Last week, professional climber Magnus Midtbø released a video on his popular YouTube channel profiling a new gym that he is opening in Kristiansand, Norway. The gym resides in a building that formerly housed a kids indoor adventure park with 57-foot-walls, ropes courses, a few climbing walls, and other features. While touring the space in the video, Midtbø noted a collection of TRUBLUE auto belays that appear to have remained in the facility as leftovers from the kids adventure park. Stopping at one auto belay, Midtbø said, “There are a lot of accidents with the TRUBLUEs.” Midtbø went on to assert that “people actually start climbing without being clipped in,” and explained how another gym that he owns, in Oslo, opted to make its auto belay gate larger, “so that people wouldn’t start climbing without being clipped in.”
It was Midtbø’s specific citing of “a lot of accidents” in regards to the TRUBLUE brand that made us at CBJ curious to dig deeper. So, we promptly reached out to Chris Koske, the Vice President of Marketing at Head Rush Technologies, which owns TRUBLUE, to check the validity of Midtbø’s statement (comments begin at 00:05:58 in the video below).
“With all due respect to Magnus, I think it was a flippant comment,” Koske told CBJ. “While we are aware of climbers free soloing and falling on rare occasion, to say that auto belays are dangerous is preposterous.”
Koske offered some statistics, saying that there are over 1 billion climbs on TRUBLUE auto belays per year around the world, and that there are more than 30,000 TRUBLUE auto belay devices currently “in the field,” meaning at gyms, adventure parks, and other climbing walls in more than 60 countries. “Proper signage, orientation and operational precautions are necessary with our product, just like any other orientation to a climbing facility,” Koske added.
TRUBLUE also happens to be the only auto belay tested to meet the European CE (EN 341:2011 Class 1A) standards, according to Koske; without such designation, a product can be removed from the European Union market. And Koske pointed out that TRUBLUE devices are tested to 10-times the requisite CE standard. Such certifications are posted on the TRUBLUE/Head Rush Technologies website.
Yet, aside from the TRUBLUE brand, specifically, would it be accurate to say that there are a lot of accidents with auto belays, in general?
In a word, no. At the Climbing Wall Association Summit last year, representatives from the athletics insurance company Monument Sports gave a presentation in which climbing incidents were broken down according to the various climbing disciplines: While bouldering accounted for 77 percent of the total reported incidents for a period of time that spanned 2014-2018, auto belays accounted for only 5 percent. (Top rope climbing also accounted for 5 percent, and lead climbing accounted for 7 percent.)
To be clear, CBJ’s overarching intention here is not to “call out” Midtbø. It was obviously a passing comment and CBJ’s inquiry should not be taken as a personal affront. But at the same time, Midtbø’s video currently has more than 300,000 views, meaning that a lot of people have been informed by it. CBJ feels an obligation to seek truth, accuracy, and clarification whenever climbing industry statistics are being cited.
USA Climbing recently inked a multi-year partnership with the outdoor brand YETI. YETI is perhaps best known as the maker of insulated coolers, tumblers, and other beverageware. As a result of the deal, YETI becomes the organization’s “Official Sustainability Partner”.
The initial large-scale integration of the YETI brand into USA Climbing will be as the first title sponsor for the upcoming Bouldering Open National Championship. The championship, which will begin on January 31, will thus be known as the 2020 YETI Bouldering Open National Championship.
In the press release carrying the announcement, “providing critical support for the US National Team” was identified as a benefit of the partnership, which comes two months before the international climbing season begins and six months before the Olympics in Tokyo.
USA Climbing’s CEO, Marc Norman, said, “We are absolutely thrilled to partner with YETI. Not only are the products and brand’s commitment to sustainability and reducing single-use plastic perfectly aligned with our community’s needs and lifestyle, but their coolers and drinkware will also play a key role in keeping our athletes hydrated as we compete in Tokyo’s hot and humid conditions.”
The Vice President of Consumer Marketing at YETI, Bill Neff, added, “We love how [climbing] continues to be introduced to more and more people and we’re excited to help support that growth while working to reduce single-use plastic.”
