13/09/2023

Bouldering World Championship 2023 : Story of a boulder

In bouldering competitions, route setters always try to surprise the competitors and challenge them with new movements. Leading up to the Bern World Championships, Manuel Hassler (Flathold co-owner) and Pierre Broyer (International route setter) worked together on a new set of glassy, textureless holds, to create their vision of a unique coordination boulder. This short film follows the creation of these holds, the route setting prior to the competition, and the 2023 Boulder World Champion Mickael Mawem fighting for gold on this final boulder.
Featuring: Pierre Broyer, Manuel Hassler, Mickael Mawem and Remi Samyn.

26/04/2023

World Cup climbers and setters exploring movements

« In bouldering competitions, there is limited time and opportunity for route setters to explore new movements. Route setters are always under pressure and have no time to push new concepts to their limit. They often have to make quick decisions in order to split the ranking and create an interesting show. Manuel Hassler (Flathold co-owner) decided to create a collaborative space and invited some international route setters to join two of the world’s best competition climbers (Olympic Champion Janja Garnbret (SLO) and two-time overall IFSC Boulder World Cup winner Yoshiyuki Ogata (JPN). The idea was to create a new playground for the setters and the athletes to explore route settings outside of the competition circuit and try to push ideas to a new dimension. » Featuring: Janja Garnbret, Yoshiyuki Ogata, Manuel Hassler, Pierre Broyer, Katja Vidmar and Gen Hirashima

11/03/2022

Fred Charron vs Damage Control

Fred Charron is a member of the Flathold team. He has been routesetting for more than 15 years in many national and international competitions. He is also the founder of the famous Bloc Shop bouldering gyms in Montreal. Fred just tested the new Damage Control line. A fresh batch of holds that just came out to complete the existing range, adding variety and diversity to some of our most popular holds in the past years . « The Damage Controls are just another example of how Flathold produces simple holds that are very functional and give us the opportunity to create interesting movements. »

20/07/2021

World Cup Routesetting – Meiringen 2021

At the 2021 IFSC Boulder World Cup in Meiringen – the first in 22 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic – five route setters faced multiple challenges: new holds, new athletes and a desire to bring new movements to the table. The goal of simultaneously separating the climbers and creating a spectacular show is never easy, but through collaboration and taking risks, the team attempts to find a balance. This film shows the process of setting for a World Cup, from the initial imagination stage to all the self-doubt, fear and last-minute changes ahead of watching the show that they’ve choreographed. ‘It’s the whole tour that makes a good competition, it’s never just one boulder alone.’ – Manu Hassler Featuring, Manu Hassler, Laurent Laporte, Gen Hirashima, Rémi Samyn and Pierre Broyer.

06/07/2021

PART OF THE ART / Niky Ceria bouldering in Kandersteg / Switzerland

Italian climber Niky Ceria perceives bouldering to occupy a space somewhere between sport and art; it’s a means of expression and discovery as much as a physical challenge. For Niky, having no expectations and finding a potential line that inspires him is key. In this video, Niky climbs in Kandersteg, Switzerland and describes his approach for bouldering.

26/04/2021

Flathold Workshop

The Flathold workshop is the place where the magic happens and where everything is created: new shapes, development of new ideas and new technology. Flathold is one of the rare climbing holds brand which is able to produce a climbing hold from the foam shape to the final product.

07/12/2020

Portrait of Niky Ceria

Niccolo Ceria is probably one of the strongest boulderers of his generation but also one of the most mysterious. Niky has spent endless hours alone in forests and deserts all over the world repeating some of the worlds hardest problems but also cleaning and establishing new lines. But deep down he is inspired by the emotion of the lines. The dedication and ethic he brings to our sport are rare and at Flathold we feel lucky to have him as a contributor to the spirit of our brand and the climbing we believe in. These few minutes of video shed a little light on a passionate climber who is a true purist; he shares some of his thoughts on training, accepting failure, and the almost spiritual connection with nature.

15/06/2020

Lucha Libre

Shaped by Manuel Hassler, Lucha Libre is our newest range. Dual-tex with a twist, crimps that will disagree with your grip, pinches you will have to fight for.

04/12/2019

Hachioji 2019: World Championship Routesetting

For this second episode of the route setting video documentary, we spend one week with the routesetting team in Japan for the Boulder World Championship. This documentary describes the setting experience, mostly following a hard final round for the men, where only Tomoa Narasaki managed two tops. No other climber topped a boulder. It was a pretty special competition including the World Championship of the three disciplines and the combined Olympic format. We only focused on the Boulder World Championship and tried to understand the process of the routesetting for a competition at this level. You will get a glimpse behind the scene of the biggest climbing event of 2019. Interview with Manuel Hassler (Chief IFSC Route Setter), Romain Cabessut, Katja Vidmar and Gen Hirashima (IFSC Route Setters)

