Exploring Life & Business with William Anglin of Tension Climbing

Today we’d like to introduce you to William Anglin.

Hi William, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Tension was founded in 2015 by myself, Gabe Adams, and Ben Spannuth. I had been working in the climbing industry since 2005 and had developed a love for wooden climbing holds. Much of the training equipment available at the time was very outdated and quality wooden training equipment was very difficult to come by in the United States. Gabe allowed us to start the company by using his warehouse and CNC machines, which made it possible to kickstart a lot of our ideas.

In 2017, we launched the second standardized LED training wall in the world, the Tension Board, and in 2022 we released the second iteration, the Tesion Board 2, which introduced polyurethane holds to our training wall concept and has been a huge hit in the modern climbing market.

In addition to our standardized LED training walls, we also manufacture fixed and portable finger training tools. We’ve developed into other areas of the market as well with our A.UX backpack and A.UX chalk bucket, performance climbing shoe cleaner “Shoe Spray”, and a specialized form of athletic tape for climbers.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The road was not smooth at all. In many ways, it still isn’t, but things have certainly improved and we feel like we’ve hit our stride. Tension has been somewhat of an underdog story since the beginning.

Everything was learned through real-time experience. For the first many years, finances were extremely tight and I had to work multiple other jobs to pay the bills. The pandemic was a boom-and-bust phenomenon for us and things almost didn’t work out. There continue to be struggles, but we’re more equipped to handle them these days.

We’ve been impressed with Tension Climbing Inc., but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Founded in 2015 in the back corner of an auto shop in Denver, CO, Tension Climbing was built not only on the idea that good design can improve the climbing experience but also that the way we do business can drive improvement in our community and industry.

With some basic woodworking tools and borrowed time on CNC machines, we set out to turn a fresh eye to established training solutions. After launching our first round of products, we gained enormous support from the community. This allowed us to quickly grow beyond that small corner and into our own warehouse space next door where we are to this day.

Combining our collective expertise in climbing, coaching, and manufacturing, our small team has developed multiple training solutions that have become the industry standard. As obsessive climbers ourselves, we are no strangers to creative problem-solving and hard work. Our values are reflected in our product designs, our manufacturing processes, and the way we do business.

Any big plans?
The future is bright. We continue to improve our internal organizational and manufacturing processes and look forward to continuing to bring quality products and ideas to climbers all over the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tensionclimbing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tensionclimbing/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-anglin-21373451/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tensionclimbing1022

Image Credits
Rowland Chen and Michael Rosato