Since its inception in 2014, the CBJ Grip List has been informing the climbing gym industry and the routesetting trade on the favorite grips of routesetters around the world. Beyond the data, behind every Grip List award is ultimately the hard work of teams of shapers, setters and other professionals at climbing hold companies, and we’re proud to celebrate the fruits of their labor with you each year.
This year’s Grip List Survey methodology functioned similarly to past year’s (except there were no homewall categories this year). All routesetter votes—votes of professional setters who have been paid to set in the past 12 months or have set in a commercial climbing gym, competition, rec center or university/school setting—were compiled to decide all the Setter’s Choice awards.
For the Grand Prize and the Favorite Holds awards, we assigned these points: each first pick got 5pts; each second pick got 4pts; each third pick got 3pts. The sum of the points determined the Favorite Holds brands, with the 1st place brand receiving the Grand Prize. This methodology originated from veteran shaper Ty Foose and aims to provide a better representation of brand popularity among setters, versus a single brand vote. The voting for the other Setter’s Choice awards, however, was handled plainly as in years past, with each vote counting as one.
Below is the geographical distribution of the votes as well as the complete results for all the Setter’s Choice categories, with brands that earned at least 1% in a category listed in each chart. The voting results and methodology for the latest CBJ Grip Showcase events held in Salt Lake City, Portland and Chattanooga are also shown below.
Congratulations again to the winners of the 2024 Grip List awards!
Climbing Business Journal is an independent news outlet dedicated to covering the indoor climbing industry. Here you will find the latest coverage of climbing industry news, gym developments, industry best practices, risk management, climbing competitions, youth coaching and routesetting. Have an article idea? CBJ loves to hear from readers like you!
