year?
What’s new with the company this year… everything!
We are just starting to roll out our newest products, definitely the best styles we have ever had to the opportunity to produce. We recently launched our new e-store and blog and both are kicking ass. Our clothing will be available in several Toronto stores starting October 1st and we are gearing up for the One of a Kind Show near Christmas. On top of all of that we cleaned up our branding, hired some more staff and most importantly signed on with the Tour de Bloc for another year, this time as a silver sponsor. Overall, we are gearing up for our best year yet and things are going very well…

9a: One of a Kind Show? Never heard of it.. care to explain?
The One of a Kind Show is a massive show that occurs twice a year, once in the spring and once for the Christmas season. It is Canada’s largest and most prestigious show where independent designers can showcase their products. The concept is that it specializes in one of a kind, small businesses; designers and artists that are independently trying to build a name for themselves in the marketplace.

It is an amazing show with an attendance of 150,000+ people for the Christmas show and it has always been one of the best ways for us to be able to meet and truly get to know each and every one of our customers. You build real relationships with the people buying your products, each season they come back to see what new products you have and how you have been. It is a very enjoyable way to do business and it allows all of our supporters to come and meet the design team, hear about the products and really learn what goes into making the clothing and building the business. We are very well supported at these events and we love it, people from all over Canada come to see what we have been up to.

If you have never been it is worth the experience, I believe for the x-mas show there are something like 500 different vendors. Again, it is a great experience for both the company and the customers, it allows us to put a face to our names and more importantly it allows us to shake the hands of every customer that comes out to support us. Something that I am very grateful to be able to do.

One of my goals when I started Beta was to always be accessible, I always want people to feel like they know me or someone from the brand. That’s why we love the Tour de Bloc as well, we set up at every event we can get to so that everyone can learn firsthand what we have been up to as a brand, I find it’s a far more personal way to do business with people and by far the best.

10: In five years, where do you want Beta to be?
Five years from now I want Beta to really be at the forefront of performance fashion apparel. Few people really understand what it takes to be creative in this industry and the time, energy and money it takes just to run the business, without trying to reinvent anything.

Every year Beta releases products that are far more creative and interesting than a lot of what is on the market. This will continue with each year passing, the only thing I want to see is the level of our creativity grow to such a degree that it truly becomes our reputation. I want people to see our designs and be blown away; I want our brand to be respected for doing things better than most and still keeping things affordable.

11: Where can people get your clothes? Is it just online or are there stores that they can go and see the products first hand?
As of October 1st of this year, we will have our products in three boutiques in downtown Toronto. We also frequent a lot of clothing shows and events; we will be attending all local Tour de bloc competitions with our team and a full selection of our newest styles. Lastly, we offer a personal shopper experience where we bring the clothing to you (Greater Toronto Area only) and there is our e-store. Remember that all of our products are guaranteed for life and we have a fantastic exchange and returns program. So if you are psyched to try our products and can only get them from our online store, relax knowing that if you aren’t truly happy with the product you can always send it back and we will makes things better.

Review > Climb It > Pinches

Sometimes you have holds that have been on the wall for a long time... sometimes you get holds and you can tell are going to be a staple on the wall the first time you climb on them. The pinches we received from Climb It, shaped by Louie Anderson, are some of those holds that are going to stick around for a long time... with that said, we give you the Pinches from Climb It;Now why do we think that these holds are going to be on the wall more often than not? Because we've had them for months and when we take them down they seem to magically return to different bolt holes. We've used them on one of our 50+ move endurance routes, you boulder problems on the 45 and one thing that is plain to see and feel is that these holds are going to make you very very strong... without killing your fingers.

All of the shapes, 9 sets of four holds and the massive power pinches (something we got wrong in our video... sorry Zach), are all similar in that they're pinches of varying widths and angles... but each one is different in a subtle way most of the time. The Power Pinches stand out and monsters that in some cases make you think you`re going to need a set of hulk hands to be able to get onto them... especially when the terrain gets steep.

Overall as you can see we all had an interesting time with these holds, they're fun to see if you can stick something that looks fairly improbable, but with a little time and some patience something that seems like it's not going to go will, but it will take a lot of effort to get the send.






All of the holds have either sloper or flat angles with a nice ergonomic round edge to them, the texture is good and when you`re done playing with traverse put these holds onto a steep wall and see how long you can hang on. One thing these holds have taught us is that body position and hitting the holds in the correct area is key to getting up that problem you've just set, get it wrong (as you can see from the video) and the games pretty much over!

