Young routesetter challenges climbers
If you’ve ever walked into a climbing gym you’ve seen this style of art, whether you’ve consciously noticed it or not. Those routes you see on the walls are intentionally constructed—“set” by a routesetter.
“A blank climbing wall is a canvas and a routesetter creates movement, appeal, and interaction on that wall,” explains John Wiygul, partner/president of High Point Climbing And Fitness. “Not many forms of art allow you to see, feel, and physically interact,” he adds.
Designing routes requires vision and imagination—a creative whose art should function kinetically and aesthetically in order to inspire climbers. Meet one such creative—28-year-old Cody Grodzki.
It was 2009 when Grodzki, a senior in high school, was first introduced to rock climbing. Like any new climber, routesetting wasn’t even a concept for him. “I guess I assumed the climbing walls came with the routes already on them. I didn’t know,” he admits. But as he learned how climbing routes at the gym were frequently changed, or “reset”, by a routesetter, he saw a creative outlet that intrigued him.
After only a few visits to his local climbing gym, he pressed the owner for a job and set about pursuing routesetting. With no experience setting, and limited climbing ability, he was relegated to the grunt work of stripping old routes off the walls. Eventually he was allowed to set his first boulder problem—on a wall hidden in the worst spot in the gym. He jumped at the opportunity and thus his routesetting career began.
After graduation, he went on to earn a degree in kinesiology—the study of the mechanics of body movements—a degree unquestionably applicable to routesetting. In 2015 he moved to Chattanooga and began working at High Point Climbing And Fitness where he quickly advanced from routesetter, to head routesetter, to his current position as director of routesetting with oversight of the routesetting teams at all five of their climbing gyms.
That’s right, “teams”. Unlike many artistic endeavors, routesetters—wherever they’re setting—work as a team. “A good routesetter must have strong communication skills and be willing to support the team and allow them to support him,” explains Grodzki.
This emphasis on teamwork means that the designer of a climbing route or boulder problem is rarely recognized or acknowledged. “I put the route on the wall, the initial vision,” says Grodzki, but “as soon as I’m done doing that, it goes to the next phase and at that point it’s all of ours (the routesetting team’s).” They offer feedback and tweak each other’s work.
“Once we agree the boulder is complete, it’s the community’s boulder,” continues Grodzki. “It’s not ours. We’re thinking about the end user. You don’t get to say, ‘this is my boulder, my move, my route’—this is the community’s boulder,” emphasizes Grodzki, whose humble attitude belies his extraordinary skill.
The process itself is physically demanding and exhausting. Old routes must first be stripped from the wall. New holds are selected—taking into consideration things such as size, shape, color and density. Then, outfitted in a helmet, harness, safety visor and more, the routesetter equips himself with tools such as his drill, bits, taps, ascending device, buckets of holds, etc. and hoists himself to the top of the wall where he begins to set the skeleton of his route.
After the first draft is in place, the routesetters test the difficulty, as well as the movement, of the route by climbing their routes and each other’s, and the tweaking and perfecting process begins.
Once complete, “It’s a lot of fun watching people try your routes,” says Grodzki. “It’s cool seeing the problem solving. You know what you intended, and hopefully the way you set it is the most likely beta.”
While it’s easy to have a “style”, Grodzki emphasizes his goal is to set as many styles as possible. “If you’re a climber I don’t want to make you climb my style every time,” he explains. He challenges himself to set new movements.
As he has perfected his routesetting skills, he has advanced from setting static, straightforward moves to creating sequences that require complex, coordinated movements.
To spark creativity and inspiration, Grodzki and his routesetting peers exchange videos of routes they have set. The holds themselves offer inspiration as well. “I get really psyched to have new holds, they compel new movement,” says Grodzki.
While commercial gyms require no certifications for routesetters, setting for competitive USA Climbing events does require strict qualifications.
To date, Grodzki has achieved a Level 4 (out of five) National Routesetter certification with USA Climbing, and has endorsements in both sport climbing and bouldering. As of June 30, that makes him one of only 16 routesetters across the entire country to hold these distinctions. He is qualified to be an assistant routesetter for any USA Climbing event, and the chief routesetter for any divisional level events.
In addition to pursuing his Level 5 certification, he aspires to one day set for the World Cup, the World Championships, or even the Olympics.
But while we still have him in Chattanooga, you can visit High Point to not only see, but also experience, his creative art form for yourself.
Rock climbing photo by Todd Clark