Volumes

Volumes (sometimes called piggy back holds) are an extremely large type of hold that any variety of holds can be attached to. The volume is attached to the wall, and it has pre-placed t-nuts in it that other holds can be attached to. Volumes used to be made from wood, but now they are also made in a variety of different materials (including fiberglass, coated wood, resin, urethane, and moulded plastic) by several climbing companies. Volumes are especially prevalent in Europe and on the World Cup circuit, where sometimes entire routes will be constructed from gigantic volumes. To imitate these textured World Cup volumes, sandpaper can be placed on homemade wooden volumes to create texture and allow climbers to climb on the volume's features.