Some of the holds feel like they're left hand or right hand bias which means they could almost be used for some system training, they're close... but not quite perfect for this application (do people not make system holds anymore?)

If you're looking to train your pinch strength then these are a good option to look at, there's a lot of choice to be had here, so gyms can set full on routes and the home climber can spice up their wall quite easily. The only complaint (if you could even call it that) is that one of the power pinches is SO WIDE it's hard to hang as a pinch if you have small hands

One final point is that when in the horizontal rotation these holds make for some really nice / easy slopers and edges... so when you get bored or tired you can make your climb easier :)


Versatility: Pinches / Edges or slopers.. your choice
Screw Holes: Yes on the larger holds

• Q: What are these holds like that's on the market?
• A: Well not a lot really, they are like the Teknik Svelt Pinches in that they're nice smooth shapes that are pinches. To be honest there aren't a lot of shapes like this that I can think off of the top of my head; that's not a bad thing
• Q: So you have a lot of Climb It's line... what's your favorite?
• A: Right now, these... ok... these and those Top Out Slopers that they have (especially now there are the "easier" sets in that line up) in their line up. These holds are tied at the top with the slopers for easily the shapes I like the most from Climb It. It's a personal opinion, I like and climb on a lot of Climb It's shapes and I like all of the shapes we've seen to date (apart from the Sliders that I brought a few years back); but for training the pinches do a bloody good job

Overall, I'd say if you're looking for some pinches... have a look at these, especially if you're training that grip set and you want something simple and rounder than most pinches on the market. They're not going to be everyone's cup of tea... so thankfully a wrench turn and then you're good with some nice slopers. There are other pinches that I'd also look at like some of the Sequence stuff, definitely the Teknik Svelt's and some of the E-Grips Bubble Wrap line.. but if you want to set a full on pinch route at a gym then Climb It sure do have more holds in their line up

• Medium A & B are four holds at $31
• Small A & B are four holds at $21
• Power Pinch 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 are single holds at $45 each

Review > Summit Labs > Granite Slopers & Large Granite Sloper

Holds that are cast from real rock, it's not a new thing... but it's something we've seen more and more of late. It seems that people are trying to replicate "real rock" for indoor use; it's not a bad thing, sometimes these forays into the realistic holds is a good thing... sometimes not so much.

With that being said let's look at something that works pretty well, the Granite Slopers and the Large Granite Sloper:Five holds that are going to test your grip strength... and when we say test we mean test your grip strength... really test your grip strength because these puppies are hard to hold onto. Now these holds have been molded from real rock (much like the Climb It: Silverado Cobbles), those were from river rocks... these, ooof these, well these are from granite rocks. Now I'm from the UK and I've seen slopers on the grit stone, and I've spent my time in Font where it's all slopers pretty much but these holds are unlike anything you're going to see in a gym anytime soon.... they're mental, big smooth holds; some with slight dimples and a smooth texture that is so skin friendly it's not even funny, but I'll say it again they're going to make you work to hold on to them, even when they're covered with chalk!

So the concept isn't new, and Summit being a new(ish) company; one that believes that the best place to climb is indoors and that's something we agree with. Another thing we also agree with is that big smooth shapes are the best for climbing on, they save your hands and your skin will thank you at the end of a session... and these holds are in the right vein for that; smoooooth smoothy smooth texture of doom :)

What's funny about the Summit site and their holds are their ratings of the holds, they made us laugh! The Granite slopers are rated "G" and the Large Granite Sloper is rated "PG", now most people will get this as it's a film rating, "G" is General Audiences and "PG" is Parental Guidance Suggested.... but these are used as "Flapper Ratings" ie: the chance of you getting a nice big chuck of skin ripped off of your hand whilst climbing... these holds are probably rated incorrectly! These holds aren't "G" or "PG" these holds are lower than that... these are "U" for suitable for ages 4 and over, there's no chance you'll get a flapper on these holds... ever. IF you do, then you're doing something very very wrong.

Setting with these holds is an interesting process of trying what works, somethings do work really well, other things don't. It depends upon your strengths and weakness', we've been playing with lots of low traverses of late so that's what we did with them. Then we set something a little spicier to see how far you could go with some undercling matches on the shapes... the final route (that's in the video) turned out to be waaaaaaay harder than we expected. The granite slopers are good for setting hard routes on the 45, real hard!, but what we did on the new wall extension was bordering on stupid. Who'd set a no hands start on the Large Granite sloper into a no foot campus on the Granite slopers? Well that'd be us then, we wanted to use the new wall and we figured that we'd christen it with some fun (the wall is actually built for hang board training).. and boy did we get the first couple of moves wrong, we did manage to do it (in the end) but we had our ass' handed to us... really badly!