Other brands currently partnering with USA Climbing include The North Face, Butora, Petzl, Clif Bar & Company, Gnarly Nutrition, and many others.
Isaac Caldiero on American Ninja Warrior (Las Vegas Finals). Photo by David Becker/NBC
Synergy Climbing and Ninja Chattanooga, TN
Specs: This new facility is a revamped and expanded version of the Tennessee Bouldering Authority, a popular Chattanooga gym that has been in existence since the year 2000 with 3,000-square-feet of “indoor rock climbing walls and dedicated training space.”
Synergy Climbing and Ninja is a collaborative effort between legendary climber Lisa Rands and American Ninja Warrior champion Isaac Caldiero. As the gym transitions from being Tennessee Bouldering Authority (TBA) to Synergy, it will “preserve TBA’s original character and dedicated training space.” In fact, a “TBA training zone” will be modeled after the original TBA space to provide climbers with a familiar climbing area and training boards. The facility will also feature a ninja obstacle zone designed by Caldiero, a fitness area, yoga room and cafe.
Lisa Rands on Crimp Ladder at the Way Lake area of California. Photo courtesy of Wills Young
In Their Words: “We’re really excited to team up with TBA, Chattanooga’s original and most respected climbing gym. We’ll have a bigger space but preserve the awesome routesetting and sense of community that makes TBA such a great place to train. It’s also amazing to work with our long-time friend, Isaac Caldiero, to bring his vision of an authentic ninja gym to our home city.” —Lisa Rands
Le Crux Laval concept art. Image provided by Le Crux
Le Crux Laval, Quebec, Canada
Specs: 17,000-square-foot facility will feature 10,000 square feet of bouldering terrain. Other amenities will include a gear shop and a training area with weights, campus boards, two hydraulic walls (Kilter and Tension), and other accoutrements. The floorplan will also include workspace, according to the gym’s co-propriétaire, Jean-François M. Carrier: “There will be a lot of students nearby, so we’re going to have a student or professional area with coffee and bistro snacks, tables and work spaces with Wi-Fi. It will be for students and professionals who want to come in, get some coffee, finish their work, and then go climb.”
The gym in Laval (which is the third largest city in Quebec province) will be the second Le Crux facility. The first Le Crux is located in the Boisbriand region of Montreal; it was a revamped version of a gym that originally opened in 1998 called Action Directe. The Le Crux climbing team based out of the Boisbriand gym is one of the most decorated in Quebec, having been cited as the best provincial team (and more recently the best youth team) for several years in a row. The new Le Crux location in Laval will continue to have a competition and team training focus, while also appealing to the casual and student base.
Bouldering at Le Crux’s Boisbriand location; youth team banners adorning the walls. Bouldering photos by Nicolas Verstraelen
Walls and Flooring: Delire CRM Software: Rock Gym Pro Website: lecrux.com Instagram: @lecrux.escalade
In Their Words: “The new gym will be in the center of Laval’s downtown. It will be a 10-minute walk from one of the biggest metro stations connecting to Montreal. It will be close to a popular college called Collège Montmorency, and the University of Montreal has a campus [in Laval] too. It is going to be well-placed. So we’ll have two gyms—the biggest bouldering gym on the North Shore of Montreal at Laval, and the only all-around rock climbing center on the North Shore of Montreal [with the Boisbriand location].” —Jean-François M. Carrier, Co-Propriétaire
Rock Gym Pro (RGP), the popular customer management and point of sales software for climbing gyms, announced in a January update that it now has an application programming interface (API). The API enables gyms using RGP to connect their activity in the RGP software with external marketing services.
Already, the API works with Zapier, an integrations platform that automates actions between web applications. Gyms can now set-up the sending of “events” in RGP – such as check-ins or bookings for a specific facility or customer – to Zapier which then trigger actions within 3rd party applications like Google Docs, MailChimp and others. Identified examples of use include managing a list of active members in RGP within another system or automatically sending new guest details to an email campaign or SMS messaging system.
