Climbing Curated: Recent Episodes
Jack M
A deep dive podcast about all things route setting. Listen in as we explore the ideas and philosophies behind the best setting programs around the world!
Jack Busato is an Italian born setter who's worked his way up through the industry in various positions and who now works proudly as an in-house setter and jack-of-all-trades for prolific climbing hold company 360!
Listen in to hear his story and insights from a diverse career in the industry!
We chat about Ryan's time in Sydney, the differences between Australia and France when it comes to setting. I get advice on opening a new gym and much much more!
IFSC Veteran Jan Zbranek talks early beginnings, career turning points, progression in the sport, Olympic setting & more!
Jeremy Ho is a USA setting veteran with almost 2 decades in the industry! We chat about all things route setting!
Ty Clements head setter of Skywood climbing in Sydney discusses all things routesetting!
Off the back of a recent clinic series run at Urban Climb in Melbourne, I chat with Tonde who co-hosted the clinic and Lee who attended as one of Australia's high performance climbing coaches. We chat about the comp scene here in Australia, the neccesary actions for our Australian athltetes to make more regular appearances on the world cup stage, the value of outdoor climbing for athletes and much much more.
I interview Polish IFSC and Olympic route setter Olga Niemiec about her recent setting job at the Parid 2024 games & more!
I interview Canadian setter and ex youth athlete Mika Hosoi. We chat Olympics, shorty beta, regional differences and setting icks.
Want to get Mika to come set at your gym? Hit her up! @mika_hosoi
In this episode, we flipped the script and Niklas played host as he puts Jack Masel in the hot seat.
We talk about his climbing origins, his introduction to route setting, current motivations and more!
Palmer is the head coach for Momentum Gym's climbing team and spends much of his time route setting for the specific needs of the athletes he coaches.
He has a unique perspective on setting as not only someone who sets but as someone who coaches AND who also competes himself. Tune in to hear his thoughts!
Viral deadpoint video
Great follow up interview with Victor!
Motif Instagram
Motif Website - Coming Soon
I'd highly recommend jumping over to Youtube and Checking out the Magnus video of him trying the comp boulders to give some context to what we're talking about in parts of this video!
Genya and I chat about her start into routesetting and the evolution of her role at Urban Climb in QLD. We discuss the pros and cons of social media, alterntive sources of motivation, riding the waves of psych, hiring and training new setters and much much more!
I chat with Canadian setter Kaleb Thomas.
Kaleb has worked at multiple gyms across Canada, spanning an almost two decade career as a route setter. In his current role as 'Director of Setting' at Blocshop in Montreal he talks about the challenges and satisfaction that come with training new setters and managing teams across multiple venues.
Kaleb is undoubtedly one of the hardest working and most passionate setters I've spoken to and I have a renewed appreciation for my comparatively easy and undeniably privaliged introduction to setting many years ago.
A follow up chat with @yossiclimbs about the launch of his hold brand OLIO with friend and business partner Cory Cook (@coryupsidedown). We also talked international travel & setting, comps, money and ideas for the future!
I chatted with the UK's Jake Mason! Maybe most well known for his regular features in the popular youtube channel Bouldering Bobat, Jake is also a staple of the London setting scene.
In the last couple of years, he's taken on a role as head setter at Hang, one of London's newest bouldering walls where he's taken on the challenge of 'making climbing fun again'. Hear about that and much much more!
Peter is a veteran routesetter with a unique background compared to many of our previous guests. Listen in to hear his thoughts on safety, the professionisation of our industry, whether AI will ever take over our jobs and much more!
The second half of my interview with Japanse setter Mei Nagasako. We chat about aesthetics in setting, IFSC commentary, Japanese setting culture, the climbing scene in Tokyo and branding your climbing business!
I chat with US route setting veteran Louie Anderson about his life in the climbing industry! We cover the history of US route setting, hold shaping, gym ownership, Louie's involvement in the setter showcase and much much more!
Mei and I chat about Japanse climbing and setting culture, the comp scene, setting internationally and much much more. Looking forward to the second part of our chat already!
