Description
The Climbing Wall Association has described route setters as "individuals that design and install materials onto a climbing surface for the purpose of human interaction. They are a mix of industrial athlete, craftsperson, artisan, choreographer, and product designer."
Route setters design routes for many different types of climbing, such as bouldering, top roping, and lead climbing.
Someone wishing to get training as a route setter can simply take a short workshop in a specific climbing gym and learn the basics in order to set in that particular gym. The limitation is that their skills will only be recognized by that climbing gym only. If they want to route set elsewhere, however, the person may register to a route-setter certification workshop where, depending on the applicant's abilities, one of five grades of route setting can be attained. Usually, the more complex routes the applicant can make, the higher the level of certification.
Process
The simplest ways on how to set an indoor route are to decide by placement, rocks, and/or themes. Setters tend to stay away from miscellaneous rocks placed randomly on a wall that are not one of the previously mentioned categories. This is because they are difficult to climb, not very enjoyable and are aesthetically unpleasing. Placement is where there is a specific part of the artificial wall the setter wants to work on. This wall could have ‘natural’ features or arêtes that the setter wants to be used when someone works on this route. When the setter chooses by rocks, they might have a specific boulder or boulders that they want to base the route on. Occasionally these specific boulders are the crux of the route. Lastly, the setter can base a bouldering route on theme. A themed boulder route is when the setter uses only boulders of one type such as crimp, sloper, jugs, pocket, etc. The setter can also base the theme on one specific coloring or a brand or anything else that can be common among all boulders the setter chooses. When the setter plans a route make sure that it is in their skill level otherwise they cannot test their own route and possibly not be able to finish setting it. In addition, the route setter must make sure to communicate with the gym manager because they will often need more routes of a specific difficulty or type. Route setting can be done solo or in groups of route setters. The advantage of having more setters is that each setter will climb differently, can be used to test the route, have different arm spans, different strengths and weaknesses with climbing. The problem about having more people is there can be a clash of ideas and efficiency can go down because of this.
To mount the boulder into the artificial wall the setter will simply have to screw it in with a screwdriver. Securing boulders is easy because the walls are built with holes strategically placed for common boulders to be placed. Boulders have different type of screws based on which type of boulder the company was made by. A setter must be sure to use the proper according screw and screwdriver, otherwise a boulder may not be stable on the wall. Boulders can eventually be pulled off the wall over many uses, and this can result in injury or death. A ladder might be required if the setter cannot reach the next desired place to screw in the boulder. The setter must mark off the area around the route that they are setting, because there might be loose boulders that can fall on people passing by, or in order that a climber does not accidentally climb into or around the incomplete area and possibly get hurt.
When a setter sets routes for rock climbing, they can also use boulders that are already pre-existing on the wall for their route and not necessarily have to put new ones up. At the start of the route setting, they can either set routes by selecting boulder by boulder or by taping up places where they want each boulder to be placed. Boulder by boulder is typically easier to start setting routes with. After each boulder placement, the setter will want to test the route. This will show if they will need to make any adjustments to any boulders. Possible adjustments could be to rotate the boulder(s) so they are easier/harder to climb and help the continuity of the route. Also, the boulder(s) could be out of reach for climbers or too easy to reach in which the setter would add a smaller foothold for the shorter people or move the boulder, so the route is not as easy respectively.
After everything is complete, it is best to get another climber or climbers to test the setter’s route to see if the other climbers agree with the setter’s marked grade. The climber(s) should be able to climb the difficulty of the marked route before asking them to test it. There will always be climbers who climb the route differently from how the setter has planned to climb it when they set it. This is not wrong, and the setter should not be bias or judge the climber for it. After a few climbers test it, the setter may want to modify the route. Routes are never permanent and always receive changes. Exception is if the route is made for a competition, then it will not be altered until the competition is over. Routes will be removed whenever the climbing gym staff decides to change routes or add more routers or strip the wall and clean it for climbing competitions. At a climbing competition there will be designed route settings who will set from all grade levels and these new routes will typically stay up for a while.
When a setter is creating routes for top-roping or lead-climbing, it is very similar, except that they will have more vertical space to build on versus horizontal space unlike bouldering. They will need a ladder and/or self-belaying device. When the setter is self-belaying, they can attach a bucket or two onto their harness for stripping then wall of old boulders and/or adding new boulders onto the wall. Route setting for top-roping/lead-climbing can follow the similar techniques listed above, except it is more common to add tape before boulder in this case.
Marking
A route setter may need to mark the holds of a route so that climbers can follow it effectively. This can be done in several different ways.
Tape
Route setters can mark routes by placing tape which is colored, patterned, or marked with symbols under or next to the holds of a route. When the indoor climbing industry was emerging in the 1980s–1990s, taping was the dominant approach to route marking. By the 2020s, this approach had become less popular in the United States, but is still common in other countries.
Route setters can also mark routes using labels (sometimes made out of laminated paper), which go next to or under each hold in a route, or metal tags, which can be drilled or screwed into the wall next to each hold in a route.
Hold color
Route setters can avoid having to mark a route by keeping the hold color the same along the route, thereby distinguishing it from other routes set with differently colored holds. By the 2020s, this approach had become "potentially the most widely used system in the United States" for route marking.
Climbing gyms may extend this approach by adopting a "hyper-monochromatic" system of route marking, in which hold color also indicates the route's grade.
Start and end marking
Route setters often mark the start and end of a route with tape, labels, or tags. The information on the markings at the start of a route can include the route's grade, the specific starting holds of the route, circuits the route is on, route-specific rules, the route's name, or the setter's name/initials.
