How Strong Do You Need to Climb to Be a Setter?

With every new set, climbing gym setters are deciding how hard your next project will feel. But how strong do they personally need to be climbing to do that job well? It’s natural to think only an elite-level climber could imagine elite-level movement, but as with anything, the reality is more complicated and nuanced. In the same way that a composer can write music for an instrument they don’t play, thanks to experience and a deep understanding of the bigger picture, gym setters who don’t have double-digit V-grade boulders on their resume can be more than capable of setting movement beyond their abilities.

At least, that’s what we have come to understand after interviewing two head setters at Canadian gyms, Max Summerlee and Karlo King, on the subject. Summerlee is the Director of Routesetting at two gyms in Ontario – The Guelph Grotto in Guelph and The Core in Cambridge. King is the head setter at Climb Base5 in North Vancouver and a setter at Ground Up in Squamish.

When asked for his thoughts on the dynamic between how strong someone is versus their ability to set well, King was quick to acknowledge the complexity of the subject. “That’s a deeply layered question,” he said. “I think it definitely helps to be able to climb hard, but I think an understanding of movement is even more valuable.”

Summerlee expressed the same sentiments. “We don’t necessarily find it detrimental to the overall performance of the team when we have someone who doesn’t climb at the highest level. We’ve definitely found ways to balance that. Don’t get me wrong—the stronger you are, the easier it is to do your job. But just because you’re strong doesn’t mean you’re good at this job.”

To clarify and to put numbers to the question, we asked if a V6 climber, for example, could set V10 problems. Both assured us that this was possible.

“I’ve seen setters who climb V6 max setting V9 and V10 boulders in the gym,” said King. “I’ll go and forerun them and think, ‘This is great.’ There might be a few tweaks here and there, but those setters have a really solid foundation in movement. They understand how angle, hold choice, and placement all affect the difficulty of a boulder.”

“I have a V5 setter setting V10 problems on my team, and she’s been setting for about a year and a half,” said Summerlee. “She understands where her strengths and skills lie. There’s definitely something innate and instinctual about her ability to set. She’s really good at setting above her level.”

Both King and Summerlee were clear in expressing that setting isn’t reliant on a single person. A good set of routes and boulder problems is a team effort.

“I remember when I wasn’t as strong as I am now, and I was being asked to set boulders that were outside of my own climbing ability,” reminisced King. “In your head, you’re thinking, ‘Okay, I’ve imagined the hardest thing I’ve ever climbed… now imagine something harder than that.’ You start wondering how much effort that higher grade would take and what it would feel like. You can make educated guesses, but it’s still kind of a big question mark.

“You have to use your own experience and be honest with yourself. You have to think, ‘Theoretically, if I can do this level of move in isolation, but I can’t link all of these moves together, maybe it adds up to this harder grade that I can’t do.’ That’s one method. But that’s also why it’s so important to have a great team—a well-rounded team—and to know your team’s skills. It’s also important to know your member base.

“Sometimes you’ll set something and think, ‘I don’t know, I could have missed the mark.’ Then you hang around after and watch people climb it. If you know that climber, and you know that forerunner, and you watch them climb it and see them struggle with it or crush it, that’s really valuable feedback.”

The post How Strong Do You Need to Climb to Be a Setter? appeared first on Gripped Magazine.