The 10 most iconic grips in us bouldering
“Dog bone”, “butterdish”, “trailer hitch”, “football”; while to most Americans these are things you might see in a West Elm catalog or a Budweiser commercial, but mention these to any rabid boulderer and you might get a soliloquy about how sick it is to find such unique grips on actual rock. Ever since the days of the sport’s pioneers like John Gill and the Verm, the most storied boulder problems in the US have been defined by unique features that just beg to be climbed on.
What makes a climbing hold iconic? There are three primary ways for a grip to rise to the status of legendary. First, by being a defining feature of a historically significant boulder problem; think the bolt on Midnight Lighting or any of the holds on Full Service. Next, by being so unique and mind-blowing that one just feels compelled to grab it (i.e. the handle bar on No Substance.) Finally, and overwhelmingly based on your votes, by being a critical and memorable component of modern day test pieces.
Let’s get into it — in reverse order, the 10 most iconic grips in US bouldering, assembled and voted on by Sickos like you:
Honorable Mention: “The Pinch” | Pinch Overhang V5 | Rotary Park CO
As far as bouldering OGs go, no one will ever touch John Gill. While studying math at Colorado State University in the late 1960s, Gill put up dozens of boulder problems in the Horsetooth Reservoir foothills that remain sought after ticks on the Front Range.
I’d like to imagine the Godfather of bouldering was a Sicko himself who stumbled upon the Mental Block while tripping on acid and said to himself “Holy shit, look at this perfect brick pinch!” Even 60 years ago, nothing was more inspiring than finding a blank wall with a single amazing hold right in the middle of it.
- Max Zolotukhin -
10. “Beak Edge” | Barndoor 2000 V12 | Stone Fort TN
The first time I visited Stone Fort (née Little Rock City) during the triple crown comp in 2003, me and my Florida homies were blown away by the quality of the lines at the area. Most of our outdoor bouldering experience up to that point was at Horse Pens 40 and Rocktown, two areas with loads of cool formations and great movement. But when we first laid eyes on projects that would become The Shield, Flying High, and Barndoor 2000 among many others, we finally understood what it meant to be inspired by 5 star lines.
I moved away before being capable of climbing most of them, but unquestionably the line that was always most intimidating and unlikely was Barndoor. It looked like it was straight out of an art gallery, complete with a random pink splotch of sandstone in the bottom right corner as if signed by the Creator himself. You couldn't NOT try it.
A slopey left facing start rail turned upward and was capped off by a perfect triangular beak edge that was just comfortable enough for your back three fingers before a blank 5 foot section of wall that seemed completely unconquerable. It wasn't until Jimmy came of age that it finally fell in 2009. To this day when I liken boulder problems to great paintings or feats of architecture, no problem comes to mind more than Barndoor, and no grip had ever felt more desperately perfect.
- Max Zolotukhin -
9. “The Football” | Full Service V10 | Hueco Tanks TX
The boulder opens up like a clamshell, forever in the shade but bathed in the glow from the reflection of the sun off the dirt below. There’s a reason this problem has captivated countless souls over the years. With every move you navigate through another classic hold - the H, the J, the Loaf. The magic of the problem is that no matter which sequence you take through these holds, of which there are many, there is no easy option. Whichever path you decide to take, they all unite with one goal: to latch the most iconic grip of them all, the Football.
Shaped by the mystic geologic forces that gifted us with Hueco Tanks, this football shaped depression in the rock is your target. It is neither a jug nor a bad hold, sticking it requires precision and the maintenance of tension through your entire body from your hands to your feet. If you survive the initial contact, relief! A few more thoughtful moves and you are bathing in the energy of the sun’s rays atop this classic boulder.
My biochemistry professor once gave me an ultimatum when I wanted to give up going to grad school: do you want to live in your car and climb rocks or do you want to spend your time unlocking the secrets of the fundamental nature of the universe? I found a loophole to this one breezy day, over-caffeinated, when I pulled onto Full Service from the ground. The moment I stuck the Football was singular. For a brief moment that stretched forever in time, the meaning of it all became clear.
