Is This New Tipping App the Answer to Better Routesetter Pay?

Do you remember the scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when Wonka opens the door, and the kids get their first look at candy paradise? Wonka sings “Pure Imagination” and the kids all scramble around, eating whipped cream-filled mushrooms and colorful flowers. Your eyes were probably on the candy, but did you ever notice the rock walls in the background? The wall behind the chocolate waterfall looked like it had routes anywhere from VB to V2. Rock climbing gyms have always had a Wonka vibe—big open spaces with candy-colored holds and big fluffy mats to fall on. But there usually isn’t a top hat-wearing psychopath behind them, just an owner (or corporation) trying to make money.

Routesetters are a bit like the Oompa Loompas. Not because they have green hair or misshapen hips, but because they’re always off in the distance, working diligently behind a line of cones or rope. Pay no attention to the people behind the curtain. They also aren’t fairly compensated (were the Oompa Loompas paid in…candy?).

Climbing has explored how gyms compensate routesetters, and the topic of unionizing before, but New York climber and app developer Kevin Wang now invites climbers to help compensate routesetters more fairly by tipping them via his new app, “Tip Your Setter.”

With Tip Your Setter, routesetters can apply through the app to be added as setters to their applicable gyms. Then, theoretically, climbers can send a monetary “tip” to that setter if they’ve enjoyed their services. I emphasize theoretically, because I downloaded the app and found only four “tippable” routes in two gyms across the entire Los Angeles area. To be fair, the app is new, having just launched on Apple’s App Store on July 22.

But, even if every single routesetter on the planet set up an account on Tip Your Setter, is introducing tipping culture a good thing for climbing gyms? This question recently appeared on the Reddit /climbing forum, with the title “Tipping Culture Has Gone Too Far.” Hundreds of climbers weighed in, and the overwhelming majority agreed with the original poster. The top comment was: “Are we supposed to tip the same amount we tip our belayer?” Several people commented that “out-of-control tipping” seems to be an American problem.

“I’m so American, I even tip the auto-belay,” said one Redditor.

Gym climbing and outdoor climbing are not the same, physically or culturally, but many of their idiosyncrasies do carry over. Frugality represents one of those traits that bridge the gap from indoors to outdoors. (Look no further than the phrase “dirtbag,” a highly regarded term of endearment among our people). This app is essentially asking climbers to pay more for their gym memberships because the gym doesn’t pay its employees enough.

And what if introducing tipping culture to climbing gyms inspires owners to lower their employees’ hourly wages even more, as bars and restaurants traditionally do?

On Tip Your Setter’s website, it states that they take a 10% transaction fee for every tip. When it’s easy enough to Venmo your setter, or bring them pastries or beer, it’s hard not to believe that what we’re really introducing here is another middleman who’d also like to profit off the Oompa Loompas.

But make no mistake—it’s the creativity, talent, and experience of routesetters that make climbing gyms what they are. They deserve to be fairly compensated for their efforts by their employer. So, by all means (if you have the means), tip your setter. Tip the desk person who played Guns N’ Roses while you were trying to send your project. Throw some cash to Izzy Stradlin for being the most underrated rhythm guitarist of all time, or tip your journalist for helping you kill three minutes … but you don’t need any new apps for that.

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