Molly Beard was the first female L5 routesetter in the US. We talked about what climbing gyms were like in the 90s, how she got started in routesetting, learning the language of movement, getting her L5, dealing with misogyny, staying up to speed on setting trends, how to have longevity as a routesetter, budgeting your body dollars, advice for young routesetters, and much more.

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Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/molly-beard

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:01:34) – The Murder Room

(00:06:01) – How I met Molly 15 years ago

(00:10:02) – Molly’s background

(00:12:50) – Climbing gyms in the 90s

(00:14:45) – The language of movement

(00:20:54) – Becoming the puppet master

(00:29:14) – Routesetting in the 90s

(00:32:35) – Getting paid to set routes

(00:34:36) – The power of climbing

(00:35:49) – Getting her L5

(00:44:53) – Facing misogyny in routesetting

(00:51:21) – The progression of routesetting

(00:57:57) – Staying up to speed with the trends

(01:00:54) – Coordination

(01:02:34) – Specializing in lead

(01:04:55) – Youth comps & the next generation

(01:06:50) – Longevity as a routesetter

(01:12:10) – A tide shift

(01:18:29) – Molly’s current job & recent injuries

(01:22:08) – An evolving relationship with climbing

(01:24:49) – Finding separation

(01:35:20) – Body dollars & Jiu-Jitsu

(01:39:10) – Moving to Hood River

(01:43:06) – Advice for young routesetters

(01:47:25) – Where is climbing going?

(01:52:14) – Splitting the field

(01:56:17) – “Be less judgemental.”

(02:01:52) – Wrap up & EXTRA teaser