Hello everyone, Has anyone given a serious thought to the aesthetics of route / boulder problem setting ? We all know that some routes / boulder problems are more pleasing to climb / watch than others and we often agree about which routes / boulder problems are more pleasing. It might sound extremely disturbing, but can there actually be a "critique" of a route set by a route setter on the basis of its aesthetic qualities ?
I set routes and boulders once a month, and for the most part any critique is about reachy moves (iow footholds placed too low or holds too far apart). The rest is almost always subjective; almost no route is liked by everyone nor is there a route that everyone dislikes. But you can set a route that most people will like by making the sequence logical/obvious and throwing in some 'fun' moves by making use of the walls. Using painful holds or nice holds in a painful way to me is a point of critique...
the aesthetics of route setting