Competition climbing

Competition climbing

Competition climbing is a fun and exciting sport where people climb special walls made just for climbing. These walls are not real rocks, but they look and feel like them. They are built inside buildings so climbers can practice and compete safely. There are three main types of competition climbing: lead climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing.

In lead climbing, climbers start at the bottom and try to reach the top of the wall as fast as they can, using ropes for safety. In bouldering, climbers solve short climbing problems without ropes, trying to finish as many as possible. Speed climbing is a race where two climbers climb the same wall at the same time, trying to be the fastest.

The sport is governed by an organization called World Climbing, which holds big events like the World Climbing Championship and the World Climbing Series. Climbing became an Olympic sport in the 2020 Summer Olympics, and it returned in the 2024 Olympics with different climbing styles included.

History

See also: History of rock climbing

Competition climbing started in the mid-1980s with the start of sport climbing. This type of climbing uses special routes with built-in safety bolts, so climbers can focus on climbing without worrying about safety. At first, some climbers were unsure about competing this way. But in 1985, the first big international competition was held outdoors.

Later, competitions moved indoors to special walls. In 2020, climbing was added to the Summer Olympics, and in 2021, the first Olympic gold medals were won in climbing. After that, the 2024 Paris Olympics planned different climbing events.

Disciplines

See also: Lead climbing, Bouldering, Speed climbing

In lead climbing, climbers have 6 minutes to climb a wall. They must clip their safety rope into quickdraws as they climb, and they get one try to go as high as they can. Their score is based on how high they climb before falling.

In bouldering, climbers solve short routes without ropes, using pads for safety. They have a set time to finish each route, and they can try many times. Scores are based on how many routes they finish and how few tries it takes.

In speed climbing, climbers race up a wall with the same holds in the same places. They use a top rope for safety and race against the clock. In qualifying, they race twice, and the fastest times move on to race against each other.

Over the years, formats have mixed these disciplines. From 2017 to 2021, all three were combined. For the 2024 Olympics, bouldering and lead climbing are combined, while speed climbing is separate. Scores from each discipline are added to find the winner.

Notable competitions

See also: Category:Climbing competitions

World Climbing

The biggest climbing competitions are run by World Climbing, which used to be called the IFSC. These include the World Climbing Championship, held every two years. Climbers compete in lead climbing, bouldering, speed climbing, and a combined event. There is also the World Climbing Series. This is an annual competition with events worldwide. Winners are decided based on their performance across all events.

Notable competition climbers

Main article: Ranking of career IFSC victories by climber

Some of the best competition climbers are Jakob Schubert, Janja Garnbret, Adam Ondra, Angela Eiter, François Legrand, and Kilian Fischhuber.

Jakob Schubert is often called the best male competition climber. Adam Ondra and François Legrand are also very skilled. Janja Garnbret is the best female competition climber. Sandrine Levet and Angela Eiter are also top climbers. Garnbret is one of the greatest climbers ever.

In film

The Wall: Climb for Gold is a documentary film from 2022. It is about famous climbers Janja Garnbret, Shauna Coxsey, Brooke Raboutou, and Miho Nonaka. The film shows their journey in competition climbing.