In this blog series Tuomo Lankinen shares his thoughts on route setting. Tuomo is the owner of the BoulderSaimaa climbing centre and head route setter. We like to talk about climbing problems instead of routes. A problem is interesting, sometimes impossible-looking, beautiful and inviting, and it teaches the climber to solve a new difficulty. A …
Route setting isn’t easy. Every route setter knows that it is hard work and needs dedication. Setting isn’t just bolting the climbing holds to walls. Setting routes can be described as a form of art. Good routes challenge climber’s physique and brain and also teach climbing techniques in a natural way. Whether you’re just starting …
Original interview in Finnish by Tuomo Lankinen, www.bouldersaimaa.fi Routesetting in competitions is super hard work! You can’t really prevent skin from tearing up. There are so many problems to set and even more moves to do. Well planned routes or boulder problems form the basis of any competition. The best competition problems push the competitors to …
Tapio Alhonsuo tells how Hans Christian Doseth has influenced his climbing. Doseth’s routes had played a big part in my slow progress of learning the dark art of crack climbing, and I celebrated every time when I was successful with his routes. I made my first climbing trip to Norway over a decade ago. It was an overwhelming …
Tapio Alhonsuo recalls last January when he entered the Ice Climbing World Cup with Enni Bertling, Mira Alhonsuo and Albert Kaikkonen as the first ever Finnish participants. Finland hadn’t had a competitor in the Ice World Cup ever. That was just lousy. Entering the Ice World Cup has been one of my lifelong dreams. It …
The most important factor at getting better at wall climbing route setting is to leave the gyms and go climb rock. “I’ve been climbing for over 20 years”, starts Sauli Kiema. Such a career means he that has seen the entire rise of wall climbing scene in Finland. He knows everyone, and everyone knows Sauli. …
Hello dear readers, Few weeks ago we packed the car and headed south to Friedrichshafen, Germany for Oudoor 2015 trade show. It was a long drive through Europe (and even longer coming back home), but certainly worth the effort. At the show we met gym owners, route setters, climbers, people behind other climbing hold brands, …
The OutDoor trade show in Germany’s Friedrichshafen is the biggest annual fair for outdoor enthusiasts in Europe. In 2014, the fair saw 925 exhibitors, nearly 22,000 visitors, and more than 1,000 journalists. This year also we will attend – as an exhibitor! We’ve been working hard at Kitka HQ to release now the latest product …
Albeit there’s plenty high quality bouldering in Finland, our land appears far away in northern Europe and it’s not every day that an American 8C boulderer stops by to set for a comp. During the Boulder League finals, we sat down with Mr. Griffin Whiteside to talk about what brought him here and how he sees …
Text: Lari Malmberg (Translation: Jouni @ Kitka) ”Well I was a bit annoyed”, starts Janne Sievänen, who runs a climbing center in Tampere. He had noted that, along with the climbing boom, there are so many gyms in Finland that the competitions everyone was organising individually had begun to overlap. First he wanted to sketch …