“We’re super excited about the Zapier integration,” says Andy Laakmann, Founder/Developer of RGP. “We’ve had a number of gyms request a way to connect RGP data with apps they use outside of RGP…It will be fun to watch how our savvy customers put this tool to use.”
Kristin Horowitz, COO of The Pad Climbing in San Luis Obispo, California says, “The integration will save us hundreds of hours over the course of the year and give us a much better picture of our operations across every single touchpoint with potential and existing members…The less ‘busy work’ someone has to do to produce results, the happier they are – and everyone at The Pad Climbing is pretty happy.”
The first iteration of the API will be read-only, meaning gyms will not be able to alter their records inside RGP through these applications. The RGP newsletter carrying the latest updates confirmed the company plans to develop “more robust capabilities” in the future, following further feedback from its clients.
One of those capabilities currently in development is using the API to offer climbing gyms 24/7 door access and turnstile entrance management, a project which Laakmann confirms is coming soon.
“The basic read-only API released in this latest update is really just the foundation for bigger things to come,” continues Laakmann. “We’ll be gathering feedback in the coming months to see how gyms want to use it – the possibilities are almost endless!”
The annual gathering for climbing gym industry professionals, which is the largest of its kind in North America, is scheduled to kick-off on May 11, 2020.
The CWA Summit, hosted by the Climbing Wall Association, will consist of pre-conference workshops to begin the week, followed by a keynote speech and a welcome party on May 13. Roundtable discussions and panel talks continue throughout the remainder of the week, as well as product presentations. Topics to be discussed this year include gym development and management, routesetting, competition, training and gym member inclusion.
The CWA Summit will be held at the Embassy Suites in Loveland, Colorado. Click here for more information and to sign-up to attend, the registration price goes up February 1st.
Behind the Desk…is an ongoing series that interviews people influencing and advancing the climbing industry in gyms around the country. This time CBJ explores one of the largest collections of gyms in the country, Touchstone, and talks to one of the key persons behind the company’s community engagement and ongoing stewardship efforts.
Touchstone Climbing’s Mailee Hung bouldering at the gym. Photo by Outpost Digital Cinema
Name: Mailee Hung Title: Director of Communications and Community Engagement, Touchstone Climbing Location: California
CBJ: Please tell me a little bit about your climbing background and how you found your way to the Touchstone family?
HUNG: I grew up in the California Bay Area and was introduced to climbing through a friend in high school. He brought it up as a fun thing to do after school one day and I was like, “Whose birthday party is it?” We ended up driving 30 minutes nearly every day that year to hit the closest climbing gym.
I more or less gave up on gym climbing in undergrad, but after I graduated I started bouldering outside at Castle Rock State Park near Santa Cruz, California. That’s when I really fell in love with it. A couple years later I got into grad school in San Francisco and applied to work the front desk at Dogpatch Boulders. I worked there part-time while I earned my Master’s. After I finished grad school Touchstone hired me on full-time as their copywriter. The rest is history!
CBJ: Your official title is Director of Communications and Community Engagement. That’s fairly unique, meaning it’s not a formal role that many other gyms have. So, what does it mean, and how do its duties differ from those of, say, a typical gym manager?
HUNG: Touchstone managers are all pretty self-sufficient, but it is a lot to run a gym. The director roles exist to support all of our managers in various capacities. Community engagement is one of our core values—we’re a company full of climbers who all know firsthand how transformative rock climbing can be, so it’s a priority for all of us to try and make it as accessible as we can.
Part of my job is to help managers identify groups in their neighborhoods that could be good to work with, help them stay engaged in their local communities, and share ideas and resources. At our corporate office we’re a pretty tight team with a fair amount of job overlap, so we’re able to collaborate and come up with company-wide or big-ticket events, like our Pride Month celebrations, Access Fund or stewardship fundraisers, the Woman Up Climbing Festival, etc.
CBJ: Your previous title was Outreach and Communications Director. What are some keys to community engagement —or “outreach”—that might be unique to a climbing gym?
