Who we are

We are a homegrown business powered by long hours and a passion for climbing. Marketing consists of a smile, a laugh and a handshake. Our customers are often our friends. Voodoo isn't about getting rich. It's about creating and sustaining an awesome product. It's this grassroots mentality that defines us. We know from experience that the climbing life is an intoxicating mix of laughter, hard work and friendship. We understand what climbers want and need in holds and gear. We keep that in mind while we design, sew and sculpt. We hope you enjoy our products as much as we do.

Our story

Voodoo is powered by founder Frank Cornelius and co-owner Gina Richer. What began as garage hobby has blossomed into a dream, a lifestyle and a business. In 1992, Frank quit a career in mechanical engineering to begin manufacturing climbing holds full time. He tinkered with the process to develop Voodoo's signature Pure Base Technology and environmentally responsible holds. He found inspiration from years of bouldering in California. Via word of mouth, Voodoo's reputation for uniqueness and quality spread through gyms and garages across the country. In 2000, Frank was running Voodoo out of a tiny warehouse in San Diego. The company had reached a critical juncture. It needed direction. After seeing his passion develop into a viable business, Frank was considering walking away. "I couldn't do everything at once. It was getting to the point where the company had to move forward or I had to do something else.” Gina leapt at the opportunity to help with the business side of things. The first order of business was a change of venue. We packed up and left So Cal's congested freeways and sprawling cities to Flagstaff, Arizona and a slower pace of life. Meanwhile, the demand for our product grew steadily. Voodoo was moving into a bigger workspace and a bigger market. Growing pains were inevitable. A small business is always an adventure and the Flagstaff years have been marked by ups and downs. Concerned that expansion had affected quality, we scaled back in 2006 in order to maintain complete control over the manufacturing process. In the end, making awesome holds and stellar bouldering gear is more important than leading the market in units sold.

These days the operation has been streamlined to ensure quality. Our holds are now manufactured full time by a Professional Production company in Colorado. Frank sews all of our crash pads in our little Flagstaff workshop. Occasionally, we get a little support from our two Dogs, Red and Sue. It's exactly where we want to be. Voodoo has weathered the storm. Our holds, pads and unapologetic style are here to stay.

Our Commitment, Our Style

When you send hard during a basement bouldering session, we smile. Every time one of our Highball pads saves you a trip to the emergency room, we sigh with relief. We know these feelings. We love these feelings. We're climbers too. Our products allow us to share that experience with you.

Climbing is supposed to be fun. We do our best to reflect that during the design process. We firmly believe that it's possible to create a durable, high performance and rugged product that has style. Who says pimped-out-purple or ruby-red aren't tough anyway? All of our products are handmade and backed with a limited lifetime guarantee. That means every stitch, every sloper, every Voodoo Crash Pad was born with love and care in our workshop. We demand that our product be perfect. You should too.

The VooDoo Climbing Hold line would not exist without our extremely talented shapers, Louie Anderson, Rob Mulligan, Tyson Atwell, and Frank Cornelius. Thanks guys!

VooDoo Climbing was established in 1993

We revolutionized the Climbing Hold industry by creating:

Environmentally responsible climbing holds 

The original environmentally responsible climbing hold: VooDoo holds are made with a bombproof semi elastic mix. Our specially formulated polyurethane mix is non TDI, non mercury and our pigments are lead free, creating a safer climbing hold for the buyer and the manufacturer.

Pure Base Technology

 VooDoo created a unique manufacturing process that allows us to laminate a pure, semi-flexible base (comparable to the consistency of a modern skateboard wheel) to the standard core material of our holds. The advantages:

• Semi-flexible base adjusts to the surface contours of climbing walls
• Softer base creates more friction between the hold and the wall, dramatically reducing spinning holds.
• Improves the safety and durability of our holds by allowing the edge of the hold to flex rather than chip off and create ugly and sometimes dangerous sharp edges.
• Pure Base does not alter the shape or the texture of the climbing hold, and has been tested to withstand the common cleaning solutions used by climbing gyms across the country.

Dual Texture holds

 VooDoo was the first to create dual texture holds and we are still the best at it. The slick texture forces the climber to use the textured gripping surface on the hold which requires more accuracy. Dual texture holds are many course setters’ favorites because they make it difficult to cheat a move.

Hollow Back holds

VooDoo revolutionized the hold industry by inventing the hollow back hold. The hollow backs make our holds lightweight and easier to handle while setting routes. By using less material we keep the cost of the hold and shipping down.

Sliding bolts

 With a sliding bolt there are more options to use existing t nut locations, allowing you to slide the bolt where you need it. Two attachment points make it so the bigger holds can’t spin

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