Routesetters spend years developing an instinct for what works and what doesn’t. Today’s guest of The Impact Driver Podcast has developed a framework to explain why it works.
On this episode of The Impact Driver Podcast, host Holly Chen talks with Salt Lake City-based routesetter and Momentum Climbing Director of Setting Kenny Benson about what it actually means to set with intention. Kenny explains routesetting through five distinct lenses and how they can transform the way a setter approaches their craft.
Kenny has been setting for nearly fourteen years, starting in Houston before working his way through North Carolina and the Bay Area before ultimately landing at Momentum, where he has spent the last nine years. He holds a USAC Level 4 certification and has become one of the more prominent voices in paraclimbing setting, having set at multiple Para Nationals and Para World Cups.
Outside the gym, he is a devoted music listener, a former skateboarder, and an occasional painter.
General Topics Covered
- Kenny’s five-lens framework for intentional setting: aesthetics, physical, cognitive, emotional and cultural
- Aesthetics as the first impression
- What a climb communicates before anyone pulls on a hold, and why form and function don’t have to compete
- The physical lens: grade consistency, and equitability in sizing
- Creating experiences that work differently for different bodies without shutting anyone out
- The cognitive lens: how routesetters build a movement encyclopedia for climbers
- Why moderate climbers deserve as much creative investment as anyone else
- The emotional lens: designing for confidence, frustration and progression
- The difference between making someone feel challenged versus making someone feel lost
- The cultural lens: how setting programs shape not just what people climb
- What the industry risks by optimizing for digestibility over development
- What gets lost as gyms scale?
- How to bring a higher-stakes mindset to a commercial setting day without burning out
Show Notes
- Find Kenny Benson on Instagram
- Momentum Climbing Gyms
- The Nugget Climbing Episode 40: Tonde Katiyo (Part 1)
- The Capital “R” Routesetter – The Impact Driver Podcast with Rylan Marshall-Meistrich
- Fundamentals of Paraclimbing and Parasetting – The Impact Driver Podcast with Mia DePaolis & Nat Vorel
- Bouldering Project Grading System
- B-Pump Climbing Gym
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. You can find our pitch form here.
The Impact Driver Podcast is a production of the Climbing Business Journal. Today’s episode is sponsored by Rúngne, Cascade Specialty, Trango, the Climbing Wall Association and Rock Gym Pro. It was edited and produced by Holly Yu Tung Chen, Megan Cheek, Scott Rennak and Joe Robinson, and our theme music is by Devin Dabney.
All photos below are courtesy of Kenny Benson.