HUNG: Climbing gyms are amazing conduits to the outdoors because they give people an opportunity to gain skills they can use outside (if they want!) while remaining really logistically accessible—you don’t have to leave the city to climb anymore. And I’m sure I don’t need to wax poetic here about how great climbing is for physical and mental fitness, emotional regulation, fear management, confidence, and so on, for people climbing at every level. It’s just such an amazing activity that really can benefit anyone.
Hung using her bouldering skills outside. Photo provided by Hung
But I think we need to be conscientious of how climbing looks to people currently outside of the community. While cost is a barrier to entry for some, the bigger issue tends to be the perception of climbing and climbing culture. I like to compare it to polo. Someone can tell you that polo is totally life-changing and they’ll give you a horse and all the gear and teach you how to play…but I mean, can you see yourself getting into polo? There’s a difference between accessibility and inclusion. So when we’re introducing new climbers to our gyms, we try to be cognizant of ‘soft’ barriers that go beyond just being unfamiliar with the activity.
As a side note, we are moving away from the term “outreach,” since it can connote an uneven power dynamic where one party expects the other to conform or assimilate rather than an equal exchange. We now prefer “community engagement,” but given that “outreach” is so entrenched in the lexicon we’re trying to balance embracing new terms while keeping our programs easy to learn about and find via search engines.
CBJ: One aspect of Touchstone’s communication is its breadth of social media—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube—all of which are quite active. What’s the secret to maintaining such substantial social media? Does that all fall onto your shoulders, or is there a whole communications team?
HUNG: No secret, just our incredible Marketing Director and Graphic Designer, Heather Bellgreen! She’s the mastermind behind our social media presence. She’ll task me with specific duties and I’ll do most of the marketing copy (and the gyms are largely responsible for managing their own social media), but for the most part if we’re doing anything right marketing-wise I’d say it’s all her!
I think people have this idea that Touchstone is this massive operation, but it’s really not. There are like nine of us at the office and that’s it. But we’re a really tight team, so I’d like to believe that some of that impression comes from us working so well together.
Hung posing for a snap at one of Touchstone’s holiday party events. Photo provided by Hung
CBJ: Touchstone is getting ready to open a new facility, Pacific Pipe. What will that opening entail in your role, specifically?
HUNG: Part of my role is assessing demographic gaps in gym participation. Moving into a historically Black neighborhood when climbing is still perceived as a sport primarily for white people means that we’re working to be part of the community and not be seen as some weird, niche facility. That includes being particularly mindful of our context and communicative with local schools, neighborhood groups, and community organizations. The same theory applies to all of our locations, but these relationships are all conversations held over time—my role will be helping Pacific Pipe to stay engaged in the neighborhood and recognize opportunities for collaboration and coalition-building.
CBJ: Can you give any advice to other gyms that might read this and want to adopt a role for a Community Engagement director in their facility? What would a job announcement for such a role look like?
HUNG: I think that every gym should emphasize community-centric work—an environment that promotes equity and inclusivity is supportive for everyone, and climbing (like all things) thrives with a greater variety of people in it! Your gyms will be more appealing to a broader audience, and really cool connections can happen between members and partner organizations.
In terms of what a job announcement might look like, that’s kind of hard to say. I think there are a number of effective ways to approach community engagement, and my way is by no means necessarily the best. It might be better to frame it in terms of candidate qualities. Someone who would do well in this type of role would have really clear communication skills and a lot of tenacity and compassion. The goal isn’t getting people to try climbing once and then it’s all on them to come back or not, the goal is to change perceptions—of both the climbers and the gym. You want someone who can relate to the specificities of your location as well as the context of your community partners and prospective members.
CBJ: Touchstone, as a brand, has a lot of locations—Dogpatch and Mission Cliffs in San Francisco, Berkeley Ironworks and Sacramento Pipeworks, Diablo, Metalmark, Cliffs of Id…how do you maintain a wide Touchstone community that encompasses all those gyms? Or, is it more about creating a community and an identity for each individual facility?
