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Climbing Holds History - 1980's
What I am searching for is the answer to, “What company was first to manufacture climbing holds that were available for sale to the overall public?” Presently at this date: 3/2025, this is what the history is showing….. First climbing holds - 1st - Entre Prises (France) 1985. - 2nd - Powroll The Wall (USA) 1986/ roks (1987) - 3rd - Camp logo hold (EP made for Italy company) August 1986. - 4th - Metolius (USA) 1987 (hangboard)/ 1988 (Holds) - 5th - Sport Climbing Systems (USA) 1988 - 6th - Vertical Concepts (USA) 1988 First Hangboard - Entre Prises (France) 1986. - Metolius (USA) April 1987. First Rock Gym - 1st - Vertical Club - (USA, Seattle WA) 1987. - 2nd - Portland Rock Gym - (USA, Portland OR) early 1988. - 3rd - Boston Rock Gym USA - August 1989 - Joe Rockheads (1st - Canada) June 1990. |
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I am sure when this wall was shown in Climbing magazine December 1985, it got many climbers ideas flowing. The problem was, “There were no climbing companies selling holds.
- Climbing magazine December 1985 - Four sided 12’ tall wall at Frank’s house. The two page story name is Training, “Pumping Wood” by Bob Murray, Photo by John Hayes. In the story there is no mention of any holds made of anything other than wood. The flowing ideas of that time were centered on wood. Even the final sentence is written: “If the climbing areas are swallowed by the blind maw of progress, climbing on wood may be all that remains of the sport of urban bouldering.” Notice - No Crash pad, not even a piece of carpet. |
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This is a photo in the 1986 Wild Things catalog. I think it is the same bouldering structure, that now has the corners built on.
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In the early days, people were already climbing on homemade walls or on buildings, but the climbers were using whatever worked as a climbing hold, mostly being home made cut pieces of wood screwed to the walls. There were no climbing gyms yet so there was not a high demand for holds to be created. The escalation of climbing hold sales grew as the need for climbing holds grew, and more and more home and climbing gyms opened all over the world.
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#1 -
Entre Prises - (France)(First company to create climbing holds) In 1983 Francois Savigny founded Entre Prises. He came up with the idea of creating climbing holds of which he began selling to the public in 1985. Climbing panels he developed in 1986. These holds were offered in Europe, but had no USA distributor. Looking at the 1986 Camp catalog, the Entre Prises holds shown have no product number marks. So the earliest of the Entre Prises holds were unmarked. |
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#2 -
Powroll, The Wall - 1986 - (First USA company to create climbing holds) In 1986 Kent Olmstead started making wood climbing holds and sold them to people that built their own wall. He named the company “The Wall,” under the incorporated name of Powroll. The holds were all wood blocks of varying sizes, but in 1987 Kent began creating resin climbing holds named “roks bouldering bloks.” 
Powroll The Wall advertisement - April 1986
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Powroll - "roks"
- November 1987 ad |
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#3 -
Camp (Italy) - 1986 Entre Prises created a Camp logo climbing hold which is shown in the August 1986 Camp products catalog. Camp, made in Italy. Camp didn’t necessarily make the hold, but it is a company hold being sold to the public. So Camp is on the holds history list as being the third company overall to sell their climbing hold to the public. 
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Climbing magazine Holds lineup:
1985 - EP/ Savigny first molded holds (France).
1986 Chris Grover (Metolius) and Alan Watts attend trade show in Europe and see EP resin holds, came back home USA with two samples. Grover show the holds to Doug Philips (Metolius founder) and they start playing around with molds and resin.
1987 summer - Grover began to design hang boards and large sculpted tiles that can be puzzled together. Watts began working at Metolius. Brooke Sandahl (Metolius) and Doug Philips shaped most of the early holds, with Grover making the molds.
1987 Roks - Kent Olmstead, then afterwards Vertical Concepts.
1988 Metolius showing hangboardes at Las Vegas trade show, Savigny approaches them to team up to import EP holds. That autumn Watts and Grover leave Metolius and found Entre-Prises USA: Phillips invested in it.
1985 - EP/ Savigny first molded holds (France).
1986 Chris Grover (Metolius) and Alan Watts attend trade show in Europe and see EP resin holds, came back home USA with two samples. Grover show the holds to Doug Philips (Metolius founder) and they start playing around with molds and resin.
1987 summer - Grover began to design hang boards and large sculpted tiles that can be puzzled together. Watts began working at Metolius. Brooke Sandahl (Metolius) and Doug Philips shaped most of the early holds, with Grover making the molds.
1987 Roks - Kent Olmstead, then afterwards Vertical Concepts.
1988 Metolius showing hangboardes at Las Vegas trade show, Savigny approaches them to team up to import EP holds. That autumn Watts and Grover leave Metolius and found Entre-Prises USA: Phillips invested in it.
Entre Prises - October 1988 advertisement
Part of the text conversation with Kent Olmstead (March 2025) -
MK - What is Sport Climbing Systems? Sorry If I sound confused. Just seeking to dial in the beginning of climbing holds. Climbing mag has a great write up but still it leaves the reader with many questions toward, who was first in creation.
