In a bathroom in Berlin, two women are growing mushrooms that could become the jugs and crimps of your next gym project. Together, Marta Agueda and Manuela Garcia are leading MAD, the world’s first mycelium-based climbing holds company.
But mushrooms, as it turns out, aren’t the only alternative materials with which hold-makers are experimenting. While I originally planned to write a story exclusively about the shroom holds of Germany, my research turned into a surprisingly uplifting rabbit hole. At a time when concerns over plastic are reaching a fever pitch—and as new data emerges about the toxicity of chalk and climbing shoe rubber inhaled indoors—this is a hopeful account about holds that are better for the planet. But first, just how bad are today’s climbing holds when it comes to the environment?
MAYA SILVER 