HUNG: It’s a little bit of both, I think. All of our gyms are really unique in themselves and we give them the freedom to grow and evolve as they will—we don’t try to control them from the top down. But I also think that our members recognize that they’re part of a bigger community that shares their values and priorities. It is a lot like family—maybe you don’t see each other much or watch the same TV shows, but you always have a place to crash and people who’ve got your back.
Got a cool story? Tell us!
Do you know somebody who works in the climbing industry and would be good to profile in a Behind the Desk segment? (Or, do you work in the industry and have a personal background that you think others would enjoy learning about?) If so, please contact us and tell us about it!
Triangle Rock Club’s new addition to its Richmond location. Photo by Wayne Wilkerson
It was recently announced that the Triangle Rock Club in Richmond, Virginia, has finished adding a new space to its original facility. The new, adjoining building includes 14,000 square feet of climbing space—with roped walls (by Walltopia) at a height of 47 feet and padded flooring by Futurist. A speed climbing wall is also part of the addition. Also, a door in the new building allows for access to an outdoor porch with seating and patio lights.
Triangle Rock Club’s Richmond location first opened in 2018, repurposing a 24,000-square-foot facility that had previously been home to the Richmond Athletic Club. In addition to bouldering and roped climbing, the original space also features cardio equipment, a yoga space, steam rooms, a hot tub, a gear shop, showers, and locker rooms.
A press release about the new addition noted that the joining of the buildings forms “the largest indoor climbing center in Richmond,” and a previous article on CBJ priced the cost of the expansion at $2 million.
“We are thrilled to offer Richmond a truly world-class climbing experience at Triangle Rock Club,” said Joel Graybeal, Triangle Rock Club’s Managing Partner. “With the addition of these rope climbing walls, we are more than doubling our climbing terrain. We are humbled to be stewards of an awe-inspiring climbing, fitness, and yoga community in Richmond.”
Triangle Rock Club currently operates five gyms throughout North Carolina and Virginia.
Behind the Wrench…is an ongoing series that interviews the “rock stars” of the climbing industry, the routesetters at the gyms. This time CBJ heads to sunny San Diego to talk about the unique similarities of routesetting and dancing, being influenced by others, and what routesetters should really be called.
Grotto’s Claire Miller in her element, setting a new route. Photo by Mark Patana
CBJ: What led you to climbing—and what led you to routesetting, specifically?
MILLER: My dad tells people that I started climbing when I was six years old, but that’s not really true. He would bring my younger sister and I to a gym after school so he could climb; my sister and I would mostly bug the front desk staff or build block sculptures in the yoga room. For a while I refused to climb indoors because I didn’t like the chalky air and the shirtless sweaty guys. That resulted in a lot of outdoor trips. The first time I lead outside I was 10 years old, and my dad’s instructions were: ‘Put this clippy end in the metal thing on the rock and the other clippy end to your rope. Make sure the rope goes the right way.’ (…What was the right way? I didn’t know!) ‘When you get to the top, stay there and belay your sister up.’
Our parents continued to take us climbing and hiking outside for most vacation and holiday breaks. I didn’t actually enjoy climbing until I was in high school, and soon after started working for Touchstone. For my 16th birthday my dad took me to get my worker’s permit so I could start working at the new Touchstone gym (Studio Climbing) that was only a mile from our house. I started as belay staff and a kids camp instructor, and I would walk to the gym after school and spend most of my time there on the weekends. When I moved to San Francisco for college, I started working at Mission Cliffs. There I headed the kid’s camp program and started coaching the youth teams. It wasn’t until I graduated and moved back to San Jose that I started routesetting. When I first started at 16, I never would’ve thought I’d become a routesetter. But looking back on my time with Touchstone, I can see the path that I unintentionally took to get to routesetting. I think the moment that sparked the idea—the ‘Oh, maybe I can do this!’— was right before I left San Francisco. I mentioned that I was moving back to San Jose to my friend and Touchstone NorCal head setter, Buck Yedor, and he said, ‘Hey do you want to set down there?’ I laughed and said no way. Two months later I started setting.