22/09/2019

Flathold Athlete Niky Ceria – Bouldering in Yorkshire 2019

A few weeks ago, our Flathold Athlete, Nicco Ceria, left his beloved Italy and made his way to the UK. Here is a little look back on his trip…. « Yorkshire is a region in the UK that I wanted to visit since a very long time. Finally last march I had the opportunity to go climbing in this amazing Gritstone destination located two hours up North of Manchester. The main reason which drove me to this place was the mythical arête of “Cypher”, put up by Ben Moon in 2002. When I had 10 I had a little postcard of Andy Earl doing the famous kick move on Cypher right next to my bed and I have been dreaming for many years to climb this problem. Five Ten actually made a video of this ascent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D0IC… After sending Cypher which was my first priority, I had few other problems I was keen for. “High Fidelity” above all, was the one which made me more excited: tall, technical, dark and with some incredible moves to do. High Fidelity was put up by local developer Steve Dunning in the first years of 2000’s! Another line which I desired to climb was the moderate of “Pixie Tits”. Located in a fairytales setting, Pixie Tits has an incredible texture and an even better looking. The ascent of “Tender Homecoming” was also very important: a proud, tall and intimidating 9 meters arête which stands out in the famous field of the Brimham rock towers. Such a good one. Overall my trip in the Yorkshire was a blast. I think it could not have gone any better than this. I am very happy to have had the opportunity to check some lines I dreamt about more than a decade and eventually manage to climb them. UK is one of my favorite places in the world for many factors, especially for the climbing community. And I am already looking forward to come back next year. »

02/06/2019

Worldcup Routesetting – Meiringen 2019

Setting a competition always has a big part of risks and doubts. And setters have to deal with it and take the right decisions to present a good show. This short documentary tries to highlights the position of the route setter during a Boulder World Cup. We spent the full week with the setting team to try to understand what are their thoughts and to the creative process of route setting. Discover Mathieu Elie’s https://vimeo.com/user6702244

20/02/2019

Nils Favre – Rocklands, South Africa

The Flathold Athlete Nils Favre spent the whole month of July 2018 in Rocklands, South Africa, to climb in one of the most famous bouldering place of the globe. The goal of his trip was to try « Livin Large, V16/8C+ », but conditions were really bad with rain and high temperatures kicking in every day. He kept trying a lot, waking up at 6:00 to try before the sun would come into the holds, around 9:00. He saddly didn’t succeed to climb this famous line on this trip but he his motivated to get back on it during the next season. While on his rest days and to stay in shape Nils climbed some of the best classics boulders of the area. All boulders in this video are iconic and worth the travel to the other side of the planet.

22/05/2018

Joe’s Valley Flathold Movie

The Flathold Athlete Nils Favre spend the whole month of February 2018 in Joe’s Valley, Utah for a bouldering trip. No special goal for this trip except having fun and enjoying climbing. Pretty difficult conditions with a weather changing from suny day to really freezing temperatures. However despite the complicated weather conditions and sometimes the snow, Nils managed to climb some of the best classics in Joe’s Valley. Here a small selection of the hardest and nicest lines. Enjoy!

25/04/2018

Genesis

We are proud to present: Genesis. A short film about shaping and setting. Please take time to watch it in good conditions: quite and dark place and turn on the sound!! Happy to have collaborate with Mathieu Elie to realise this movie and many thanks to Bloc Shop to let us shoot in the gym. Hope you enjoy! Also, we are always happy to read your comments and thoughts! So don’t hold yourself back! 🙂

24/01/2018

Flathold Damage Control – Swiss Designed Climbing Holds

New in North America – the Damage Control range is now available for all the US gyms. Discover its dual texture, the precision of the shapes, the versatility of movement and their perfect design. More information on our website and with our distributors from the US.

05/05/2017

Flathold Trip to Redrocks – The Movie

It’s been 3 months now that our athletes are back from their Redrocks bouldering trip (Feb. 17). There’s been ups and downs. Theres been a lot of climbing and some very sweet boulders climbed. Get yourself comfy, sit back and relax, this is the Redrocks Team trip movie with Nils Favre and Niccolo Ceria. Location: Red Rocks, Colorado, US

24/03/2017

Tonde Katiyo – Flathold meeting Inspiration

Tonde Katiyo – International Routesetter and member of the Flathold Team. Discover in this video how Flathold meets Inspiration. Routesetting at it’s finest.

22/09/2017

The Flathold Brush

We are happy to present you the Flathold Brush. A swiss designed climbing brush. Two sizes and already your absolute must-have climbing essential. Size S and Size M, made out of completely natural hair. Two types of hair density. Coming soon

 

16/06/2016

Flathold Team Trip Switzerland

The Athlete Team of Flathold was on a trip in Switzerland. Brione, prime climbing destination in Ticino. Jan Hojer, Niccolo Ceria and Nils Favre ticked down some cool problems and were super lucky with the weather. Between the beautiful mountains and the swiss rivers the dark granite boulders offered them plenty of possibilities to have new projects. Sit back and relax, sip some tea while enjoying classic views from Switzerland and get psyched for some swiss climbing!

Climbers:
Manuel Hassler (Flathold founder), Niccolo Ceria, Jan Hojer, Nils Favre

Location:
Brione

Interested by
our products, ask for
the price list