Olympic Routesetting Criticism, How an Olympian Trains, and Paraclimbing’s Inclusion at the LA 2028 Paralympics

Welcome to Behind The Wall, a weekly newsletter published every Saturday.

Each week, I highlight the favourite things I’ve watched, read and listened to from the world of indoor and competition climbing. I also keep track of what climbing competitions are coming up and where you can buy tickets.

This week, we learned what the head routesetters from the Olympics felt about the routesetting on the Testpiece Podcast in Climbing magazine. We got to hear from four of the routesetters at the IFSC Lead World Cup in Koper, Slovenia. Louis Parkinson followed along with a “normal” training day with 2024 Olympian Erin McNeice. Kyra Condie and Allison Vest interviewed Mo Beck about the growth of Paraclimbing and its inclusion in the LA2028 Paralympics. I also caught up with the interview with Sebastian Depke, Paraclimbing Commission Chair, on the That’s Not Real Climbing Podcast.

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Watch

I Got Schooled by 20-Year-Old Olympian | Catalyst Climbing. Louis Parkinson follows 2024 Olympian Erin McNeice for a day of training at the Depot in Manchester. They cover balance exercises to warm up, board campusing, hard competition bouldering and plyometrics.
IFSC Worldcup Koper - Interview with the route setters | Beta Routesetting. Niki Wiechmann interviewed 4 members of the routesetting team at the IFSC Lead World Cup in Koper. Learn more about how they became routesetters, their roles in the competition, and their expectations of how difficult the routes are.
This Is The Last Chance For Svana - The Outsider Ep.5 | Epic TV Climbing. The last episode of The Outsider covers Svana Bjarnason's experiences competing in Budapest and the Innsbruck and Briançon World Cups before she reflects on the adventure as a whole.

Read

“Too Hard! Too Reachy!” The Olympic’s Routesetters Think These Criticisms Are Unfair | Climbing Magazine. Owen Clarke interviewed Olympic Headsetters Garret Gregor (Boulder ) and Martin Hammerer (Lead) about how they felt about the criticism of the routesetting.

Listen

Garrett Gregor — Olympic Head Routesetter, BTS of Elite Competitive Setting, Grades of the Olympic Climbs, and Do Setters Control the Outcome? | Testpiece Podcast. Garrett Gregor talked with Josh Horsley about how he became an IFSC setter, what it was like routesetting at the Olympics in Paris, and why routesetters can’t control what happens in a climbing competition.
Claire Gordon - Understanding Constants Over Time | Impact Driver Podcast (CBJ). Claire Gordon talked with Holly Chen about coaching and routesetting for elite youth athletes and how gyms can better serve them.
Bek on Top: Talking with Mo Beck about Paraclimbing’s Paralympic inclusion | Circle Up Podcast. Kyra Condie and Allison Vest talked with 10-time AU2 Paraclimbing USA national champion Mo Beck about Paraclimbing’s inclusion in the Paralympics in LA 2028 and the growth of the sport since she started.
Sebastian Depke, Paraclimbing Commission Chair | That’s Not Real Climbing Podcast. Jini talked with Sebastian Depke, Paraclimbing Commission Chair, about getting paraclimbing into the Paralympics in LA2028, his experiences as a paraclimber and his 1000km journey on a solar hand bike to the Innsbruck Paraclimbing World Cup.

International Climbing Competition Tickets

The World Cup season is wrapping up with two competitions left, plus the Asian and Pan American continental championships. Here is a rundown of climbing competitions to watch out for the rest of the year.