{"id":1697,"date":"2026-05-05T11:34:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.boulderzaaltheisland.be\/?p=1697"},"modified":"2026-05-05T11:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:42:08","slug":"the-viewpoint-of-a-route-setter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/perspective-of-a-route-setter\/","title":{"rendered":"Route setter's perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Art of Shaping the Way People Climb<\/strong> A route setter\u2019s perspective on old-school grit, modern movement, and the quiet responsibility of building the sport\u2019s future \u2014 one hold at a time.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Semmy | Route Setter & Climbing Coach<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back When Simple Was Enough<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a time when route setting was straightforward. You identified a problem, you placed holds that demanded power and commitment, and the climber either had what it took \u2014 or they didn\u2019t. Powerful moves on awkward holds. Tension. Grit. That was the language of bouldering, and everyone understood it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was honest. It was raw. And it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flying Through the Air<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to today, and the standard has shifted completely. The new generation doesn\u2019t just pull on holds \u2014 they fly between them. They expect movement that flows, sequences that dance, problems that tell a story through the body rather than brute force alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vocabulary has exploded to match it. We\u2019re performing moves that didn\u2019t even have names a decade ago: paddles, laches, step-throughs, runners, foot catches \u2013 and plenty of fancy stuff we\u2019re still finding words for. The vocabulary is honestly growing faster than our ability to name it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hell Yeah \u2014 and Here's Why<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do I like this shift? Absolutely. Not just as a climber, but as a builder. There\u2019s something deeply satisfying about designing a problem that forces a specific movement \u2013 that nudges an athlete into a position they\u2019d never have chosen on their own \u2013 and watching it click into place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real challenge is threading the needle: push them hard, but don\u2019t make it awkward. Challenge their body, but don\u2019t leave them frustrated or in pain. Give them a session they walk away from feeling like they discovered something new about how they move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our youth pros make this extra special. They find cheats you never imagined. They bend the problem in directions that go beyond what I can physically do myself anymore \u2014 and somehow, that pushes the whole discipline further than I could have designed alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old School Isn't Dead \u2014 It's the Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of this means the classic approach is outdated. Far from it. Old school is not just still important \u2013 in many ways it\u2019s more crucial than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It's the essence of climbing. The raw tension, the poor holds, the commitment to a powerful and unglamorous move \u2013 that's where the sport lives at its core. You can still push those problems to the absolute maximum. And crucially, it's the perfect entry point for someone walking into a gym for the first time, looking for a foothold \u2013 literally and figuratively \u2013 into this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A well-placed beginner problem, rooted in fundamentals, can be the thing that makes someone fall in love with climbing forever. That matters enormously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Blessing and a Burden<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We route setters shape how people move through problems \u2013 and through the sport. We decide what beginners encounter first. We decide what pushes the elite. We decide what feels joyful, what feels challenging, and what makes someone come back next week instead of never again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is a blessing. And it is a burden worth carrying with care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kind regards,<\/em> Semmy<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Art of Shaping the Way People Climb A route setter’s perspective on old school grit, modern movement, and the quiet responsibility of building the sport’s future \u2014 one hold at a time. By Semmy | Route Setter & Climbing Coach Back When Simple Was Enough There was a time when route setting was straightforward. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1697"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1705,"href":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697\/revisions\/1705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boulderzaaltheisland.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}