Foxman McCarthy-James

Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, Foxman McCarthy-James began routesetting in 2015 in Boston while working as a professional violist, but fell in love and pivoted to setting full-time with Brooklyn Boulders. Now as the head setter for Alta Climbing in Phoenix, Arizona, Foxman is focused on developing strategies to promote sustainability for career routesetters. In 2021, Foxman and her colleague Justin Wright created Vortex Routesetting after years of travel and conversations led to a data project documenting routesetting workloads and salaries across the country. Vortex provides clinics and consulting for both climbing gyms and individual routesetters.