*Written for Edged on Sept 2010
Big Shoes to Fill
Awww come on Jansen! Just one small competition and you think you’re qualified to write a ‘Memoirs of a Chief Route Setter’? You must be kidding me! At least a few more route setting jobs under your belt first before attempting to write a topic as vast as such?
One Thing Leads to Another
For those unaware, I was appointed as the Chief Route Setter (CRS) for the recently concluded ClimbNus10. Initially, I was asked to be the CRS for the carnival only. I agreed after some thought. On hindsight, my thought process must be really screwed to accept this underpaid (zero pay in fact) and overworked job. Perhaps I find it difficult to refuse a lady. Or perhaps I was itching for a challenge. Whatever the reason, I accepted the position. Lo and behold, it was the promise that sealed my fate. Soon after, the committee decided to host an invitationals over the weekend. The responsibility was trebled. 16 routes ballooned to 40. Setting for a competition is a whole different ball game from setting for a carnival. Sucked into this vortex, it was too late to pull myself free now. Take it like a man, my gung-ho friends would say. Grit your teeth and soldier on! Sometimes, I wish I could just be a wuss..
Prior to the start of the routesetting on Saturday (the event was on Sunday), I painstakingly drew out the front and side profiles of each wall, including detailing the position of each bolt hole. I begged requested for volunteers and organized them into time frames for each category. Bearing in mind the need to set 24 routes within the day, delay in the routesetting for any one category will snowball in the others. The time of volunteers who arrived punctually will be wasted, and having been a victim of this on several occasions, I endeavored to make sure this didn’t happen. Not on my watch. Reminders were sent out, checklists were put up.
The Impossible may well be Possible..
That Saturday was also the day where I almost lost my temper. A friend who has known me for a long time remarked incredulously, You? Lose your temper? That’s impossible! However, volunteers who came late, volunteers who dropped a cursory sms at the eleventh hour saying he/she could not make it and asking whether I still needed help, volunteers who took ages to put up their draft route and resisted suggestions, among others, gnawed at my patience. Am I too demanding, or do some people just need to work on their sense of responsibility?
A Happy Ending
It wasn’t all bad though. There were gems. I especially enjoyed setting with the team that put up the Open circuit. Each routesetter was experienced, efficient and brimming with ideas. We put up the routes quickly and had ample time to test each other’s routes. These efforts culminated in the visually entertaining Open event. Members of the audience have come up to tell me it was a joy to watch. It was gratifying to receive praise, because more often than not, when the routes are good nobody notices, but when the routes are just slightly off-the-mark everybody has something to say. The average layman suddenly morphs into a routesetting guru. The criticism is often harsh, in-your-face and cuts like a blade. The stress of it all hung like a dark cloud over my head.
Thankfully, routesetting-wise, the competition proceeded smoothly. The participants were filtered out nicely (with the exception of Novice Women, sorry!), the routes werent so traumatising such that majority of the competitors wanted to quit climbing after the competition, but yet were tough enough to separate the field. Nobody got injured doing crazy moves, although I suspect this is more due to excellent spotters than prudent routesetting.
Rest for the Weary
Now that the event is over, I can finally rest easy and catch up on lost sleep. Muscles aching, joints tweaky and emotionally drained, a break from all that is akin to cool water on parched lips.
Routesetting VS Competing
A peculiar question surfaced. Do I take delight in setting deviously tricky routes for the competitors to work around (as a routesetter) or do I revel in the willing my body to overcome the problems (as a competitor) more? The answer is really quite simple. At least for the time being, I’m still a competitor at heart. My place should be standing shoulder-to-shoulder alongside other competitors, not donning a routesetter cap hunched over route plans. Pitting my prowess against other athletes and gunning for victory is more my cup of tea; mulling over whether a route is set successfully can wait till my bones age. Am just glad to have looked through the lenses of both perspectives, and became less ignorant as a result.
CRS: One time only, no encore?
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