KO - No worries at all. The Wall (1986) and Rocks (1987), then Sport Climbing Systems (1988 - me partnering with Dan Goodwin, who then brought in Dale Bard - and we built all the flat panels and holds for the first Snowbird World Cup wall for Jeff Lowe…) led me to me and Dale forming Vertical Concepts (1988) after splitting with Dan (Snowbird drama). All of this based out of the Powroll factory in Bend. I built holds before Metolius because they focused on their version of the EP hex tiles. We both supplied product for Gary Rall’s earliest Portland Rock Gym.
MK - What is Sport Climbing Systems? Sorry If I sound confused. Just seeking to dial in the beginning of climbing holds. Climbing mag has a great write up but still it leaves the reader with many questions toward, who was first in creation.
KO - No worries at all. The Wall (1986) and Rocks (1987), then Sport Climbing Systems (1988 - me partnering with Dan Goodwin, who then brought in Dale Bard - and we built all the flat panels and holds for the first Snowbird World Cup wall for Jeff Lowe…) led me to me and Dale forming Vertical Concepts (1988) after splitting with Dan (Snowbird drama). All of this based out of the Powroll factory in Bend. I built holds before Metolius because they focused on their version of the EP hex tiles. We both supplied product for Gary Rall’s earliest Portland Rock Gym.
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The big question is if a hangboard can be classified as a hold. I have been course setting for over 30 years and have used hangboards as holds on routes countless times. Also, creatively arranged separate holds have been used as hangboards. The Karabin Museum sees a hangboard being also a hold.
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Metolius 3/15/1988 price List
Simulator hangboard Pure Force hangboard Macrotiles Modular Holds: - 20 hand holds - 10 foot holds |
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Holds listed in the 1988 Metolius catalog
Simulator hangboard Pure Force hangboard Macrotiles (50 different shapes) Modular Holds: - 30 different handhold shapes - 6 different foot hold shapes 
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Doug Phillips (signed) - Metolius founder,
Climbing mag July 2008 - Photo: Jason Karn |
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#5 -
Sport Climbing Systems (USA) - February 1988
- Kent Olmstead and Dan Goodwin
Helpers: Sean Olmstead and Dale Bard, and the non-$350 guy.
- From Wikipedia - Daniel Goodwin is an American climber best known for performing gymnastic-like flag maneuvers and one-arm flyoffs while free soloing difficult rock climbs on national TV and for scaling towering skyscrapers.
Sport Climbing Systems (USA) - February 1988
- Kent Olmstead and Dan Goodwin
Helpers: Sean Olmstead and Dale Bard, and the non-$350 guy.
- From Wikipedia - Daniel Goodwin is an American climber best known for performing gymnastic-like flag maneuvers and one-arm flyoffs while free soloing difficult rock climbs on national TV and for scaling towering skyscrapers.
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Sport Climbing Systems - April 1988
Dan Goodwin - Photo by: Anne Marie Weber |
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Snowbird Utah (USA)
- June 7 - 12, 1988 - Comp director Jeff Lowe - Climbing wall is 115' The roof and triangle structures were built by FFKR Architects. It is made out of plywood reinforced with fiberglass resin. The wall panels and climbing holds were made by Sport Climbing Systems. Rock & Ice magazine article mentions that the climbing surface is made of fine garnet crystals that create the required surface friction. Kent Olmstead mentions that the garnet crystals were purplish in color, which the crystals were also added to the created hand holds making the holds somewhat purple. |
Snowbird Utah USA Championship announcement
- May 1988 - 
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Rock climber Jeff Lowe, along with Dick Bass, the owner of the Snowbird ski resort, invited Goodwin to build the climbing wall for the world's first International Sport Climbing Championship held at Snowbird, Utah, United States, in 1988. Goodwin did not participate in the championship, serving instead as a commentator for CBS Sports.
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Dan Goodwin - 1988 Snowbird International Sport Climbing Championship.
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#7 -
North American Mountaineering
August 1988 - Training Board with removable holds
North American Mountaineering
August 1988 - Training Board with removable holds
The Spider
- August 1988 advertisement |
The Spider - October 1988 advertisement
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Metamorphosis Studio
Carp Mtneering (USA) - May 1989 advertisement |
Vertitech (USA) - July 1989 advertisement
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Grip Head (USA) - December 1989 advertisement
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ZFQ (USA) - February 1990 advertisement
(Maybe the first volume?) |
Bolder Holds (USA) - June 1990 advertisement
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NOTE: Passe Montagne in (Canada) mentions that they started creating climbing holds and walls in 1986. But with further research, Passe Montagne may have created a climbing wall and holds for their climbing adventure school, but there is no mention of their product being made for sale to the public. Passe Montagne in the later years did create really cool holds. Looking at climbing history of Canada, first rock gym to open in Canada is Joe Rockheads in Toronto Ontario in June 30, 1990. Presently I have not found any proof that Passe Montagne created climbing holds for sale to the overall public pre 1990.
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NOTE: Tony Yaniro began experimenting with making holds in 1988 (USA).
NOTE - Canyon holds in (France) began making wall structures in 1988, and then eventually started making holds. Not sure what year the holds began being created.
NOTE - Rockworks was the first (British) mfg of climbing holds in 1988. (searching for info).