I chat to Emma Twyford, the first British woman to climb 9a, who also happens to be a route setter!
I picked her brain about finding the balance between pursuing optimal athletic permformance and a career as a setter, what it's like being a female in a male dominated industry, past and future travels & lots more!
The big bang
Urban Climbs 'head of climbing' Dan Gordon and I discuss his vision for the future of our industry and how he's going about doing his bit through the work he's doing at Urban.
We chatted about creating a desireable work place through providing real career opportunities and creating culture, about international recruitment and much much more.
Dan Gordon, the director of climbing at Urban Climb has been involved in the Australian gym scene since before the boulder gym boom of the last decade.
Listening to his account of the transformation and the state of the national and global gym scene was really interesting and insightful.
We covered a huge range of topics and am excited for part 2 of this conversation coming soon!
Fred and I chatted about how Blocshop came to be, the vision behind the brand and his 5 star system for creating consistently high quality boulders with his team!
Follow Fred and his gym here
@fredblocshop
@blocshop
Make sure to check out Joseph's Kilter Grips Setter Sessions video on Youtube.
You can follow him on Instagram @Wetzel_Joseph and check out the element gyms @element.muenchen @element.kassal and @element.essen or see his holds @bluepillclimbing
Ayo and I talk about the intersection of route setting and comp climbing and about how they inform one another, about setting for athlete performance, about the benefits of working in a team as well as learning to work independently and much much more.
Ayo's required reading for setters: Hagakure
Other podcasts with Ayo:
Beyond the Walls - Race and Diversity in Climbing
Plastic Weekly - The Lifespan of a Boulder
Beta Routesetting - Difference between comp & commercial
Power Company Climbing - Form and Function
Alexander is the head setter for Mile End climbing gym in London. He's maybe best known for his levitation antics on various training boards around the UK but it's his enthusiasm and psych for setting and climbing that I think is his true super power! Tune in to hear about his first forays into the climbing scene, his thoughts on what make the climbing community so special, climbing as a tool to boost self confidence and much much more!
In this episode I chat to Emma Horan about her life of climbing, running a small business (if you call a boulder gym small) and fulfilling a life goal of setting for a boulder world cup!
I chat to owner and head setter of Skywood climbing about opening a gym, curating deliberate experiences for your members and the importance of breaking the rules!
Welcome to episode 6 with Victor Fleutre, head setter of Beta Bloc in Canada! We chatted about a heap of things including his quick switch from a profession in the motor sport industry in France into his current role in Canada as a professional setter, setting experiments during the covid lockdowns, the decisions behind switching the V-grading scale to a colour based circuit system and much more! Check out his work on instagram @fleutre_victor
We chat to Scottish born route setter Ryan Henderson about his move to France and the career that followed. Tune in to hear how his approach to aesthetics in climbing has evolved, the use of space to create visual balance, how he almost became a teacher but is now integrating that into his setting career, about the rich climbing culture that keeps him in France and much more!
I chat with Michael Lim about the Singaporean climbing scene, route setting as a coaching tool, how the evolution of coaching is progressing our sport and much more!
In this week's episode, I talk to long time routesetter and Co-owner of Kilter Grips, Jackie Hueftle! We chatted about her time head setting at 'The Spot' in Colorado, setting for some of the United States' strongest athletes, her thoughts on the Olympics and much much more!
Ben Norman of Impact Routesetting and I talk about a huge range of topics from training new setters, the gym scene in London, the trickle down economics of catering to elite climbers, how to get the best out of your setting team and much much more.
We chat with Germany's own Niklas Wiechmann about growing up in a climbing gym, combining parkour and climbing to help train the German national team, travelling the world as a professional setter and how rock climbing still influences modern boulder gyms.
Find Niklas here...
@schniklas on Instagram
@betaroutesetting on Youtube
Other show notes:
OG parkour inspo @davidbelleofficialpage on Instagram
Jonas Winter vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kBy-4pbMLY
Udo Neumann: @_udini_ on Instagram