20 Years of Routesetting with Jonathan "Jonno" Wright
We love climbing. We say we would do it 24 hours 7 days a week if we could. But do we really mean that? Ask your local routesetter how they feel about it.
Routesetting is a physically hard, taxing job that a lot of us glorify - “Oh, I’d get to climb so much! I’d get so strong and good!” I’ve interacted with many setters in the past who’ve had mixed feelings and this interview aims at delving deeper into the life of a routesetter.
Jonno is a foreman at Touchstone and has been in the industry for over 20 years. He’s always stood out to me as one of the most amicable and humble setters I’ve met and an individual who’s still putting in the effort to improve via training despite the physical toll of routesetting. You won’t find him on Instagram, YouTube or any other social media platform - but believe me, he’s an undercover crusher.
I remember recently I was trying a problem at Great Western Power Company, struggling to find an easy way to do a dyno to a pinch off a terrible crimp. Jonno saw me trying and was like “Oh come on man, just bump past it to the better hold!”. He then proceeded to execute the sequence with ease in his street shoes as I watched, jaw-dropped. Sometimes I watch someone climb with so much fluidity and ease that I wonder - are you that good or are you just that strong? With Jonno, I’d argue it’s a mixture of both.
Regardless, here’s a window into the life of a routesetter.
How long have you been a routesetter? At what gyms/areas have you routeset?
I think I’ve been routesetting almost as long as I’ve been climbing. Maybe even longer. I probably started setting over 20 years ago. I have set all over the place. I set at gyms throughout California – at Rockreation, they had 3 gyms and I set at all of them. One in Orange County, one in LA, and one in Salt Lake. The climbing community was really small back then, and I knew a lot of climbers from the Inland Empire. We would go from friend’s gym to friend’s gym setting. I had a chance to set at a bunch of gyms at the time. It was cool.
What is your goal as a routesetter? Fun and ergonomic movement? Creating a tricky puzzle for the climber to solve? Mimicking an outdoor style?
Personally, I try to get the climber to discover a movement. I want the climber to learn how to move their body, especially learn how to use their feet. [Tell me about it! His setting is always super intricate, consisting of bicycles, wild toe-hooks, etc.] But I do commercial setting now so in that context the goal is to set accessible, reach-friendly, and challenging routes.
Routesetting is, obviously, a physically demanding job. I often hear about how the routesetters are constantly injured or tweaked up. How do you manage your recovery?
You have to be disciplined, that’s the reality. You have to take care of your body. It’s a constant process of targeting the weaknesses that are showing up. I wish I knew when I was younger that strengthening in a balanced way is important. Training and education are super important to avoiding injury in the first place. [I love this. Don’t just sit idle with or when having an injury. Always rehab or prehab.] My shoulder is injured right now because I’m out of balance. So I will need to spend a few weeks targeting specific muscles so I can get back to working order.
Do you train as a routesetter? If not, would you like to train and how would you train?
Yes. I wake up really early to train before work. Or depending on which gym I’m working at, I train after work. [Damn. That’s some serious dedication.] Wanting to climb at a certain level means I have to train all of the time. I lift twice a week. I train fingers. I train contact strength. I train core. I have a regime that really pushes me but isn’t going to strain any specific area.
There’s constantly a debate between volume and intensity. As a routesetter, it seems like you climb an immense amount. Do you think it has improved your movement and overall climbing ability? Do you think taking up routesetting would improve or impair a fairly advanced climber looking to get better?
It depends. You can set things to strengthen weaknesses. But at the same time, routesetting is a physically demanding job. Unless you’re willing to put in the hours that it takes to stay physically fit, it could impair you. If you’re an elite level climber, it could be just what you need to challenge yourself. [I asked this because I’ve seen many average climbers turn into beasts after turning into routesetters. I think this is a serious way to up your climbing level.]
Do you get outside as much as you would like as a routesetter? Or would you do it more if your days weren’t spent already climbing?
I don’t get out enough, but not because of routesetting… I can set all week and still want to get outside on the weekend. Most of the outside climbing I do is actually with my co-workers. It’s a built in community. All I need to do is say that I’m going somewhere and a few coworkers will most likely join in. The reality is that different things take priority at different times of our lives. But being a routesetter only increases the chances of me getting outside.
I’ve discussed weightlifting for climbing several times with you. Could you list some of your weightlifting/strength numbers? Did you train for this or were you naturally that strong? To what extent do you think weightlifting has a benefit in climbing?
It’s hard to say since I’ve been climbing since I was a teenager. The people I was climbing with when I was young, weightlifted. We didn’t know what we were supposed to do, we just tried stuff. Now there’s lots more evidence, we know what we need to do and how to target things. But nonetheless, it doesn’t come 100% naturally. I definitely have to train for strength. Most of us have to if we want to see improvement. [Subtle point here. I think some people can easily adapt to strength gains. Others, like myself, have to constantly keep at it. All part of the game.]
I don’t think I’ve ever climbed with you outside. Do you have any unique outdoor tips/techniques you would like to impart (skin management, roping up, how to work a boulder, etc)?
When you approach a boulder problem, there’s something you should be learning. Sometimes you have to do it multiple times to learn what you need to learn. I think there’s always a lesson to be learned. Maybe it’s movement, maybe it’s technique, maybe it’s…. Stick with it until you feel like you’ve learned something.
If you are going to a boulder problem, try to learn from it.
Thanks Jonno for taking the time to answering my questions. I hope to see you indoors or outdoors soon or (even better) on social media (haha).