- Jake Croft -
8. “Horseshoe crimp” | Jade V14 | RMNP CO
When I was a kid, the local rock gym was always playing Dosage 5 in the lobby, featuring the first ascent of Jade. A young D. Woods described the crux grip as "The worst hold I've ever grabbed on to, by far. Basically a two finger needle...it like forms this horseshoe razor blade."
When you first grab the crimp the move feels unlikely; there's only room for one finger in the horseshoe divot, with a quarter pad to the left and right. It's most intuitive to put the middle finger in the divot, so the index and ring can take some weight. I did the move a few times with this method, but the mini-edge would wear out my index skin quickly, and I couldn't make the move consistent.
I switched to trying with my index in the horseshoe divot; this meant taking the hold with only two fingers, but I immediately felt more solid on the move. This is one of my favorite feelings, when a climb becomes possible, and you know that each go has a real chance. I stuck the move and held it together through the stand and victory jugs, topping out to a view of Chaos Canyon as the sun dipped behind Hallett Peak.
It's been almost 20 years since the first ascent of Jade, and the crux hold—that notorious horseshoe crimp—still stands as a test piece of American bouldering.
- Andy Lamb -
7. “Handlebar Jug” | No Substance V8 | Joe’s Valley UT
The start feature of No Substance is such a seemingly unlikely formation resembling something like a giant twisted pretzel stick, a pool noodle, or a vortex you'd see spiraling above a drain, yet frozen in space. Conjuring many different analogs to the mind at first sight, it sits perfectly at shoulder height just asking to be climbed on.
This hold not only initiates the climb, but also asks you to incorporate heel hooks and toe hooks on it as you work your way up and right along the sloping arete of the boulder, further adding to its appeal. Some people even opt to crawl through the body-sized hole it forms in the wall before continuing the more conventional start of the boulder. Regardless of how you choose to use it, there's no doubt that it's one of the most iconic grips in Joe's Valley.
- Luke Skinner -
6. “Dimple pinch” | Black Lung V13 | Joe’s Valley UT
The dimple is perfect — tempting griptophiles that approach to pull onto the start and take a chance at grabbing that perfect dish. Its as if someone took a massive Moqui ball and pulled it from its place only to leave the impression that requires so much precision in strength and movement.
Steven J. once told me that him and his buddies thought the climb that is now Black Lung was going to be much easier than it was. At the time they looked up at the perfect black dimples and thought the holds would be positive, but the black stone is deceptive when it’s untouched. The Black Lung Dimple Pinch represents purity in power and technique. One cannot simply grab and pull on this hold. The subtleties to repeat the move as Ben Moon did, a name that in Utah is synonymous with Black Lung, requires more then what the Kilter board offers in the local Gym. Try as you might to crimp, pinch harder, or pull down into your lats…it will elude you as it has countless others.
- Kyram Adsit -
5. “Finger Lock” | Wet Dream V12 | Red Rock NV
Its ironic that the most iconic hold on one of the best test pieces in the Western US is effectively the absence of one. Rarely does difficult bouldering involve any kind of crack climbing technique, but that's exactly what you find on the penultimate move of Wet Dream; a flat slot shelf stretching across a convex wave, where the only good grip is the coming together of the top and bottom of the slot, roughly two inches apart. A comfortable bicycle gives one time to pause for a second or two to pick which of the unpleasant finger lock options you can opt to engage with.
While most go for the simple two finger lock, I remember sussing a thumb-over-index ring lock that while unorthodox, felt much easier to release after the big dead point to the slopey shelf. For a power endurance boulder with such an amalgam of great grips and moves, only one will leave you saying "I'm glad I'll never have to use a hold like that ever again!"
- Max Zolotukhin -
4. “The Pinch” | Lucid Dreaming V15 | Buttermilks CA
THE quarter pad glassy mini pinch from your dreams, and maybe one of the most improbable holds in the world? With just enough bite for your fingers and a thumb catch in the perfect spot, this impossible looking grip becomes a reality! To me, it feels like the entire boulder was crafted around this one hold.
