CWA Blog Archive-Perspectives On Comp Style Routesetting In Indoor Climbing Gyms

Perspectives On Comp Style Routesetting In Indoor Climbing Gyms

Pdf Summary

Ashley Routson examines how competition-style routesetting has permanently reshaped indoor climbing, and the growing divide between regular indoor climbing and comp-style climbing that gyms increasingly notice as the sport goes mainstream. She engages the purist critique head-on and with humor. Climbing purists argue comp-style climbing isn't real climbing at all, likening it more to parkour and gymnastics, and Routson concedes they aren't entirely wrong. While you can find dynamic moves outdoors, the specific type of movement and risk in comp-style sequences, coordinated dynos, paddle moves, precise body positioning, isn't something typically seen in nature. Much of the article traces the evolution of holds to explain how this divide emerged. In the early days of indoor climbing, hold companies focused on making holds that mimicked real rock, and setters used them to build routes replicating outdoor sequences, grading indoor climbs against common outdoor standards. As competition climbing grew, holds and setting evolved away from that naturalistic origin toward the large-volume, movement-driven style comp climbing demands, and that shift changed what indoor climbing looks and feels like for everyone, not just competitors. Written for owners, managers, and routesetters, the piece explores varying perspectives rather than declaring a winner, aiming to help operators understand the history and impact of comp-style setting on the broader industry. The article is dense with tie-ins to other CWA content. Its throughline is that comp-style routesetting is neither a fad nor a betrayal of climbing's roots but a genuine evolution with real tradeoffs, one that has expanded the sport's movement vocabulary and appeal while pulling indoor climbing further from its rock-mimicking origins, leaving operators to decide how much of each style serves their particular community.

Asset Caption

Ashley Routson traces how competition-style setting reshaped indoor climbing and split it from traditional climbing. She grants the purist point, comp movement resembles parkour more than rock, and shows how holds evolved from mimicking nature toward large volumes and comp movement, an evolution with real tradeoffs operators must weigh for their community.