An experienced team of routesetters are working behind the scenes at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue to create challenging and competitive conditions for sport climbing, which gets under way on 5 August.

At Paris 2024, Sport Climbing features two medal events for men and women: Speed and Boulder & Lead. 

Austrian Martin Hammerer, who has been bolting routes at the international level since 2007, heads a team of routesetters responsible for the Lead routes. 

“The creative process happens on site at the wall," Hammerer said. "The international federation (IFSC) selects the material (holds and volumes) in advance, which we then use to bolt the routes. 

"We start with the final routes, the highlight of the competition, and work our way down to the semi-final routes. Once we have completed a route, we take a photo of it, unscrew the holds again and store them.” 

The focus for the routesetters is to offer a challenging but also fair competition. The routes for both disciplines – Boulder (shorter, more technical routes) & Lead (longer route with ropes) – are coordinated so that specialists in one do not have a disproportionate advantage. 

“Our aim is to offer a balanced competition," Hammerer said. "For the podiums, the athletes have to be really strong in both disciplines.”

Routesetting depends a lot on the creativity of the team. The style has changed over the past 15 years with today's routes more dynamic and loose, especially in boulder. 

“The material and the structures we have available for bolting have also changed a lot," Hammerer said. "Every season we adapt to the athletes anew.

“A few years ago, I would have said that routesetting is rather independent and has a major influence on the climbing style," Hammerer said. "That has changed.

"Today, the federations themselves also do a lot of routesetting for the athletes' training sessions. When we see this on social media channels, we also get new input for our work. Routesetting and athletes now have an influence on each other."

While his job is to create a demanding and competitive environment, Hammerer is not in the business of trying to catch athletes out. 

“There are no big surprises in terms of material selection," he said. "The athletes should have the chance to train with the familiar material in advance. The Lead routes will again be very difficult with an ongoing intensity throughout the route. In this way, we are trying to differentiate Lead climbing more from Boulder."  

The weather is also an important factor. Conditions are expected to cool by the start of competition. 

“Temperatures, humidity, and wind have the biggest influence. Depending on the weather conditions, we will adjust the routes,” Hammerer said. 

Unsurprisingly, he is reluctant to commit to a medal favourite: “The field is so tight. Anything can happen,” he said.