Welcome back to the Setter’s Archive, where we explore the foundations of modern routesetting through classic wisdom. Here you’ll find essays from famous works in the routesetting field, or simply routesetting articles published years ago that still ring true today. We’re revisiting these stories in their original form because, while much has changed in the routesetting world in the last two decades, many core concepts remain the same. We hope these excerpts from setting experts around the industry help you keep reflecting, learning, and growing professionally.
For more routesetting content, be sure to check out The Impact Driver podcast, Ask a Setter series, Truth Behind the Trade chapters, Behind the Wrench interviews and other routesetting-related articles on CBJ.
Intro by Holly Yu Tung Chen
Ty Foose has been setting competitions for decades. When Foose wrote How to Set the Perfect Competition in 2004—featured in Louie Anderson’s The Art of Coursesetting book—he was already a household name in the climbing industry. Now, he is an industry legend.
As climbing competitions have evolved significantly over the years—from grassroots events to highly organized, global spectacles—climbing holds have also evolved to fit the need. Foose was at the genesis of it all. He was setting competitions when blocking holds to prevent spinners was common practice, and he was shaping intricate designs from a trailer parked just outside Hueco Tanks State Park without the help of digital or 3D modeling.
Foose has held several titles in his storied career, including Routesetter, Head Setter, Director of Routesetting, Vice President of Development, and now Vice President of Product and Process at Trango. He’s witnessed the industry change from the grungy 90’s rock gyms of old to the shiny facilities of today.
Despite the leaps and bounds the industry has traveled and all that Foose has witnessed, the heart of climbing competitions—fairness, separation, spectator interest and technical issues—in many ways remains the same. Foose’s essay is still relevant today, and it’s a great first read for setters who are new to competition setting.
How to Set the Perfect Competition
By Ty Foose
Competition routesetting can be very complex, strenuous and stressful. There are many critical decisions to be made—many times at the last minute. Use this short guide and list of tips to help determine what should get priority when it comes to setting a great competition.
A “perfect” competition is defined by the following four qualities, and they are listed here in order of importance:
- It is a fair contest
- It determines a winner and separates the field
- It maintains spectator interest
- It has no technical incidents
Fairness
If the competition does not provide an equal challenge for all competitors, it is an exhibition, not a competition. The routesetter usually faces issues of fairness when setting height-dependent moves. This can be a loaded subject, as people will often complain that a move is reachy, when in reality they just lack the power to perform the move. When you have both tall and short climbers on the winners’ podiums, you have successfully avoided reach issues. Here are four ways to set around height-dependent problems.
A. Know Your Competitors
Who is the shortest competitor? Who is the tallest? You may not always be able to accommodate the shortest competitor, especially if kids are competing with adults, but you want to make sure that the moves you set will be within the reach of well over 90% of the competitors. Ask the shortest competitor to show you their reach (look at wingspan, length of legs from core, and maximum overhead reach).
B. Use “Reach Runners”
A reach runner is a forerunner who is similar in height to your shortest and/or tallest competitor. These climbers are often not as strong as the competitors, so you may have to power-spot them through the moves, but this will still give you a feel for the distance of the movements. Use these runners in addition to the forerunners who are helping you ascertain difficulty and sequences. If it seems that a move is much easier for a taller person, try moving the footholds to even the difficulty.
C. Measure Distances From the Core, Not Just in Maximum Reach
Remember that a shorter climber has shorter legs as well as arms. This is most evident on moves that require the feet to be spread wide apart, which will position the core of the shorter climbers much lower on the wall.
D. Mix Scrunch Moves and Stretch Moves
A large number of moves in climbing are naturally easier for taller climbers, so it is good to offset this in a competition by adding sequences that will require core power and/or flexibility by taller people. This is easily done by placing footholds high and close to the handholds. Again, use a “reach runner” to make sure you are not making it overly difficult on taller competitors.
Determining a Winner
Once you have ensured that you have fair grounds for competing, the next priority in setting is to separate the field. The ideal result is to have no ties, with competitors evenly separated in score all the way from first to last place. Ties may occur as a result of the method of scoring, so as a setter you need to understand the scoring system thoroughly. As it relates to the setting itself, ties happen when there are cruxy moves and inconsistent pacing within the problems. When there are only a few moves per problem, each and every movement needs to be set as a critical scoring opportunity. Carefully analyze the difficulty of each move and make sure that you do not have easier moves in the middle of the problem. Your goal should be to have a few climbers fail on every one of the moves in a problem, and not most of the competitors falling at the same one or two moves. This will require that each and every move is about the same relative difficulty.
Maintaining Spectator Interest
Keep these suggestions in mind and your spectators will stay engaged and entertained.
A. Allow for Alternative Sequences
Build in options for the climbers. It is always exciting to see a competitor do a move in a different way and still pull it off.
B. Get Climbers Off the Ground
Spectators want to see people climb, so make the first couple of moves easy enough for most competitors to cover some yardage. Raise the difficulty after the first move or two, and then keep it consistent to the end of the problem.
C. Create Variety
Setting many different types of moves will display the strengths of different competitors and keep the spectators from getting bored with the same movements and body positions.
D. Build to a Climax
Save your most dramatic sequences for last. Make sure that the last problem is in the prime location for viewing and is designed to showcase the final duel for the top competitors.
Avoiding Technical Incidents
The most common technical incident is a spinning hold. The first way to reduce the chance of a hold spinning is to make sure that they have all been thoroughly tightened. Holds will “settle” after initial tightening, so it is important to do a round of final tightening after all the routes have been set and forerun. If you are setting on a plywood wall, spinners are easily cured by adding a woodscrew or two to the edges of holds. Textured walls that do not accept wood screws can be more challenging, but there are still several solutions. First, try to use predominantly urethane holds. These tend to bend into the texture and lock themselves into place. Also, you can really crank down the bolt on these without worrying too much about breaking the hold. If there is still concern, bolt on a hold that touches the other and blocks it from spinning. Be sure to have forerunners try to use the new holds as a hand or foot placement to make sure they do not change the problem. Other technical incidents happen when other holds are left on the wall or a climber goes “out of bounds.” If possible, remove all extra holds from the area, and very clearly mark what is on route. Use your forerunners to see how close they can get to boundary markers or off-route holds.
Remember, becoming a better setter is a never-ending process. Keep notes about each competition and always look for ways to improve. Happy setting!
