On 20 September 2025, Uprising Christchurch was electric. The Boulder Nationals had brought New Zealand’s best climbers together, each route a test of skill, courage, and ambition. Against this backdrop, chief route setter and La Sportiva New Zealand ambassador Travis Rangi and his team stepped into the role of creators and curators—building the battleground on which climbers would etch their stories. Now, Travis’ reflection pulls back the curtain, giving us a rare vantage of what happens when route setters become authors of athletic theatre.
Every bloc is more than a climb, it’s a story. Nationals is where those stories get told under lights, pressure, and the roar of a crowd.
The gym felt different on day one. The lights weren’t even on yet, but the energy was already thick. For months I had planned, experimented, and imagined these climbs. In the last two days my team and I worked non-stop and finally we were ready to sit back, watch, and let the show unfold. With athletes warming up and the crowd gathering, the 22 blocs we set weren’t just climbs, they became the stage.
Each problem had a role. Some to ease competitors in, others to challenge their minds, and a few designed to stop everyone in their tracks. Nationals is about finding the overall best climber, and the blocs had to demand everything from strength, timing, composure, creativity, and spectacle.
Most only see the show: athletes chalking up, judges calling attempts, the crowd roaring. But in the days before, it is very different. Long hours with drills buzzing, volumes shifting, chalk hanging in the air. Pick a fiberglass macro, climb the ladder, screw it in, test the move, then repeat until the bloc is perfect. Millimetres mattered. One foot chip in the wrong place could ruin a climb. My role wasn’t just to push plastic. It was to guide the vision, keep the setters sharp when fatigue crept in, and make sure creativity didn’t collapse under pressure.
Logistical challenges and shredded skin were inevitable but with grit, manageable. The best moments came quietly, a setter dropping to the mat after testing, chalk still on their hands, smiling because they knew they had built something worthy of Nationals. My team were amazing, resilient, creative, and open to new ideas. They trusted my vision, and I am grateful for each of them.
Route setting is punishing work. You’re throwing yourself at blocs all day, testing tiny feet, launching into dynos again and again. As a La Sportiva New Zealand ambassador, I had gear I could trust. I knew my shoes would hold. That trust let me focus on movement instead of fear and kept my imagination alive even as my body wore down.
The podiums told their own story. In Open Male, Finlay Cate rose above a stacked field, holding his nerve when it counted. Luke Williams, showing his talent from the USA, claimed silver with Oliver Chinn battling hard for bronze. Their fight proved how fine the margins are now, one slip can separate first from third. The Open Female final was just as dramatic. Lucy Sinclair climbed with composure to secure gold, chased by Phoebe Kenderdine in second and Kiri Shibahara in third. Each showed why they remain fixtures at the top of New Zealand climbing.
The youth categories lit the path forward. In U19 Male, Eliezar Cachatoor-Faber set the pace, with Conrad Bolger and Luca Verheul close behind. In U19 Female, Grace Hansen led the podium ahead of Katie Chinn and Zoe Ball. Their composure under pressure suggested we’ll soon see them on Open podiums. In U17 Female, Mila Piatek climbed fearlessly to win, backed by Lauren Williams from the USA and Aleksandra Melman. For U17 Male, Fletcher McGrath delivered when it mattered, with Ben Giles and Rio Piatek completing the podium.
Even the Masters categories reminded us passion doesn’t fade. Guillaume Roux topped the men’s podium, followed by Josh Merriam and John Palmer. Emily Lane stood tall as Masters Female champion, a reminder that climbing is for life.
I wrote these words on the flight home. My hands were raw, my back stiff, and every muscle ached in that way only setters understand. Yet my mind was still buzzing with images: Cate and Sinclair on the Open podiums, Hansen and Piatek proving the next generation is ready, the crowd erupting when a young climber stuck the move that stopped everyone else.
Nationals reminded me of two things. First, how far our athletes have come. Second, the responsibility we setters carry to create climbs that don’t just test but inspire. Even in exhaustion, I found myself already thinking about the next comp, the next wall, the next story to tell through route setting. Because as our athletes keep climbing higher, it’s our job to keep building the routes that take them there.