The Baby Head and No-Tex: A History of Two of Climbing’s Weirdest Holds

Why It Matters

These novelty holds challenge traditional grip techniques, prompting gyms and competition setters to rethink training methods and product lines, driving innovation in the climbing equipment market.

Key Takeaways

• Baby head debuted late 1990s via So iLL, shaped by Jason Kehl
• 2024 Baby Deluxe model sells for $286, over a metre tall
• No‑tex holds are fully slick, requiring wet hands for grip
• Pierre Broyer invented no‑tex for 2023 IFSC Bern championship
• Novelty holds drive new gym aesthetics and competition formats

Pulse Analysis

The baby head hold emerged from So iLL’s early experiments in the late 1990s, when artist‑climber Jason Kehl sought to push the visual and tactile boundaries of gym climbing. Its unsettling, dead‑eyed infant visage quickly became a cult favorite, proving that a hold could be both a functional sloper and a conversation piece. The line’s evolution—culminating in the $286 Baby Deluxe, a metre‑scale sculpture—illustrates how manufacturers can monetize novelty, turning eccentric design into a premium product that gyms showcase to attract members.

In contrast, the no‑tex hold flips conventional grip logic on its head. Developed by elite route‑setter Pierre Broyer and fabricated with Flathold for the 2023 IFSC Bern World Championship, the hold’s completely smooth surface eliminates friction for dry, chalked hands. Climbers like Yannick Flohé discovered that wetting their fingers creates a thin film that paradoxically increases stickiness, enabling moves that would otherwise be impossible. This counter‑intuitive approach has sparked a wave of slick‑hold challenges in competitions, forcing athletes to adapt training regimes and re‑evaluate safety protocols.

Beyond the gym floor, these oddities signal a broader shift in the climbing industry toward experiential differentiation. Novelty holds generate buzz on social media, drive ancillary sales such as limited‑edition merchandise, and give gyms a unique selling proposition in crowded markets. As manufacturers experiment with materials, textures, and even embedded accessories—like Taiwan’s Pokémon‑themed no‑tex cages—they create new revenue streams and keep the sport’s culture vibrant. The continued popularity of such holds suggests that the market will reward creativity that blends performance with spectacle, encouraging further investment in R&D and collaborative design between athletes and producers.