Miller’s first introduction to climbing was outdoors, but a fascination with routesetting emerged over time. Photo by Saki Cake
I recently moved to San Diego where I started working for Grotto Climbing & Yoga as a coach and routesetter. While my boyfriend and I were looking for apartments in San Diego, we decided to take a break [from the search] and visit a gym. Our first visit at Grotto, I met the general manager and head setter. Their energy and love for their gym sold me, and I asked if they were in need of any setters. I guess the feeling was mutual. Grotto is awesome and so fun to work for. My responsibilities are so different from where I was before. I am lucky to have come from such a supportive and engaging crew [at Touchstone]; they taught me everything I needed to know and more. The foundation I built with them prepared me for where I am today.
CBJ: Are there any skills, interests, or aptitudes outside of climbing that you think have helped you hone your setting skills? In other words, any unique interests that you think influence your setting?
MILLER: That’s a difficult question to answer. I wasn’t involved in a lot of sports as a kid. I tried track and field, tried volleyball, and tried swimming. The only activities that lasted more than one season were dance and climbing. Maybe dancing has influenced my setting, but I thought that delicate-balancy movement was just my style. I know for sure that dancing and climbing for as long as I have has helped me understand body awareness and movement on and off the wall. It wasn’t until I started coaching that I was able to articulate the why and how behind movement. Even with my background, transitioning to the world of routesetting wasn’t as smooth as I thought it was going to be. In the beginning I relied very much on feedback and advice from my setting crew. I had to be told multiple times to trust myself, that I knew what I was doing—even though it didn’t feel like it. Every setter that ever helped me when I was learning has influenced my setting. Sometimes while setting, I’ll find myself doing something that makes me pause and think, ‘Oh wow, so-and-so would totally do this,’ or, ‘This is such a so-and-so move.’
CBJ: How has routesetting—either the methodology of the craft, or the business-side and the career aspect—changed at all since you started? And has it ever been challenging to adapt to any changes?
MILLER: I feel like routesetting is different to whoever you talk to or wherever you go and it changes constantly. I especially noticed a huge difference when moving from Touchstone to Grotto. With Touchstone, you could have a career with routesetting, you could set full-time—every day of the week if you wanted—because the demand was there. At Grotto, routesetting full-time was not an option; I had to start coaching. Granted, I love coaching and I think I am a good coach. But that has been challenging for me because I love routesetting and want to do it every day. Now that I can’t set every day, it makes me appreciate it so much more.
CBJ: Do you have any strange or unique setting stories? There was that recent incident at Toulouse where Jernej Kruder ripped a volume off the lead wall—I suppose that’s a really dangerous anecdote, but definitely something that sticks in people’s minds about routesetting. Maybe you haven’t had anything in that (dangerous) sense that has happened, but just…anything that sticks out in your memory as a fun or quirky incident?
MILLER: Oh man, I don’t have anything as exciting as that… luckily? I guess all my stories are pretty boring compared to that. One memory in particular sticks out because I never got paid. My coworker challenged me to set a boulder using only five morph volumes for a dollar. I did—and no dollar was awarded. I’ll never forget. The great thing about that boulder was adults had a really hard time with it. It was only rated V5, but the only people who could climb it comfortably were the team kids.
Miller progresses up the wall while lead climbing at the gym. Photo by Saki Cake
Another incident that sticks out was when I was climbing with my boyfriend. I had him guess who set what, and which climbs were his favorite. He didn’t choose any of mine. It makes sense to me though, him being 6 feet 2 inches tall and me being 5 feet 4 inches, we rarely like the same climbs. But when I play that game with my dad (5 feet 11 inches) he always likes my climbs. Unintentional family bais maybe.
CBJ: If you had to give your five biggest tips for setting great routes, what would they be?
MILLER: The tips that I live by, and I have to remind myself of on a daily basis, are little snippets of wisdom I’ve collected from the routesetters I look up too.
First, trust your instinct; when your mind is cluttered with ideas, go back to your first. Don’t go down the rabbit hole.
Second, don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion. It’s important to trust yourself but you’re not the best.
Third, it isn’t a beauty contest. A boulder doesn’t have to look good to climb well. Don’t focus on aesthetics.
