Route Setting at the U of I

I've been back in Moscow for about a month  now and unfortunately haven't found a job to occupy my time.  I have been working at the U of I climbing wall setting routs in the mourning and this at least has kept me from going crazy.
There is something really nice and almost artistic about setting a climbing problem.  Whether its a short intense bolder problem or an easy drawn out rout problem there are a lot of ways to approach the wall.  Many times the routs Mitch and I set require little or no hold placement and we simply study the wall until we find some form of inspiration.  Today we set two problems in the cave that required only one hold to be placed.  The rest of the routs were already present on the wall, it only required us to find them hidden within the multitude of distractions that the wall can produce.  We first set an easy V3 that made a direct cut up the center of the cave.  It's designed not to have strenuous holds but instead strenuous moves and positioning.  Being in the cave means that there is a lot of strength that is involved with the rout, but I believe that each move can be done smoothly if the climber can find the right positioning of their body.
The second rout we developed was a V5-V6ish rout that has very strength intensive moves to difficult holds.  It moves from the lower right of the cave up  through the mid section traversing left as it goes.  It than makes a jab back to the right at the top of the cave to end on a large jug in the middle.  Each move is difficult, some requiring extreme concentration and muscle control, but they are all doable with a little practice.

I am not much of a painter, but it is quite fun to see our rout being "painted" on the wall.  As we added each move it was like making the initial sketch of what we wanted.  This took a long time to accomplish, as we changed paths or rethought body positions, but eventually we had the framework of a rout.  If anyone was to come look they would see nothing, but hundreds of holds, since the rout only exists in our minds at this point.  Next we added a few key holds for feet.  This fills out the picture and makes it easier for each person to see the same image, or in terms of climbing, allows each person to understand the motions of the rout.  Finally we finished by placed little pieces of colored duct tape on each of our holds in order to allow it to stand out to anyone passing by.  You could say the picture is done now, but I think the real finish can only happen after you have climbed it.  Each person can see what we have made simply by following the path of colored duct tape up the wall, but until you climb the rout and experience the motions you don't really appreciate what your seeing.  I guess that could be one reason that only true artists appreciate some pictures.  Everyone may think them nice to look at, but its not until you have tried to make it yourself that you can see the true artwork and enginuity behind it.