Atxarte Climbing Mixed Bag Review

 

Atxarte Holds have been a bit of a mystery…  Until recently they did not have a website, and if you have heard of them at all, it’s probably when you’ve seen them for sale on Amazon.  The shapes looked cool, but we never knew of any gym that used them, so buying any seemed risky.  So needless to say, we were very intrigued at the prospect of doing a review for them.  They sent us ten different sets, and overall we were impressed.  In general, the holds are pretty affordable and well made.  It should also be noted that while they now have a great website, they have retained their Amazon storefront, and yes, they are Prime Eligible.  For Amazon Prime members, this equates to huge savings on shipping costs.  Check them out their whole line at www.atxarte.com or on their Amazon page.

Perfect Pinches Large - 5 Holds - $65

These holds are very ergonomic, moderately directional, and have some cool surface flair.  We say moderately directional because they could function as system holds if you had 2 sets.  The directionality comes from the variation in positivity on each side.  They vary in width and depth of incut, and all but the widest one would function as a true pinch on steep terrain for all hand sizes.  Nothing special or innovative here, just some solid comfortable pinches.  Expect 5.9ish moves on vertical, V2-V3 on moderate overhangs, and no easier than V4 on steep.  

Stylee Screw-On Large - 10 Holds - $35 

Sandstone Training Screw-Ons - 5 Holds - $25

We admittedly do not have much experience with screw on handholds.  The bar is set pretty high for any future experiences though.  These are great holds.  Given their shallow profile, they are surprisingly incut.  Naturally this results in a very small radius and they feel a little sharp, but that is to be expected.  Obviously the steeper you get with these, the less this matters.  They are all predrilled and are very affordable.  If you’ve never used screw-ons on your home wall, you should.  They are perfect for filling gaps between t-nuts.  The Stylee set is generally more positive than the sandstone set, but both sets are suitable for steep walls.  You could probably eek out a V4 on a 50 degree wall with either set, but could likely break in to double digits as well.

Worms Large - 5 Holds - $65

Worms Enormous - 5 Holds - $285

Out of the box, these were the ones we were most excited about.  Turns out the looks do not deceive – this line is an absolute blast to climb on.  Most of them were very useable on the 50 in the V3-V7 range and some of them are positive enough to realistically be used in a roof.  The Enormous set are all matchable and could be used to force some awesome heel & toe hooks.  The ones they sent were not hollow backed and were VERY heavy.  We brought this up with them and they had already planned to hollow out the heaviest ones, and sent us a few of them.  They are way more bucket friendly and they ought to get a little bit cheaper as well.  Any of these holds would be an excellent addition to any home wall or gym.  Highly recommended!

Spade Crimps Medium - 5 Holds - $40

Sandstone Crimps Medium - 5 Holds - $40

The Spade Crimps are more of a finger bucket set than true crimps, but they are a great set.  Smooth comfortable radius, with some nice thumb catches.  Pretty standard, but well done.  You won’t get much more difficult than V4 with these on a steep wall.  The Sandstone Crimps are true crimps and are quite a bit harder than the Spades.  We could only hang onto a few of them on the 50 degree wall, and while we cannot send V8, we would imagine that’s where you’d land with these.  Expect nothing easier than V3 on any overhang.  Again, nothing groundbreaking here – just some well executed finger buckets and crimps at a fantastic value. 

Sandstone Crimp

Sandstone Crimp

Multiverse Small - 5 Holds - $30

Multiverse Enormous - 5 Holds - $285

Multiverse Small

Multiverse Enormous

This series features screw-ons molded into the actual hold.  So technically they aren’t screw ons because they cannot be removed - but they actually have screws.  Very interesting…  In the Small set, this concept worked pretty well.  The screw ons made for sweet thumb catches and small pinches – more of a visual flare to a standard crimp line.  They are tough and did not even go near the 50 degree wall.  Expect no easier than V3 on moderate overhangs, and double digits on steep terrain.  Cool holds and a fantastic value.  

The larger sizes were another story.  There are pinches and slopers in Enormous set.  The base shapes for the pinches are so cool that you wish the screw-ons were not even there.  In the slopers, they seemed more appropriate, except that there were too many of them – there was really no way to set them as true slopers, because you could always just grab the screw-ons, no matter how the hold was oriented.  The addition of the screw-ons on the biggest pinch not only ruined one of the coolest pinches we’ve ever seen, but also made it wide enough that most people couldn’t even pinch it!  The screw-ons mold idea is interesting and may be worth exploring further, but we suggest fewer of them and a bit more attention to how they will affect the use of the hold – especially on the pinches.  We cannot recommend the Enormous set.

Limestone Enormous - 5 Holds - $285

These also generated some excitement right out of the box.  They all feature a shallow pocketed texture and look great.  They are all hollow backed so they are super light for their size, but they lack a center column.  We have found holds without them are far more prone to cross threading - the column helps keep the bolt perpendicular to the wall.  The added weight of a center column wouldn't amount to much, and could reduce potential frustration. They appear to be a sloper set at first glance (with the exception of the one amazingly versatile jug, but they all have small incuts either at the wall interface or in the form of a deeper pocket in the texture.  Unfortunately, most of them have such an incut on both sides of the hold, which takes away the option of a true sloper when setting.  If they were to get rid of one of the incuts, it’d make these holds more versatile and allow them to be used on more difficult routes.  That said, these were a blast to set with and climb on.  They would yield VB-0 on vert, V2-3 on a moderate overhang, and V5+ on steep.  If you have a smaller homewall, these might not be the best choice due to their size, but these would be amongst the favorites in any gym.