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No One Sets Alone: Collective Authorship – CBJ Podcast with Ruth Jang

The Impact Driver Podcast episode 20 with Ruth Jang
Graphic by Climbing Business Journal; all photos are courtesy of Ruth Jang

Today’s episode brings Ruth Jang to the show. Ruth is a routesetter at Central Rock Gym in Atlanta, Georgia. She first picked up setting as a bucket list challenge and because she saw a gap in the gym: not enough entry-level, competition-style boulders for people to learn from. Her thought? “Why not infiltrate from the inside and learn from the best?” Before she knew it, she was pulled into the gravity of the setting world. Today, Ruth is a USAC Level 3 routesetter with her first national event on the horizon this June. She’s also set for citizen comps like Method Underground. Before setting, Ruth came from a background in academia and biomedical research, where she studied stem cells and the opioid epidemic. Ruth shares wisdom from both her academic and setting backgrounds on this week’s podcast, diving into nuances around team dynamics in routesetting and much more.

General Topics Covered

  • How a negative became a positive: Ruth’s unusual introduction to climbing
  • An Eastern versus Western approach to team dynamics: collective and individual identity
  • What is true collaboration in routesetting?
  • The similarities between team sports and routesetting
  • Communication and how it can change team dynamics
  • Poetry and routesetting
  • Handling arrogance in the setting industry
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Show Notes

Closing Notes

If you’d like to nominate someone as a next guest, have a topic you want to see us tackle, or have questions, we’d love for you to reach out here.

The Impact Driver podcast is a production of the Climbing Business Journal. Today’s episode is sponsored by Essential Climbing and Trango. It was edited and produced by Holly Yu Tung Chen, Scott Rennak, and the team at CBJ. Our theme music is by Devin Dabney.

Ruth Jang routesetting

Ruth Jang bouldering in the gym

Holly Yu Tung Chen

Holly grew up in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Now she lives in Denver where she reports, writes and routesets. Beyond the Climbing Business Journal, her writing has been published by Alpinist Magazine, Climbing Magazine, Gym Climber and Sharp End Publishing. Holly's motto has always been: "keep it interesting." Read our interview with Holly: Storytelling Through Movement