At Yellow Spider we are passionate about route setting because we know you want routes that will challenge and inspire you – whatever the grade you climb at.
Check out our setting calendar below:
Route Setting Calendar
= Boulders =
25th Howard B, Steve D | Comp Room
26th Howard B, Steve D | Comp Room
27th Howard B, Steve D | Comp Room + Comp Blocs
28th Howard B, Steve D | Comp Room + Comp Blocs
= Boulders =
22nd Howard B, Steve D | Rob’s Room
23rd Howard B, Steve D | Rob’s Room
24th Howard B, Steve D | Rob’s Room
25th Howard B, Steve D | Rob’s Room
= Boulders =
10th Steve D, Setter TBC| Comp Room – Right Side
11th Steve D, Evie C | Comp Room – Right Side
24th Steve D, Alex P | Rob’s Room – Right Side
25th Steve D, Alex P | Rob’s Room – Right Side
= Boulders =
7th Steve D, Owen B | Comp Room – Left Side
8th Steve D, Joey D | Comp Room – Left Side
21st Steve D, Setter TBC | Robs Room – Left Side
22nd Steve D, Evie C | Robs Room – Left Side
How we set our routes
We have areas that are easier for beginners and more challenging for experienced and adventurous climbers. We ask the route setters to come with their imagination, their climbing passion and experience to set routes that are nicely challenging for the grade and provide variety for regular climbers.
We built the walls so that all natural features are included in our routes, so there are some great arêtes and laybacks. The high walls are a mix of lead and top-rope, approximately 50:50 though we vary this over time and we also move the top-topes around to create variety.
We always incorporate lots of different sized and shaped volumes onto the main walls to keep it interesting for our climbers!
Route setting frequency
You’ll find new routes every week; we are now working on an 8 week cycle for our main bouldering areas. For the high walls we monitor the frequency of use on particular walls and re-set accordingly, generally 12 weeks +
As we aim to have over 400 routes at White Spider, we are confident you won’t get bored so let us know if you do and we’ll find you a new challenge.
We endeavour to route set on weekdays from 9.30am until 4.30pm in order to minimise any impact to our customers, details are shown on the route setting calendar posted on our website and social media platforms at the beginning of every month, plus we have a route setting black board in the centre and you can also keep up to date by following us on your preferred social media sites.
Route Grading
The route setter suggests the initial grade and then we give it the White Spider test (a good excuse to make sure we get to climb every new route).
For our routes, we have a new system to ensure our grading is as good as possible. At the bottom of each newly set route, you’ll see a yellow card displaying the provisional grades for that line.
Next to them you’ll find a notebook for your feedback. If you feel they are too hard, too soft, or just right – let us know!
At the end of a short trial period, we’ll review your feedback and adjust the grades accordingly. We’ll then replace the provisional yellow card with a permanent white one.
We welcome your feedback!
Remember you can always give us feedback on our route setting via this link, via email climb@whitespiderclimbing.com or ask for a feedback form from reception! Tell us what you like or don’t like about our route setting or what grades you don’t agree with. If we don’t know, we can’t improve!
Our route setters
We use some of the most highly respected route setters in the country as well as sourcing internationally accomplished setters from abroad.
