Tony Flynn is a professional rock climber, competitive athlete, and route setter from South Africa, who was recently the Route Setting Manager at Parthian Climbing Southampton. He is an elite-level boulderer who has sent multiple V14 (8B+) outdoor boulders, such as Cosmic Artifact. I bumped into him for the first time at Parthian one Saturday whilst visiting with my daughter Flo hoping to try some hands-free slab. Flo is a climber on the GB Youth Team and had recently suffered a significant injury to her index finger which resulted in three months of not climbing, not ideal with the British Youth Championships looming. There, we bumped into Tony Flynn for the first time…

 

Learning of Flo’s injury, and without any prompting, Tony stripped a section of wall, arranged a run of different volumes, and spent a couple of hours practising slab movement with her. It was a simple gesture, but profoundly impactful. It kept her engaged and revived her excitement for climbing and, perhaps more importantly, transformed her relationship with slabs going forward. Instead of dreading the appearance of a slab in competition, she became more inclined to relish the challenge. 

 

We happened upon Tony a few more times over the following months, but were disappointed to learn that he had packed up and returned to South Africa. Catching up with Tony felt like a great opportunity to expand my knowledge by exploring his love of climbing and understanding how things compare with the UK scene. When I spoke to Tony over Zoom immediately I could tell he looked exhausted, “Is it convenient?” I asked. “Today is a rest day,” he replied. “My body is completely wrecked after three days of setting.” I took that as a yes.

 

Tony didn’t start climbing particularly young by today’s standards. At his high school in Pretoria, there was a basic climbing wall in the gym—about eight metres long and two or three metres high. One afternoon in 2016, when he was 15, a friend stopped him on the way home. “Yo, dude, what are you doing today?” “Nothing. I’m going to go chill.” “Come try this climbing thing.” Despite previously regarding climbing as “super weird,” Tony went along. “I literally couldn’t traverse four jugs,” he laughs. “I just got completely pumped. I couldn’t get any further, and everyone else made it look so easy. I was like, what is this?”

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Baffled by his failure, Tony decided, “Okay, I’m going to come back every day until I can do more.” He was instantly hooked. Day after day, he traversed that tiny school wall, slowly building a base without even realising it. His enthusiasm peaked while watching a friend compete at the nationals. “He was on a lead wall, fighting hard, fighting the pump, with people cheering him on. I just thought it was the coolest thing ever.”

 

It wasn’t long before Tony joined The Climbing Barn Gym and began venturing outdoors. Like many young, psyched climbers, Tony’s early training was enthusiastic but not especially efficient. At school, the programme was essentially pull-ups and core, and his climbing style was very “Alex Megos-style back then—grab a bad hold, jump to another bad hold. Full meathead!” Movement quality wasn’t part of the equation. “The big thing was sport climbing at Waterval Boven in Mpumalanga. Every school holiday, we’d pile into cars and go climbing there. That formed a huge part of my development. I still love that—good weather, sun, rock—that’s my favourite thing.” Acknowledging that self-drive is crucial, Tony also reflected:

 

“If you want to push your limits, having a core group of friends is super important. We always trained together and pushed each other. Looking back, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today without them.”

 

This mirrors what I’ve seen repeatedly within UK climbing squads: kids will often form strong friendship bonds and continue to support each other long after they’ve grown out of squad training. The social aspect becomes as important as the climbing itself, and they remain motivated to train harder in healthy competition with their peers. Tony’s first real taste of structured training came under Paul Bruyere at The Climbing Barn. Tony admits that, at the time, he didn’t fully appreciate what Paul was doing. “Being young and naïve, I probably didn’t realise he knew exactly what he was doing week by week—the training load would progress, and he’d be monitoring us.”

 

“I trained with him for two to three years, and he’s someone who really inspired me, not just for the instruction but because he believed in my abilities. He believed in us, and in turn we all felt like we could push South African climbing. I think that’s the biggest thing: more than structured training is having someone believing in you and saying, ‘Dude, you can do this.’”

 

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Ironically, Tony’s introduction to route setting was almost accidental: “Paul would set boulders, and I kept topping them. Eventually, he said, ‘Frick—just come in and set yourself a boulder.’ So, there I was with a little Allen key, turning bolts.” There is no nationally accredited route-setting qualification in South Africa, although informal courses and workshops exist. “Here, experience is what counts,” Tony explains.

