STOKED Awards 2021
- 1st Place – Favorite Homewall Volumes
It’s hard to find a brand as psyched about the climbing community as sToKed. This small company—run by Travis Williams—won the Favorite Homewall Volumes vote for the second consecutive year since the category started. This year sToKed won the award by a large margin, earning more than double the percentage points of any other brand.
The brand started when Travis and his wife Kimberly—the capital T and K, respectively, in sToKed—built a small homewall and handful of volumes and posted them on Instagram. The grassroots momentum took off from there, and production sky-rocketed. sToKed is also known for its holds and volumes rental programs for gyms, which has since expanded to homewalls.
In connection with their roots, focusing on the homewall market has always been a priority. When the pandemic first hit stateside, sToKed made specific packages for homewallers, and the interest was large and immediate, quickly putting them on an unfortunate 6-month lead-time. But the community support was strong. “Our faithful following has been a great asset, and they’ve been so understanding and supportive,” says Travis. “We are truly humbled and in amazement of all the support!”
Travis designs all the shapes but, in order to keep ideas fresh, he surrounds himself with other creators. This includes a handful of routesetting partners—including Miles West, Sarah Filler, Isaac Platt and Brandon Gould—and his manufacturing team, Aidan, Ethan and Adam. Some of their popular designs include the Leaners, Honeycomb Slits, and the Squeezies, many of which are sized small to accommodate homewalls, and can be combined and stacked for interesting and intricate movement. “We love volume-only boulders,” says Travis. “We have added many micro-sized volumes to help accentuate these boulders aesthetically as well as practically.”
Travis sums up sToKed’s popularity in three words: Price, Quality, and Size. “Super good pricing, fun company to work with…great shapes and sizes for home walls!” confirms Brandon Gould, Routesetter at Earth Treks Crystal City and one of sToKed’s partnered setters. Homewaller Brandon Pecoraro adds, “They have volumes that are weird enough to work on severely overhung walls such as my own. Plus, their prices are great.” Other feedback from customers includes comments like “affordable,” “quality,” and “interesting shapes.”
Through their shapes, pricing, and connection to the community, it’s undeniable that sToKed is accomplishing their goal: “Get people STOKED on climbing!”
What setters are saying about sToKed:
Jonathan has been climbing for ten years and routesetting for half as long. He is a former magazine editor, and his writing spans from marketing content and journalism to speculative fiction. When he’s not writing or bolting plastic to plywood, he’s probably outside somewhere, hiking, climbing, or surfing poorly. He’s been known, on occasion, to drop everything and travel the world for months at a time.
