By: Joe Czerwinski

On the other side of the planet, in a time zone 15 hours away, lies one of the biggest outdoor bouldering comps you have never seen. The Asian X-Games is a high-ball (20-22ft), bouldering event that is broadcast to television audiences all over Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East (and in the U.S. on ESPN II and ESPN Intl.). Every year, the best climbers from all over the globe receive invitations to compete at one of the biggest bouldering comps in the world.

For Our Friends in TV Land

At a typical US high-profile bouldering event like ABS or the old PCA, it is likely you will see a forecasted style of climbing. One or two technical crimp or sloper problems with belly button lock offs. Followed by, big open handed pinch problems on steep walls with a dyno or two. Is it exciting? Yes, but who is the audience? Just a bunch of climbers who did not advance to finals, plus their friends and family; all people who are knowledgeable about climbing.

The biggest difference in the Asian X-Games from major US competitions is we are making a television show first and a bouldering comp second. The product we are making must be entertaining and media friendly, as our audience is one of non-climbers, millions of them. Therefore, it is mandatory to make the problems seem impossible, and the actual climbing has to look physically improbable. To say this event has a dynamic and gymnastic style, is an understatement.

Everything we set for this competition is reverse engineered from the perspective of television production. This way, we can create an exciting show that is more enticing for larger non-endemic corporate sponsors.

Anything and everything is tried: figure-fours, huge dynos, 180 degree dynos, run and jumps, mantles, campus sections, theme problems, feet first on roofs and 45’s, knee bars, rose moves, footless rose moves, bat hangs, symmetry patterns, holds on a chain, and trampolines. There is no chance in hell a climber will bypass our moves, or skip an intended sequence; it is our way, or the highway.

Each year, we make problems that incorporate different themes, ideas, and movement the competitors have not yet seen from previous comps. Setting like this takes an incredible amount of time, vision and leaves me mentally and physically exhausted. I once spent 8 hours on a 3 meter section of a men’s final problem. The total time designing and forerunning that specific problem was around 16 hours.

Location, Location, Location

Many of the host countries ESPN picks are very close to the equator. This means the conditions outside are hot and hotter, combined with humidity and even more humidity. When you factor in the frantic pace of competition climbing, direct sunlight with blistering heat (TV does not like shade), exceedingly difficult problems, athletes trying as hard as they can, you get a recipe for heat stroke and exhaustion. It’s not every climbing comp you see athletes hydrating with an IV in the medical tent after their session.

Setting & Forerunning

Three setters show up a week in advance of the comp to set 8 problems. This may seem like a lot of time, but is critical for proper forerunning and personal recovery. Every problem we set gets climbed start to finish so we know exactly how hard the overall problem feels. To ensure the correct difficulty and feel of each problem, we climb them at different times of day and in varying conditions. This way we know how the problems will feel no matter what Mother Nature decides to dish out.

As a male route setter, it is very easy to overestimate what women can do. Therefore, one of the smartest things our organizer has done was hire a female route setter / forerunner. Her opinion is invaluable when it comes to: upper body strength, dynamic ability, and body size. She has single-handedly saved entire problems the men have set.

Practice Comp?

Competitors have 2 problems in qualifiers and finals. As a redpoint event, athletes have a designated amount of “practice” time to work each problem as a collective group, basically a session with some of the strongest boulderers in the world. Later, at competition time, they have 2 minutes to send.

The setters have the ability to change problems during the practice time. If the setters have made an error (something too easy or too difficult), then we can make a change to the problem during the practice session. In the past few years, we have found the need to change the problems before the actual competition begins. This is based from the conditions the athletes climb in. Our first year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the finals practice and finals were on the same day. It was so hot and humid during the practice, many of the athletes did not fully recover in time for finals. In the end, we had one send out of four final problems, a potential disaster.

We try to limit the tweaks to a simple rotation of holds already on the wall. If a problem does require a new hold, we have one picked out ahead of time. When we are finished setting and forerunning, we sit down and discuss where potential bottlenecks are. From this, we decide what holds we will change if we need to change one. This is critical since it is a television show first and bouldering comp second.

Story of Personal Triumph

Even with making changes, there is tremendous pressure on the setters to get problems perfectly dialed before the competition. If everyone tops out or no one tops out, the event is a failure because ESPN has no story of personal triumph to tell. This means the future of climbing at the Asian X-games is solely dependant on how good the setters are, or how lucky we get.

There have been dozens of epics and humorous stories of setting (I can laugh now) while setting for Asian X. For example, when was the last time you set a comp without using T-nuts? Stay tuned to routesetter.com for the next installment of the Asian X-games.

Joe Czerwinski has been setting for ESPN since 1999, as well as the biggest production bouldering events in the US (events filmed specifically for television). Currently, he is head route setter at AZ on the Rocks in Scottsdale, AZ, and is waiting for his next 6-figure contract. While setting, he is impervious to bad conditions, and can change routes faster than an F-1 pit crew changes tires.

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