From vertical to the 45, we set problems all over the wall although these holds are best suited for vertical to slightly overhanging terrain. With the smooth texture we were able to work a sequence over and over again without any loss of skin.

We set some pretty hard moves and the smaller holds from the Granite Slopers line can be used as pinches and they are great holds to work out that pinch strength. We had a pretty long session working on problems and then resetting and trying something new. The session ended with a campus problem on the 45. We started on the large Granite Sloper and we needed to move it around a bit before we found a good placement so we could hang off the hold. Other than a tough start, the rest of the problem went down without a hitch. Our session ended and we still had lots of energy to spare but when we woke up in the morning, our hands felt the strain. It was a little hard to stay away from using the holds as pinches and we ended up using this grip through out our session which led to our agony the next day. In the end the pain was worth it, the shapes are great to climb on with the added bonus of improving grip strength.


Versatility: Tricky
Screw Holes: No

PROS

• Molded from real rock gives that authentic feel of climbing outside
  
• Good for training pinch/slope strength
  
• Texture and shape make it skin and tendon friendly
  

Review > Uncarved Blocks > 30 Degree Set

Uncarved Blocks showed up at our doorstep, hailing from the land down under. (Do we hear a song here?)Being established in 1996, Uncarved block has been in the game for many years this is the first time that we’ve experienced their holds on the CHR wall but its not the first time we’ve seen them in Montreal. We’ve climbed on them before at one of our local gyms. They have a website that is easy to navigate and if you want to order some holds you can find the PDF file of their catalogue halfway down the home page.

So the guys down at Uncarved Block are pretty zen. They’ve put a little ying yang on each one of their holds. Don’t try to use it as a thumb catch, the material is slick and your thumb will slip right off :P

We received one of the largest sets of holds, the 30 degree set. The set includes 30 holds of all shapes and sizes. It’s too bad they haven’t put anything in they’re pictures of the holds because you can’t tell the size of the holds. With this set we got everything from big two hand slope to little edges. Uncarved block holds are designed so you can climb all day without ripping up your skin and they’ve done a good job on that.

With a set as large as this one, we had a tough decision to make. Ok, so there made for a 30 degree wall, but lets face it, we like to climb hard and are sure that we can get them on the 45 but we decided to make our first problem nice and friendly by setting an endurance route.

Usually you buy a set of holds and they all have a common theme, pinches, jugs, but with this set you get a little of everything. “Uncarved block” translates to simplicity and is a symbol of pure potential in Chinese and the holds reflect it. The shapes are simple but the larger shapes have many grips potentials depending on how you set it.

Nice and friendly is a bit of an understatement when we’re talking about Uncarved Blocks holds. They’re pretty basic shapes and its obvious where the good part of the hold is situated but they’ve designed their holds so you’ll need to work to get through a sequence. Our group was divided between those who could and those who couldn’t. This showed us that the holds are better geared towards stronger climbers but since they have a nice smooth texture, they’re great for training and getting stronger with long sessions on the boulder wall.

So we ventured to the 45. There is one hold that is a deep two finger pocket and at one point, Noodles strained a finger on it. Some of the holds worked great on the 45 and we wanted to see the full potential of the holds. When it come to easy sequences, the 30 degree set didn’t pose to much of a problem but as soon as we set some tricky moves, we found ourselves cranking down hard on the holds and led to Noodles tweaking his finger.





The holds are shaped for a 30 degree wall, and that's pretty much where they perform the best. We of course put them into areas where they shouldn't be used as that's what we like to do; the 45 degree wall is pretty much the limit for these holds, they're more than doable but hard as hell most of the time.. they'll give you a good work out on this angle that's for sure! On the 30 or a vertical wall you're pretty well set and shouldn't have any real troubles, straight out of the box with the variety of holds in this pack means you're off and setting bouldering routes or longer lead / top rope routes pretty easily... you just want to sit down and to feel the holds and see what you want to set. We had time to sit and look at them on the website so we knew (well Noodles did) right away!!

The holds are going to be harder for beginner climbers as weighting some of these holds in the correct manor is the key between getting a route and falling off, we found at the start being too full on with these holds would lead to a one way trip to the floor :) But once you get your mind around the shapes you're in for some fun


Versatility: Well.... infinite
Screw Holes: No