Matcha

Route Name: Matcha
Grade: V4
Moves Incorporated: Drop Knee, Match, Switch Feet,  Lay Back, Bicycle, Heel Hook
Types of Holds: Slopers, Slopey Pinches

Just because someone can break your intended beta doesn't mean it's a bad route. Some routes are more fun to climb with a certain beta even if it's not the easiest beta. This route really varied a lot based on the climber. Even my intended beta when I set the route was different from how I ended up climbing it. Also, sometimes you just have to make holds better. I originally set the route with an awesome slopey pinch, but in the end it was way too slopey to make it a V4/V5 level move. I soon found a better hold and it's going to be my project.

In the picture below, you can see that the holds are pretty far apart. I've really been focusing on working with slopers more and working on bigger moves. Hopefully it'll pay off. 

The video below has Ian climbing my route. Once I send this route I'll update this and add a video of me climbing it. You'll be able to see the differences in beta between the two of us. For those of you who are interested, Ian is three inches taller than me and has a +2 or +3 ape index on top of that. I might have 0 or +1 for my ape index. 

Matcha with Ian

Thoughts, ideas on how to break the beta, anything else? Comment below. 

Counter Bore Versus Counter Sunk

This one's really simple but a lot of people get it wrong. In addition, I believe there is one other type of bolt that gets used, but I've never seen it used before I've only heard of it being an option. This post is probably not going to be the most exciting one you've read, but if you're buying your own holds which are pretty darn expensive, you should know with bolts to use because if you don't you can crack and break your holds. There's lots of pictures, so scroll through and make sure you understand the difference.

Counter bore uses the big wrench (5/16") and counter sunk uses the "baby" wrench (7/32").

Big Wrench and Baby Wrench

Here is a picture of a bolt for counter bore with the appropriate wrench, which is really common.

Big Wrench and Bolt

Here is a picture of a bolt for counter sunk less commonly used, but is more likely to be found on smaller holds like foot chips because they can sometimes have a lower profile.

Baby Wrench and Bolt

Here are some examples of holds that will use counter bore:

Counter Bore Holds

Here are some examples of holds that use counter sunk:

Counter Sunk Holds

You'll notice that both sets of holds are small holds. This is to show that even small holds can use counter bore or counter sunk, so unless you know your holds well, always just check before you accidentally end up breaking your holds. Most of the bigger holds will use counter bore.

Additionally, larger holds might need set screws so that they don't spin. If you don't want to put extra holes in your wall though, you can also put foot chips near a hold to keep it from spinning, but it's not as common to do that at a professional gym.

More on Counterbore and countersunk here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterbore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersink
http://www.boltdepot.com/Socket_products.aspx

Fun facts:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bolt-hole

Hope this helps clarify things and leads to less broken holds. After all, if a hold is going to break, it should be from doing something epic, right?

Thoughts, questions, etc? Anyone want to identify any other types of bolts that get used? Comment below.

A Study in Pink

Route Name: Study in Pink
Grade: V3
Moves Incorporated: Lay back, heel hook, bicycle, 
Types of Holds: Pinches, Slopers, Crimps, Slopey Crimps

I used an app on my phone to highlight the holds I used. Unfortunately, it's not great quality, but it does give you a good idea of where the holds are. Holds from bottom to top: foot chip, slightly positive pinch, sloper, foot chip, crimp, crimp, slopey crimp, slopey pinch, top. 

See if you can figure out the beta from the picture.

A lot of people have said they really liked this route/a single person has told me that a lot of people really like this route. I do like it a lot. It's very smooth. It's mildly challenging for me, but it's not a struggle fest. Its fun and I'm pretty proud of it. If you've seen the other two routes that I posted on here, you'll see that they are pretty similar at least for the start. I've noticed a lot of people end up uneven for certain types of moves, so I put heel hooks and laybacks at the start of each route to even them out. Admittedly, the rest of the route is kind of laddery, but there's a bit of weight shifting going on as well as some holds a bit more challenging than the rungs of a ladder. 

So here's the video. I'll try to do the rest of the videos with better quality. 

Thoughts, beta breaking technique, etc. Comment below. 

Climb on! Also Set on (not nearly as catchy)!

Loosey Lemon Goosey

Route Name: Loosey Lemon Goosey
Grade: V2
Moves Incorporated: Flag, Lay Back, Heel Hook, Hand Foot Match, High Step
Types of Holds: Jugs, Pinch

I like this route. The holds are pretty solid since most of them are jugs. It's a sit start. I only placed one foot for the start to get climbers used to flagging. There are two dynamic moves in this route, but they aren't dynos or deadpoints. I'm still working my way up to being comfortable with dynos, so making moves a bit farther than I could easily reach helps (I hope). The first dynamic move is at the start. It's a layback into he first jug. After the first move, heel hook on the caterpillar and reposition the right hand. Place your toe on the top of the caterpillar hold. This part can be difficult for people who recognize the heel hook, but don't realize that the heel hook is only for hand repositioning. Once they get over that, it's pretty simple. There's a dynamic move from the undercling to the top that gets people my height standing up tall. Watch it here:

Thoughts on this route? Ideas on how to break the beta? Comment.

Ladders

Ladders are probably the best thing to start with to set routes for people who have never climbed before. Unfortunately they can be really boring. Right, Left, Right, Left, etc. When I set a route for people who have never climbed before. I try to keep it really simple. New climbers don't often know that they should figure out what the beta is, so even matching hands can throw them off. That being said, I think it's best to make a VIntro or VBeginner Route to be easy enough for almost anyone to flash.

Route Name: Purple Patas Monkey
Grade: V Intro
Moves Incorporated: Nothing Fancy
Types of Holds: Jugs

Here's the intro route I set for the newer climbers:

As you can probably tell, it's a ladder, but it doesn't go straight up and I would say it still poses a reasonable amount of challenge without being too difficult. Something else you might have noticed is that I'm at full extension for some of the moves. I am shorter than most of the climbers at my school (most of them are guys because I go to a tech school). I usually set at the edge of my reach for most routes. For harder routes, I'll set past my reach which sometimes makes being able to forerun difficult.

Also, it's always nice to have a really easy route for people to warm up on especially for new climbers. Getting a climbing related injury that could've easily been avoided with proper warm up sucks especially when you're just starting out.

Welcome

Hello whoever you are and welcome to this blog. My intention is to use this blog to showcase my routesetting skills. I would say I'm still pretty new to climbing, and to setting, but I really enjoy both and a lot of my free time is spent climbing or setting.

If you are just starting out with climbing and setting, maybe I can help out. Oooh, maybe I could inspire you. Maybe, not likely, but who knows? If you're way more experienced than me, I'd love your advice in the form of comments and whatever else this site lets you post on my blog in response to things.

I have a feeling that most of the posts will be videos or pictures. Once I charge my camera, I'll get some videos of the routes I've set up. I'll try to put all of them up on this site. Even the ones I don't like, so that I can look back and see improvement or where I can try to improve.

This is a picture of me climbing at The Heist at Central Rock Gym Watertown. I really really really want to set for that comp this year.

Thanks for reading and I hope you come back,

Jenny