A climbing competition ("comps") is usually held indoors on purpose built climbing walls. There are three main types of climbing competition:
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Lead is the most classic sport climbing discipline. Competitors climb a long difficult route designed and set by the route setter, and attempt to reach the top, which in climbing terms is the end of the route. The climber'’s performance equates to the highest hold reached. In the qualifying round competitors climb the route 'flash', meaning there is no isolation and they can watch other competitors climb before their own attempt. In the Semifinals and Finals athletes climb a route they have never seen before. They enter isolation before the round begins, then they go for 'observation', a 6-minute period in which the route setter gives a short explanation about the route, and athletes are allowed to see the route and visualize moves. After that they go back to isolation and come back for their attempt one by one.
In lead, climbers are belayed from below, and are required to clip quickdraws along the route. The route must be climbed within a certain time limit, usually 6 minutes, but can be extended to 7 or 8 minutes according to the route setter's opinion. 26 athletes qualify for the Semifinal, 8 proceed to the Final. If athletes are joint-equal there will be a Superfinal. [1]
In many 'on sight' competitions, the climbs are 'weighted', meaning that the climber's score on the first climb may be only worth 10-15% of his overall score, while his last climb may be worth as much as 45-60%. This is because oftentimes, routes increase in difficulty, respectively from first to last. Often, in more important, higher-level, 'Post Season' competitions, isolation is used to ensure that the competitors cannot see the problems before climbing them. Alternatively, some difficulty competitions involve a number of routes. Each route is assigned a point value based on difficulty. Competitors climb as many routes as they want, and their score is derived from their top few completed routes (with the exact number of routes differing between competitions). If a tie-breaker is needed, the numbers of "falls" (attempts) is counted. Some competitions limit the number of attempts, others do not. There are several categories of competitive climbing for US climbers; locals, regionals, divisionals, nationals and ultimately world championship competitions. One must qualify to attend regionals, divisionals, and nationals.
Speed is the only factor that counts in the Speed Climbing event. Competitors climb a slightly overhanging IFSC certified vertical piste with belaying from the top. Since 2007 the IFSC has created a standard wall for the world record. The climbing time is determined by mechanical-electric timing (the competitor strikes a switch at the top of the route) but manual timing is also possible. When mechanical-electric timing is used, the climbing time shall be measured with an accuracy of 0.01 second. As of October 2011, Qixin Zhong of China holds the men's 15 meter speed world record, 6.26 seconds. He Cuilian, also from China, holds the women's record of 9.04.
The new Team Speed discipline was introduced as a medal showcase for the 2011 World Championship. It is a relay competition with teams of three. The teams must be mixed sexes, men and women. The race is held on the world record wall split into four lanes, two for each team. The first athlete races to hit the button at the top of the wall, at which point the second athlete climbs the second leg to release the third and final athlete whose final button marks the total time.
The bouldering competition consists of climbing without belay ropes on short walls, max 4.5 m high. Falls are stopped by specifically engineered mattresses. This discipline is marked by high difficulty concentrated into a short route, the limited competition time and the close proximity to the spectators. It differs especially from Lead in one respect, that the climber can attempt a route more than once. The competitor's score is determined by the overall number of boulders sent by the him/her and the number of attempts needed. If athletes do not reach the finishing hold they may be awarded a bonus point for having reached a particular hold,the Bonus hold, which is marked by the route setter. In bouldering 20 athletes qualify for the Semifinal, and 6 proceed to the Final.
Bouldering competitions at higher levels usually use Isolation as well as the roped competitions.
In the USA, ABS (American Bouldering Series) organizes regional, divisional, and national comps.
Duel is not yet an official medal competition,but it is part of Rock Master competition finals. Duel is a combination of lead and speed. The two athletes compete on two identical, parallel routes, and they are belayed from below. Whoever gets to the top first, wins.
Sometimes climbers must climb the route on sight. This means that they are not allowed to see other climbers on the route, or receive any form of advice (beta) from other climbers, and have only a limited amount of time to visually inspect the route from ground level. (Otherwise later climbers would be able to learn from previous competitors' mistakes, giving them a considerable advantage.)
In addition to competitions, festivals such as the Phoenix Boulder Blast and the International Climbing Festival (held in Lander, Wyoming) are a gathering place for rock climbers from around the world. They feature trade shows for climbing specific merchandise, clinics from world-renowned climbers, and parties.
There can be open competitive climbing or youth climbing. Youth climbing is competitions for children under 18 years of age. These competitions are separated into categories such as 11 and under, 12-13, 14-15, etc. Competitions can be held anywhere across the country, for that reason, competitions are divided into divisions. There are five divisions. In the end, there is a national competition that invites the top 5 climbers from each division to compete. There are about 30 girls and 30 boys invited to compete in national competitions. There are two sections to these competitions, the semifinals and the finals. Only the top ten people competing can make it into finals. At the end of the final round, the top four winners of every age category would be invited to compete in international competitions. In the United States, Youth Climbing is organized by USAC (USA climbing). The world championship competition is administered by the International Federation of Sport Climbing.
In 2011, IOC announced that sport climbing is one of the 8 sports shortlisted for the Olympics 2020.(although IOC had already officially recognized sport climbing).The sports in the shortlist will be considered for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympiad. The IOC will take the final decision on the sport to be admitted in 2013, at the 125th IOC session in Buenos Aires. [2]