Meet Cory Hanson | General Manager of Rock Solid Climbing

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cory Hanson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cory, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?

Fitness works for a lot more people when it is focused on the activity and not the results. Rock Solid Climbing and the climbing industry as a whole is are about making fitness fun. You are going to want to come back and do it again. Whether you are looking to maintain or make changes to your fitness level the most important step component is consistency and consistency is a lot easier if you are having fun.

The fitness industry is full of examples results based mantras and marketing selling scaled down body building workouts which is great. When you want to see a drastic change you have to make it happen through structured progressive overload. We offer this service for those who want to see those results but physical activity means more to human beings than before-and-after-style transformations. Physical activity is important to regulate our emotions, hormones, and it helps us focus and stay sharp.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

My background is in routesetting which is a combination of installation art, game design, and choreography. At it’s heart routesetting is designing and installing routes or paths on indoor climbing walls. Routesetters use specially made plastic shapes and textured wood panels to create a challenge that is physically and mentally engaging for an audience of a particular experience level and strength. It seems simple at first because difficulty can be varied through a few easily quantifiable variables such as the distance between holds or the angle of the climbing surface. The challenge is blending those variables with more complexity such as hold angles and body positions to create sequences that require a climber to use multiple skills to solve.

Layered on top of the user experience is the visual aspect of the product. The tools used to create routes have evolved to a high aesthetic standard which has allowed routesetters to improve the visual appeal of the climbing surface. Setters think of the color density and patterns created by the gripping surfaces the path the climber’s body takes, and the shapes the climber’s body will make during an ascent. They could focus on any one or any combination of these things while creating a route.

Additionally, routesetters curate the look, feel, and diversity all of the routes in facility. The first goal is to have routes that demand different skills from climbers of the same ability level. Beyond that a routesetter may design sections of wall with densely nested or overlapping routes which serve to host certain styles of movement. This contrasts with swaths of low route density which allows for movements that may not work in more densely set areas and allows attention to be drawn to and focus on aspects of these routes that may be lost if they were as densely nested. This gets more complex and beautiful when you  consider that routes live for a few weeks or months at most. Routesetters operate a giant mandala in which people get to play. Each time they create they destroy their last design.

Many or maybe even most climbers simply focus on the challenges the routes possess. The visual aesthetic and sometimes even the ‘flow’ of a sequence may not be at the forefront of a climber’s mind but the people behind the scenes more likely than not poured their creativity into the product being enjoyed. Perhaps my favorite part about routesetting is that isn’t about me its about making something for someone else to interact with and experience. It’s similar to how a novelist might suggest themes and symbolism but has to leave the discovery and interpretation of these things to the reader. Routes can usually be accomplished a few ways. Some may be easier one way and someone else may disagree. Routesetters try to allow for those differences to enhance the experience but that takes intention. It’s easy to put a hold where a shorter climber can’t reach but its much harder to allow that climber another solution to the same challenge. The same principle applies to gripping positions, hold types, or movement speeds.

I don’t get to operate as a routesetter much anymore but I am proud to support to a new team. The routesetting program at Rock Solid is designed to allow routesetters a huge amount of creative freedom but it also demands attention to detail and passion. We are really lucky to have amazingly talented and passionate routesetters on the team including Evan Marlatt, Adam Foley, Alex Abbey, Laurel Falk, Parker Brown, Noah Allen, and our fresh recruits Jonathan Shephard, Giovanni Noriega, Malcom Oliver, and soon Rachel Ball. We have also had access to amazing guest setters including Flannery Shay-Nemirow (Tucson, AZ), Morgan Young (Seattle, WA), Dustin Brown (Phoenix, AZ), Marco Santos (Chicago, IL), and Michael Proctor (Phoenix, AZ).

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Tucson is an amazing city to live in! Any visit has to include a hike (or a climb) in the Santa Catalinas. One of the best assets Tucson has is the choose-your-own-temperature aspect of the nearby sky islands. You also can’t miss the food! Its astounding how much great food Tucson has. The obvious districts like the Mercado, St. Phillips Plaza, downtown, Five Points, 4th Avenue have tough competition from all over town! Noodleholics, Rajin Ramen, The Parish, Flora’s, and Tito and Pep have been my recent favorites. But even then you would have missed out on the amazing Mexican food from unassuming street vendors and small brick and mortars. Finally, you have to find time to appreciate the desert. The Sonoran Desert is special for being close to not being a desert. Annual rainfall is just under the threshold to classify. There are too many beautiful examples of life and moisture to list. Besides, being told everywhere to go would ruin some of the adventure of exploring for yourself!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The Tucson rock climbing community has so many amazing people! I moved to Tucson with no concept of the wealth of amazing people that would enter my life. I am so grateful for all of the friendships and mentorships that have allowed me get to where I am today. Foremost in the list is my colleague and best friend, Gustavo Figueroa. I don’t imagine I would have been in Tucson long without his support and influence. Right next to him is my business partner Carlton Taylor. He has been instrumental to our success with Rock Solid Climbing but more importantly has inspired me to shift my focus to larger goals in my personal life.

Website: www.rocksolidclimbing.com

Instagram: rock.solid.climbing

Facebook: Rock Solid Climbing + Fitness

Image Credits
Cory Hanson Courtney Arnold Laurel Falk Jonathan King Gonzo Macabeo Jordan Shephard Daniel Wieland Katie Martin Graham Smith Shane O’Brien