Women Routesetters in WC

There aren't nearly as many females who climb, thus, less setters. On a side note, I've never met a female setter I think is any good. I hear a lot of hype about a few.. but then they set complete shit.

I'm just curious because I've never met any female setters. Not to sound obvious but you only learn route setting by doing route setting.

On a slightly different note, you have  very negative attitude towards women as routesetters. (regardless of the actual quality of routes you've encountered.) Ok, so less women, less routesetters who are women. So, how many routesetters does the WC have, and how many of them are women?

There are no IFSC Chief Routesetters that are female as far asd I know. Why not well possibly because to be a CRS you have to set/test everything ie men's & women's routes & problems.

Indeed, I know very few female routesetters, and i don't know why. With all routesetting there seems to be a group that can perform a single trick. Al their routes are the same style, and most often the sme difficulty. There is only a small group that are really good setters and can set routes for different levels and styles. Of this group only a few are "interest" in becoming a competition routesetter. Which requires to be extra critical to the moves, security and difficulty. Women are under representated in the first group, even more underrepresentated in the second, and virtually non-existent in the second. I suspect that there are 5 reasons: 1. Less women climb. 2. Routesetting is hard work, and if not done efficiently it is really hard work. maybe this puts of women? 3. For routesetting you need somethiong that I call "reportoire of movement", you'll have to be able to imagine moves and translate that to positions of handholds and feet. For this you need technique and the willingness to analyse the movements. I'll comment on the later in the next point but as for technique: i feel that (in general) technique can be directly related to climbing level. To climb 8a you will need to have an 8a level of technique. And as women (in general) are less good than men they have less technique. people always say that women have more technique (as opposed to strength). i don't believe that. a 6a climbers has a level of technique of 6a. Girl or boy. So because the level of climbing relates to technique, which relates to routesetting, and because women are (in genral of a lower level) women are less good routesetters. 4. You'll need to be willing to analyse the end product, the route, the moves. you'll need to study that. be lyrical about a foothold somewhere because it produces that and that cool move. You will not only need to analyse you're own movement but also predict / analyse the movement of other climbers. for that you will need to know your own strengths and weeknesses and the willingness to step into the shoes of the other clibers (identify yourself with others). I don't see this to often with women. Maybe all that is required is some experience and confidence? This typically is apparent with forerunning for competitions, The feedback women give is always "so so". Is it hard: " no, yes, maybe", or the typical anwser: "For me it is difficult" . Can the competitors climb it? " maybe" What is the hardest move: " that or, maybe that". When I have girls forerunning I look more at their moves and how hard they seem to be as that I listen to their feedback. I understand that the text above also says a lot about me. I'm speaking about women in general and as always there are positive exceptions. In the netherlands there are a few. Furtunately my girlfriend is one of those. To be honest, that's the reason why she is my girlfriend. Because she totally understands me when i'm talking about this or that move. Because at setting of the world cup boulder finals she pointed out that there was a foothold missing in one of the boulders without ever seeing the boulder before. Ofcourse she was correct and indeed the foodhold was in the box for the finals.

Herman, without trying to sound like an douche you simplify and makes a common misconception in point 3. I will not even try to analyse point 4. your level of strength combined with your technique is what limits you to a certain level of climbing. to a degree, you'll always come to a point where the lack of one limits your overall performance. with good enough technique you'll be able to withhold on the physical performance and in the long run technique will probably be your best friend. but saying a certain grade of climbing requires a certain degree of technique just makes you wonder if you even considered then implications? I'll leave it at that.

S B said, "I am in agreement that there are only a few female routesetters, which is only caused by the total number of climbing women." One thing that makes me wonder if your explanation is right is the small number of FAs we see women do.  I think very few women bolt routes, too.  These seem to me closely related to setting indoor routes.  And there is no hierarchy or establishment to stand in their way.  So I wonder if the lack of female route setters goes beyond a simple matter of numbers.