Interview by: Tyson Schoene

As one of the coaches for the US climbing team I had the opportunity to attend this years youth world championships (YWC) in Ibarra, Ecaudor.

This year we had a couple of our own setting for the event, USAC’s, Kynan Wagonner, and Mike Moelter.

After the event I asked them to give their perspective on the event and what it was like being the first US setters at a youth world championships.

I for one thought it was a great event, what was your overall impression of the event and how it ran?

Kynan wagonner: I think that the event was well run and organized. Ecuador (Ibarra in particular ) was a great host and made sure that every climber felt welcome.

Mike Moelter: What a trip. Crazy wall, crazy crew and totally nuts instructor/head setter equating to one of the most memorable events I have been apart of. Having one of the finals rounds rained out and pain in the ass speed timers sucked but I still walked away psyched about my first international event.

I know when you guys do big comps it is usually with a crew that you know or are already comfortable with, what was it like setting with a crew that was totally new and foreign to you?

KW: It was quite intimidating, to say the least. We were paired up with people we did not know and asked to work with them. They all had great ideas, but getting through the language barrier and actually getting their ideas on the wall was a little cruxy. My Spanish was quite insufficient.

MM: We were just high energy the whole time so we went for it. One of the cooler moments was having Adam Ondra the kid from the Czech Republic who has sent 5.15a be the only one to top our route out.

You guys were also down there working on getting your international certification, which is a pretty big deal. You two are the only US setters who can now set world cups besides Yaniro. How do you think this is going to help American routesetting and our chances of getting more US setters at world events?

KW: Any time that a routesetter gets the chance to work with other talented routesetters, some learning is going to happen on both ends. I am not sure how much of an impact we will personally have on American routesetting, maybe more of an impact on specific competitions. I think that our participation will open up many doors for Mike and I.

MM: It is for sure a culmination of my setting journey. In terms of setting at international events the way I see it happening is that we will need to just make both work and vacation trips out them. Unless we are head setters we get no pay for travel. So for example if I were asked to set over in Europe I would plan for a 2 to 3 week trip.

Every setter I have talked to since I got back has asked, “How were the routes?” So…

KW: This year there was a pretty diverse selection of styles on a medium – steep wall that was pretty tall. A few volumes that helped a lot with climbability and about 1,500 So Ill holds. Luckily, Mike and I also brought down a bunch of E-Grips to make things better.

MM: Setters are never fully happy. This event was tough because not everyone had a good concept of what 8a or harder is, especially in the case of setting for youth. Also we were taking a clinic at the same time, so in order to evaluate everyone not every route was perfected. For comparison it becomes difficult because of the drastic differences in venues. For the most part this event calls for long resistance routes that see people falling off in the perfect crescendo. So if something is thrown in there like an all points off dyno it will almost always be easier than the resistance part of the route which I think works really well for the climber and spectator.

Kynan, you put a dyno in the middle of one of your routes. What were you thinking?

KW: There was a dyno in the middle of my juniors‘ qualifier 2 that was very risky to me. Anytime that you put something like that in an onsight comp, it can be really good or really bad. Unfortunately, the jump kept getting easier and easier the more that I climbed it. By the time I demonstrated it to the junior category, what was a double dyno to a figure 4 had become a dyno to a hard hand foot match that was possible without doing the figure four. One of these days, I will be able to force that move in a roped event without making everybody fall there.

Along the same lines, I noticed in semi’s, there were a couple big “Off-ramps” (cruxes) on a couple of the routes. I have noticed this at all 3 YWCs that I have been to. In US comps, if there are “off-ramps” the route setters get criticized and yelled at. Explain how for world cups, it is almost necessary to set like that to spread the field. Is this a practice that you agree with or do you see an alternative way to do this?

KW: The difference is, Europeans don’t care if your feelings get hurt. If you fall off of the route at the first crux, oh well, you need to get stronger. In the US, we coddle our kids and want to make sure that they get high on a route so that they leave with good feelings even if they do not qualify for the next round.

MM: This is a great topic that I actually got the chance to experience multiple times this event. I set a qualifier 2 that had in terms of an off ramp a pretty ideal scenario. The climbing was around 12a up to a La Rose move to a dead point that was a definite off ramp. It sucked to watch 1/3 of the field fall at the same exact spot but in the end the route saw only 4 tops. I for one am not a huge fan of off ramping but if your wall space is limited or the field is just incredibly large and wide open in terms of the top 20 it is a great tool to have.

Kynan you got to see a handful of climbers on your finals routes, but then after the rain, it cut all of that short. I remember saying to you that it looked like a great route. Your response was “I’ve been waiting my whole life to see those boys on that route.” How disappointing was it to work so hard and put so much heart into those routes only to have it get rained out?

KW: You have no idea. The men’s junior category is filled with World Cup finalists that are insanely strong. For the last seven years, setting at this event has been my goal as a routesetter. Setting big boy’s finals at this event was a dream come true. I wanted to see if I had what it takes to set for a field that strong. I cried that night when it started raining and I cried the next morning when the route was in full sun.

I pretty much consider the routesetters to be the hardest working group at the events. Do you feel that the stress level for an event like YWC is elevated compared to say nationals or something like Teva games?

KW: Absolutely. You are taking national champions from 40 different countries and trying to separate them in 3 rounds of competition. You have no idea (at the beginning of the comp) how strong any of them are and you are also not sure if your 8b finals route is really 8b, because your forerunners and other setters don’t speak English! You also run the risk of screwing up your reputation on an international scale instead of only on a national level.

MM: For me the stress part is not too bad anymore. I think with routes its just easier to tweak and know what is going on when you can do the moves 20 times in a row if you want to. Stress at the YWC was at a low for me just because we had such a big crew and we were in another country. Now if the US was hosting some year and I was apart of the crew that would bring on the stress for sure

With such a large event under your belt, what are your aspirations and desires for the future of your setting careers?

KW: I spent some time thinking about this while the awards ceremony was going on. Coming into this event, I was kind of looking at it as the beginning of my retirement from routesetting. Now, the opposite is true. I know that I have what it takes to do these events and I owe it to myself (and others) to see how far I can take this. I want to be Chief Coursesetter for Youth World Championships. I want to route set at a few World Cups. I want to prove that this country produces some of the most talented coursesetters in the world.

MM: For me it is to bring a World Cup State side. Even if we do it once I will feel like we did something for the US comp-climbing scene. When you have international participation at an event it just really elevates the whole experience. A world Cup would bring that flavor.

Next year the YWC is going to be in Sydney, Australia. I know I would like to see you guys setting there. Is this something that you all are going to bid for?

KW: Absolutely.

MM: Yea during the awards ceremony I got the Aussie organizers drunk and made them give Kynan and I the nod.

If you want more of Tyson, Mike and Kynan, you can read the extended version of this interview by clicking the link.

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