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Routesetting in an international competition - BK setter Antero talks about his experience setting in the European Youth Championships
BK routesetter Antero Lindholm recently got the opportunity to participate in the routesetting team of the European Youth Championships. The competition organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) took place in the beginning of June in Duisburg, Germany. Here are some of Antero's thoughts from the trip!
Last year, you landed the opportunity to set in the European Cup in Klagenfurt through the IFSC routesetter exchange program. Did you end up getting the opportunity to set for the European Youth Championships through the same program or some other way?
- I ended up in the routesetting team of the European Youth Championships held in Duisburg through the application process of the same IFSC routesetters exchange program.
What was the most memorable aspect of this routesetting experience?
- The most memorable thing above all is the intensity of the event. It felt like a lot of things happened during those 10 days. The size category of the event was also impressive. During the same event week, championships were decided in many other sports besides climbing, e.g. from boxing to archery.
How does the routesetting process differ in an international competition compared to local events? And does the setting process in youth competitions differ from a competition aimed at adults?
- According to my own experience, the routesetting process is relatively the same for all competitions. It’s important to know the level of the competitors and in the youth categories you have to be careful that the distances of the holds do not get too far.
The age of the competitors ranged from 14 to 19. How did you ensure that the routes offered an equal challenge to all participants? Were there different routes for all age groups?
- In the competition in question, each age group had its own routes for the qualifying, semi and final rounds. Of course, this produced a fair amount of work, but at the same time, the feel of the level for that specific category remained better. This way, the rounds were also definitely more entertaining for the audience as there were always new routes on the wall.
In climbing competitions, it is typical that the difficulty level of the routes is adjusted based on the competitors' previous performances in the semi-finals and finals. In this competition, did you have to adjust the routes between rounds?
- Modifying the routes was done on the basis of the previous rounds to some extent in this comp as well. One important point was learned somewhat the hard way; during the first working days, the most challenging routes of the comp were set. During that time it was clearly cooler (approx. 15c° less) than on the actual competition days. In this case, the difficulty level of the routes became too hard when the conditions for the competitors started to be sweltering and the friction in the holds was quite nominal.
What was the routesetting team like at the competition? What kind of experience was it to work with a new team?
- The team was formed by a quite experienced group in the field of competition routesetting. In my opinion, the group dynamics worked well, even though there were challenges and fatigue as the days dragged on until the wee hours.
Routesetting team of the competition. Photo: Ricardo Schumann
Did you encounter any special challenges in setting the routes at this competition? How did you manage them?
- The most challenging thing for me was my limited experience in working at this level. Especially at the beginning, getting ideas on the wall and getting a feel for the difficulty level and the distances on the routes caused me to sweat :). However, as the days progressed, working started to flow better every day.
Did you gain new insights from this experience that you plan to apply to your routesetting?
- I would say that this was my most impressive experience so far in the field of competition setting. I’d say that it will only be seen as a positive improvement in my own setting :).
You can find the latest creations of Antero and the rest of the routesetting team at your nearest Boulderkeskus. See you at the gyms!
Photos: DAV/Xaver Quintus