BURSTIt’s no secret that indoor and outdoor climbing are very different types of climbing. Ask anyone who focuses on either discipline, and you are likely to hear some strong opinions about how one is absolutely not the other. Rather universally, it is agreed that if you spend more time outside than indoors, or vice versa, the other style of climbing feels hard.
Indoor climbing can often feel more powerful and athletic, and the textures (or absence of texture with innovations like dual-tex or no-tex) can take getting used to. Comp-style climbing is its own thing, and while these types of problems are often easy to identify from the ground, other problems might be lightly flavoured with this style, leaving someone who mostly climbs on rock scratching their head.
Outdoor climbing can be just as pumpy and athletic too, but there’s the added element of rock reading. Unless you are climbing something that has been egregiously ticked, your path to the top of a rock climb (be it boulder, sport, or trad) is often much less obvious than indoors. You also have to learn different techniques to keep yourself safe, which can add to the intensity of the day, or even add to the level of difficulty (like on a trad climb where you’re ascending a route with a lot of weight and are required to climb at a slower pace while you place good gear).
Differences aside, there is no denying that gym climbing and rock climbing are inextricably linked. Most climbers who spend time on rock began their journey in the gym and often continue training in one during the off-season. And many climbers who spend most or essentially all of their time in gyms have plans or intentions to pursue their passion outside.
Climbing gym setters are obviously aware of this, and given how much intention they put into developing their clientele’s strength, technique, and climbing stoke, we wondered how they view their role in preparing climbers for the outdoors. Do they specifically try to prepare climbers for rock in the surrounding area of their gyms? Or do they simply view the disciplines as separate, provide the best climbing and training facility they can, and leave the rest to each individual to explore on their own?
We interviewed two head setters at Canadian gyms, Max Summerlee and Karlo King, to better understand their philosophy on preparing climbers for the outdoors. Summerlee is the Director of Routesetting at two gyms in Ontario –The Guelph Grotto in Guelph and The Core in Cambridge. King is the head setter of Climb Base5 in North Vancouver as well as a setter at Ground Up in Squamish.
Interestingly, Summerlee and King had quite contrasting ideas. Perhaps their differences come down to the location of the gyms where they set. Where Summerlee is based, the closest climbing is the Niagara Escarpment, which is at least a 30-minute drive away. And while the climbing is good, the areas are not as concentrated as Squamish or North Van. Also, the length of your drive to climbing can vary quite a lot based on what style you want. As for King, Ground Up (in Squamish) is nestled in the heart of a wildly popular international climbing destination – there is a high volume of world-class bouldering, splitter granite single- and multi-pitch trad, and sport routes. It’s not surprising that each of these gyms takes a different approach.
We asked Summerlee if he sets for the rock in his area, like the bouldering in Niagara Glen or routes at Mount Nemo. “The direct answer is no,” he said. “We very rarely would simulate a problem that’s outside and have people repeat it. And I think that comes down to some of my founding beliefs or principles of what we’re doing. I think you could prepare for outdoors — I’m not against it. We just don’t do it often.”
He prefers to prepare climbers more indirectly: “We try and use a variety of hold styles to mimic different rock types. But we very rarely set specifically for conditions around here.”
When we asked King if he sees the climbing gym as a training facility for outside, or as its own thing, he said, “I think it’s both. I think it’s deeply layered, and I think it should be. Gyms should be well-rounded, and they can be both of those things.”
He continued, “At Ground Up, for example, there are definitely times where we’ll set something like a heel-hook traverse on slopers – classic Squamish bouldering. Or right now, I’m trying the Lorax [an ultra-classic Squamish 5.13a], so I decided to set the crux of the route. So, things like that will show up in the gym, but that’s not all the gym offers.”
King reminded us that a climbing gym is a business and that it’s in everyone’s best interest to cater to all their clients. “I think climbing outside is pretty fucking hard, especially in Squamish. And I think only setting that style might deter people who don’t feel like climbing outside is their thing. You have to know who your client base is. We might have more outdoorsy-feeling climbs in Squamish because it’s a climbing mecca, but there are some people who just want to do power endurance laps in the gym and not think about a cruxy sequence.
“I think it’s important to have diversity within the routes and within the boulders. We also set comp-style problems, but if everything was comp-style in the gym, that would be bad also. At the gym, we might have comp-style problems, a Superfly [V4] simulator, and heel hook traverses. It’s a tough challenge because you’re trying to cater to so many things. But I think it also just makes a nice, well-rounded experience.”
The post Is the Purpose of Climbing Gyms to Prepare Climbers for Real Rock? appeared first on Gripped Magazine.