Great discussion on bouldering from history to the technical aspects of the holds. The piece isn't for everyone but anyone that wants to know more about climbing in general it gives a great overview of the terminology used and gives you a perspective from seasoned climbers and route setters.
How the World's Most Difficult Bouldering Problems Get Made
61–62 of 62 posts
Re: How the World's Most Difficult Bouldering Problems Get Made
#62The one annoying thing to me about route setting is there's seemingly no science to it (or at least I didn't get that from the article). I may climb a V5 at one gym, but not be able to crack a V3 at another. It would be nice to know if i'm really progressing or if Router Setter Bob just keeps labeling a V3 as a V5.
Startup idea: Make special climbing holds with RFID scanners in them. These are your starting holds and your finishing holds. Sell wristbands or something with RFID tags in them. RFID tag is coded to a climber. Upon starting a route, the start hold scans your chip, and upon finishing (if you finish) it gets scanned. Now you can use an Elo rating algorithm (think chess ratings, or various video games use it now, too)…
With tags in each shoe and on both wrists, and every hold a scanner, the data would describe exactly how and when each hold on the route was climbed.