Lastly, I think this hold defined a generation. Me and everyone I know who trains on spray walls and boards strives to test themselves on the legendary quarter pad glassy mini pinch one day.
- Austin Hoyt -
3. “Dog Bone” | Esperanza V14 | Hueco Tanks TX
No hold defines steep hard American bouldering more than the eponymous "Dog Bone" on Esperanza. You can board climb all you want in rabid anticipation of your first Hueco pilgrimage but nothing prepares you for THAT move.
Sure, all the holds are incut, but holding the tension on the right foot, dragging the left toe scum, and perfectly latching the un-tick-mark-able dog bone requires levels of mastery that few ever achieve. Did I mention you have to do 3 more hand moves and roughly 6-8 more foot moves while still still owning the shit out of that hold?!
Its rare that doing a singular hand move on a problem that has over a dozen of them feels like a major accomplishment, but few tops feel as good as latching the dog bone and being like "holy shit, I'm still on the wall!"; unfortunately, On Esperanza, that's only half the battle.
- Max Zolotukhin -
2. “The Lightning Bolt” | Midnight Lightning V8| Yosemite Valley CA
The namesake hold on THE most famous boulder problem in the world, Midnight Lightning. Does it get any more iconic than that?
The Lightning Bolt hold is a perfect Yosemite crimp — comfy and flat but with friction that grabs you back. The dynamic move to the Lightning Bolt marks the midpoint of the climb and signifies the shift between the technical opening and the committing lip encounter of Midnight Lightning.
In a beautiful twist of fate the part of the Lightning Bolt you throw to is gently incut making the stick easier while the part you match is only good enough to make the next move possible. That two-tiered shape means the match is elegant and a perfect setup for the outro.
Grab this iconic grip and enjoy the subtleties of what makes it such a perfect example of Yosemite bouldering and it’s history!
- Josh Horsley -
1. “The Pinch” | Slasher V13 | Joe’s Valley UT
I first heard about this wall from Jamie Emerson’s B3 Bouldering blog in the late 2000’s; as legend has it he was shown the boulder by dirtbag-in-chief Yuri Kimball during the second wave of Joe’s Valley development. It wasn’t until 2010 that spotter-to-the-stars Paul Nadler quietly established one of the country’s best power test pieces.
“When first trying Slasher we thought it would go strait up” recalls Nadler.
“Not even using that hold as a pinch. it seemed much more obvious. After getting shut down on that, we realized it was easier to grab the crux hold as a pinch and go left almost into Afterthought which Jamie had already established.”
“After that, I got super close to doing it that year, falling at the last jump move several times. Soon after I tore my ring finger pulley on the pinch hold and ended my season. I came back almost exactly a year later to finish it. It was very mentally challenging to pull on that pinch again! Cool hold though.”
While short in stature by modern standards its perfect board-like sheerness and singular defined grips created a lore around the problem that spread far and wide.
When I moved to Salt Lake City in 2017, Slasher couldn’t have been higher on my list. This blank 9 foot section of wall exemplified hard sandstone bouldering to me more than any other amongst a slew of totemic 8Bs. The first thing you fixate on having trudged up that annoyingly steep hill is that pinch. Has a hold ever been more complex? Is it even a pinch?
The entirety of Slasher revolves around taking the pinch, and over the course of 2-4 moves/micro-adjustments/transitions owning the fuck out of it to dyno to a perfect lip. The dyno feels frustratingly easy in isolation. Why is it so much harder from the fucking start?!?
I spent 15 ~ days grabbing that pinch without mastering the intricacies needed to top. On one of my best goes, I got to the dyno and paused for 5 seconds unable to regrip the pinch to a full crimp; I turned to my the phone camera I had propped up on a shoe while still on the wall…“WHY???” I let out in exasperation before dropping to the pads.
No hold haunts me to this day like the Slasher pinch, and I couldn’t think of a better compliment to a more iconic boulder.
- Max Zolotukhin -