Fourth, you don’t have to climb V10 to set V10, but it does help. People are often shocked when I tell them I can’t complete a boulder that I set. I tell them that’s one of the secrets of routesetting, knowing what makes a hard climb hard without having to climb hard.
Lastly, you can’t always set gems. Everybody, even the best routesetters, have off days.
CBJ: If/when you are feeling some burnout, what do you do to get over it? I think that’s something that all gym employees struggle with, but it’s a particularly hefty thing with routesetters since the job is, by nature, so physically demanding and exhausting (and mentally challenging!)
MILLER: I sort of have two approaches to routesetting while feeling burnt out. Sometimes I will challenge myself to ‘channel’ a setter that I admire. I’ll try to set a boulder in their ‘style,’ as best I can. Usually I end up not being satisfied with the boulder, but that’s OK because I didn’t set it!
My other approach, and this is a little embarrassing, is to space out and let the ‘setting gods’ take over. This is usually just following instincts and choosing holds and moves that I’m psyched on. I’ve found this approach works better when setting routes rather than boulders because it’s easier to space out when you’re dangling on a rope. I promise I’m being safe while using this approach.
Miller is certain that routesetting will evolve in the future, but believes no style of routesetting will become irrelevant. Photo by Ian Ware
CBJ: If we consider setting to be an art, that means it will always evolve. Setting in 20 years will look quite different than setting in the present day, just like movies and music from 20 years ago seem quite different. So how do you see routesetting evolving in the future? 10 years? 20 years?
MILLER: Routesetting definitely is an art! We should call ourselves route ‘designers’ honestly. I think as routesetting evolves, there will be more division in routesetting styles/’genres.’ For example, right now I think there is a dividing line between setting commercially and setting for competitions. I think as time goes on there will probably be divisions in those divisions. I have no idea where it’s going to go or what these divisions will be. Climbing, as a sport, and routesetting, as an art, have so much more room for complexity than other sports do. Everything is going to get a lot more complicated. I don’t think any style of routesetting will ever become irrelevant. Artists always refer back to the classics for foundation.
Got a cool story? Tell us!
Do you know a routesetter in the climbing industry who would be good to profile in a Behind the Wrench segment? (Or, are you a routesetter and have a personal background that you think others would enjoy learning about?) If so, please contact us and tell us about it!
When legendary climber John Bachar died in 2009, it seemed plausible that Acopa USA, the shoe company he formulated in the early 2000s with co-founders Dario Piana and Steve Karafa (as a spin-off of an Acopa brand that existed in Mexico), would close its doors.
Even prior to Bachar’s passing, the company had endured a number of devastating circumstances—including a 2006 automobile accident that killed Karafa, then serving as the American company’s president.
Acopa USA continued for a while following both tragedies before eventually fading. However, beginning in 2018, word began to spread that Acopa USA might be returning. Representatives for a relaunched Acopa reportedly reached out to “friends and loyal customers” asking which Acopa shoes should be brought back.
More recently, the company unveiled a new website (acopaoutdoors.com), a Twitter account (@AcopaOutdoors) and an Instagram page (@acopaoutdoors.ig) which confirmed the return of Acopa climbing shoes. An announcement on Instagram last December stated: “A New Day – Back In The USA! Starting next January, you’ll be able to order brand new renditions of your favorite classic Acopa models from our website for delivery anywhere in the US & Canada.”
The 2020 Acopa line will feature new renditions of the JB, Legend, Merlin, Aztec and Spectre climbing shoes, with the Merlin, Aztec and Spectre already available and other models coming soon.
Piana said on Instagram, “We knew Acopa had earned the loyalty of many climbers. However, we didn’t fully realize the depth of that loyalty until years had passed and we kept reading posts on various internet forums, getting calls and emails from them; not only lamenting our absence, but also expressing a desire to help us make a comeback. This was a moving realization. Those emails, posts and calls became a clarion call; an urgent reminder of our responsibility to figure it out and bring back their shoes. We had to get back on our feet and finish the route.”
