Interview 008 – Sam van de Vorstenbosch
Sam van de Vorstenbosch -
SET Routesetting - Netherlands
Please could you tell us about yourself, where are you based, and what do you do in your roles?
We are SET and we are based in the Netherlands. SET is a routesetting company, and we consist of professional and national routesetters, who work in several different gyms in the Netherlands. We offer a routesetting service for both disciplines, lead and boulder. We work closely together with the national federation (NKBV) and the Dutch National Team for most of the lead competitions, simulations or training routes in the Netherlands.
How would you describe the state of the climbing industry in your country, and how do you see it evolving in the next few years?
Like many countries we experienced a boulder boom. Bouldering is by far the most popular discipline at the moment, a result of all the gyms popping up in every city. This brings huge growth for the sport, which is great. We also believe that there will be more competition between gyms, hence more need of professional and high-quality routesetting. Our feeling is that the sport keeps on growing the coming years, and we hope this eventually also boosts the lead discipline.
What are some obvious areas of weakness in the industry in your area of expertise; are there a lack of qualified people, is there a defined pathway into what you do, are there any development opportunities?
It is difficult in this industry to keep qualified and experienced people in the business. The pay isn't that good and many people still don't consider it a future proof career path. We’ve seen many great setters, trainers or other staff leave the industry to find “a real job”. We have to be able to find ways to keep this experience in the industry, only then we can really grow. There is a huge responsibility for gyms to provide gym staff with fair pay and good work conditions.
What are the advantages to a gym in outsourcing their routesetting, and what does the contract process look like?
There are a few advantages for gyms, let’s take a look:
Quality: For a gym knowing that you hire a professional setter is nice. No need to stress about the outcome of a set, time-limits. The job gets done, and it gets done well.
Diversity: Different setters can provide different styles in your gym. In our opinion a good diversity in routes and boulders makes a climbing gym much more attractive.
Scheduling: It can be a hassle sometimes to find setters (last-minute) and to contact everyone independently. For SET there is one contact person regarding the planning of setters.
Education: A combination of setters from us with a local (inexperienced) team can be a great way to educate the local setters and provide them with the professional training needed. “For a contract we look at the gym’s need, budget, target audience etc etc and take all routesetting related services out of their hands. We plan the set days, take care of the holds selection, etc etc. That way they do not need to worry about anything”
Take a look at our website to see what we offer www.setroutesetting.com
How is feedback and boulder/route quality managed between SET and the gym, and how do you control grading consistency?
If a gym is opting for a full-service contract, we provide a location organizer from SET for the location. This setter is responsible for the organization part of routesetting. These tasks involve: routesetting planning (where to set what, when and in which style), main point of contact for the gym, collecting feedback from customers and keeping grades consistent. With the national team of SET we often discuss grades. We are in favour of friendly grading, but mostly we try to teach the climbers that grades are personal. Grades feel different for different types of climbers, so the endless discussion about grades feels repetitive to us. We aim to put focus on the quality of climbing and the idea of providing climbers a new skill or experience through routesetting.
What other services or training does SET offer to gyms?
SET stands for; Setting, Expertise and Training. We offer:
Setting: Like already discussed, we outsource setters to gyms, federations or teams in need.
Expertise: This includes wall design, hold ordering or any other advice that relates to the main product of climbing gyms.
Training: Quality education for routesetters. Soon our course plan will go live; ranging from intro routesetting courses, to professional setting courses (boulder and lead).
What advice would you give to a new climbing wall business that has just signed for their first property?
Start thinking about your main product; climbing.
Build a vision of how this product has to look like. What kind of styles do you want to offer? What type of holds to use? How should the walls look like and what angles do you need? What is the type of crowd climbing here? And how does that relate to the product? We see these questions often overlooked, resulting in gyms without any vision.
It is like opening a restaurant without thinking about how your menu should look like. Yes, you will serve food, but will people like the experience?
How can people find you if they’d like to learn more and get in touch?
Bring a visit to our new website www.setroutesetting.com and keep an eye on our Instagram page @setroutesetting.