 

In contrast, the UK offers more formal pathways, including in-house wall training, ABC Walls Route Setting Development, and BMC workshops. When Tony arrived in the UK, Parthian Southampton happened to be advertising for a setter. His experience did count, and he got a position on the team. He quickly became embedded in the gym’s rhythm: stripping and washing holds on Mondays, full boulder setting days on Tuesdays, and auto-belay routes on Thursdays. “I worked closely with other setters like Eve Cuthbertson, Hannah Tracy, and Thomas Bradley,” each of whom had a significant impact on him. They had a “whole team approach” to route setting, always trying to give each other feedback and taking it “in a healthy way.” In his eyes, route setting works best when “big masculine egos don’t get in the way.”

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“No matter what mood I was in, I’d come to work and feel uplifted. We were all there because we loved climbing.”

 

 

Tony aimed to balance competition-style blocs with accessible commercial boulders to please a diverse audience. But his philosophy was clear: “Don’t set to where your climbers are—set above, so everyone can break through their ceiling.” He believes the UK’s frequent resets, competitions, and modern comp style accelerated his development significantly.

 

On his days off in the UK, Tony was often too tired to travel—or it was raining, or both. Still, he explored many gyms, including his favourites, The Font, Oakwood and Boulder Shack, and attended numerous Competitions. It was at The Font, during the annual Brawl on the Wall, that I also encountered his wife, Elmarie—or rather, heard her, as my eardrum nearly ruptured when she screamed, “COME ON, TONY!” How important is her support? “Well, I married her — so the correct answer is ‘very important’.”

 

On the South African competition scene, by comparison, Tony is blunt: “It’s kind of dire. You might get provincials, nationals, and a handful of gym comps—maybe four or five a year.” There is a clear pathway to the national team, but little high-performance infrastructure behind it—except in the Western Cape. Tony is quick to praise physio and coach Chris Allen and his high-performance squad. “He’s done a phenomenal job. That’s why the Western Cape takes most of the medals. He just gives his time away, really trying to grow South African climbing so we can push the limits.” When it wasn’t raining (so presumably not particularly often), Tony visited some of the best climbing areas the UK has to offer, including bouldering in South Wales, sport climbing at Portland, and sampling the unique Peak District gritstone. “People hype the grit so much,” he says. “The climbing is incredible… It was very, very unique: just holding friction holds and you have to somehow move your body, climb up, and around these holes. It was really cool…” But in terms of outdoor climbing, South Africa clearly wins his heart. 

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“In Rocklands and elsewhere in South Africa, the scenery is just insane. Big cliffs, endless boulders, big sky. For me, nothing beats that.”

 

 

Now back in South Africa, Tony is still climbing, still setting, still coaching—and still trying to push South African climbing. In Cape Town, he splits his time between Bloc 11, City ROCK, and his home gym, Kragsentrale (Power Station), and now focuses heavily on competition setting at both national and local

Events. One recent standout experience came when Kragsentrale brought in two head setters from B-Pump Ogikubo in Japan. Tony was struck by the level of detail and intentionality they brought to their boulders. “It was next level. It really underscored the gap for me—the understanding in South Africa of high-quality

competition boulders is still evolving. But I’m optimistic. More competitions will mean more practice, more collaboration, and faster progression for everyone.”

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“Hard bouldering is definitely what’s motivating me. I just want to do more hard lines and really big and proud-looking boulders.” Tony is currently projecting his first 8C, Parzival, at The Gallery. Possibly named after the legendary knight whose story centres on an arduous and transformative quest, the line feels fitting. In the best shape of his life, Tony is hopeful that this modern-day grail is equally within reach.

 

What stands out when comparing the UK and South African scenes is the shared spirit beneath them. Climbing thrives on community, encouragement, creativity, and generosity. Tony embodies that spirit. His journey—from a tiny school wall in Pretoria, to UK route setting, to building South African climbing—shows that what shapes a scene most isn’t just funding or equipment, but people who believe in giving back. And sometimes, that gift is as simple as stripping a wall, placing a few volumes, and spending two quiet hours helping a young climber rediscover joy.

 

Written by Jacob D Nuttall, author of Climb: A Guide to High Adventure, and a series of climbing training logbooks. More at www.climb-series.com.

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