Fundamentals of Paraclimbing and Parasetting – Mia DePaolis & Nat Vorel

On this expansive episode of The Impact Driver Podcast, host Holly Chen brings on two setters—Nat Vorel and Mia DePaolis—to talk about paraclimbing and parasetting, diving into fundamentals and tips that any setter can put into practice.

Nat Vorel is based in Oklahoma City and has been climbing for ten years, paraclimbing for around five of them. They are a four-time National Champion and have five World Cup podiums. Nat started setting five years ago and turned freelance recently. Nat has set for a variety of competitions, from local qualifiers and citizens comps to paraclimbing comps. They have a USAC L1 setting certification and an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor certification for guiding. Climbing and setting aside, Nat is a costume designer and would like to shout out their three tabby cats, whom they love dearly.

Mia DePaolis is the Head Routesetter at Central Rock Gym in Randolph, Massachusetts. She has been climbing for over twenty years and setting for ten of those years. After hearing from some local paraclimbers, Mia began to run an annual paraclimbing comp, the Randolph Rumble, at CRG. She is a USAC Level 3 routesetter with only one more national event to go before obtaining the next level. She is also a certified sports nutrition coach. Outside of climbing and setting, Mia worked as a beekeeper for many years and continues to love bees.

General Topics Covered

• Who are paraclimbers and what are the competition categories?
• Debunking common myths and assumptions about paraclimbers
• Fundamentals of setting for paraclimbers
• Are there distinctive tones or styles in para routes/boulders?
• Paraclimbing introduces creative techniques and beta 
• Paraclimbing competition basics: safety, format, scoring, time, local to world stage
• Building and educating a robust volunteer parabelay community
• The future of paraclimbing and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games

Show Notes

• Find Nat Vorel on Instagram
• Find Mia DePaolis on Instagram
• Central Rock Gym
• USAC Paraclimbing and USAC Parasetting Clinics
• IFSC Paraclimbing
• Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes
• Randolph Rumble, Central Rock Gym’s annual paraclimbing competition
• Para Climbing Set to Make Paralympics Debut

Closing Notes

If you’d like to nominate someone as a next guest, have a topic you want to see us tackle or have questions, we’d love for you to reach out. 

The Impact Driver podcast is a production of the Climbing Business Journal. Today’s episode is sponsored by EP Climbing and Trango. It was edited and produced by Holly Yu Tung Chen, Scott Rennak and the team at CBJ. Our theme music is by Devin Dabney.