Speed climbing

File:Shanghai 2016 Jan Kriz.jpg

Speed climbing is a climbing discipline in which speed is the ultimate goal.Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, Swan Hill Press; 6th Revised edition (14 Oct 1997) {{ISBN|1-84037-001-7}},978-1-84037-001-0 Speed climbing is done on rocks, walls and poles and is only recommended for highly skilled and experienced climbers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeoutdoors.com/expert-advice/climbing/traditional-techniques/climbing-styles-in-traditional-climbing-speed-cl|title=Climbing styles in traditional climbing - speed climbing|website=TimeOutdoors|access-date=August 4, 2018}}

Competition speed climbing, which takes place on an artificial and standardized climbing wall, is the main form of speed climbing. However, there are types of speed climbing that take place outdoors, such as climbing famous big wall climbing routes in the shortest times, notable examples being on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

Competition speed climbing

Competition speed climbing as governed by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) takes place on {{convert|15|m|ft|adj=on}} artificial walls. Competitors climb a 5-degree overhanging IFSC-certified wall, with an auto-belaying system from the top of the wall.{{Cite web|title=Project Information: Speed World Record|url=http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/about-ifsc/sport-department/speed-project|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213070831/http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/about-ifsc/sport-department/speed-project|archive-date=February 13, 2019}}

Since 2007 the IFSC has created a standard wall for the world record. The standard has a simple rule and it involves climbers competing on the same route, side by side, and whoever reaches the top first wins.{{Cite news|url=https://www.climbing.com/news/what-the-hell-is-speed-climbing/|title=What the Hell is Speed Climbing?|work=Climbing Magazine|access-date=2018-08-03|language=en-us}} The holds and order are always identical, and the difficulty rating is around F6b (approximately YDS 5.10c), which is a level most recreational climbers could complete. The IFSC also sanctions speed climbing competitions{{Cite news|url=https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition/event-regulation|title=Event Regulations|access-date=2018-08-03|language=en-gb}} and those events that entail world record attempts.{{Cite news|url=https://headrushtech.com/blogs/what-is-speed-climbing/|title=What is Speed Climbing? The Basics You Need to Know|last=Stadsvold|first=Jenna|date=2017-06-08|work=Head Rush Tech Blog|access-date=2018-08-03|language=en-US}} Speed climbing was one of the three climbing modalities included in the combined format at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, along with lead and bouldering. Beginning at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, speed climbing will be its own standalone competition, separate from the lead and bouldering combined event.{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Noah |title=The Paris Olympics – A New Scoring System |url=https://gripped.com/indoor-climbing/the-paris-olympics-a-new-scoring-system/#:~:text=The%20Tokyo%202020%20Olympic%20format,athlete%20to%20ensure%20their%20victory. |access-date=July 7, 2022 |work=Gripped |date=December 23, 2021}}

Time is determined by mechanical-electric timing (the competitor leaves the starting pad and strikes a switch at the top of the route). When mechanical-electric timing is used, the climbing time is displayed with an accuracy of one-hundredth of a second. In the rules modifications in 2018, the possibility to use manual timing was removed, and the mechanical-electric timing should record with a precision of 1/1000 second. This precision is only used for ranking in case of a tie. Further, the timing system needs to announce a false start, which is considered a start with less than 0.1 seconds of reaction time after the starting beep.{{cite web|title=IFSC Rules modification 2018 V1.5, April 2018|url=https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/images/World_Competitions/IFSC-Rules_modification_2018_V15.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230150519/https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/images/World_Competitions/IFSC-Rules_modification_2018_V15.pdf|archive-date=December 30, 2022}}

File:Chamonix 2018 Jan Kriz.jpg|Two climbers compete against each other on the Speed Wall (Chamonix 2018)

File:Climbing World Championships 2018 Speed (DSC09055).jpg|Full view of the standardized Speed Wall

File:Climbing World Championships 2018 Speed Eighth-finals (BT0A6048).jpg|Start position. The climber stands on a pressure plate foot trigger, which is used for detecting false starts.

File:Climbing World Championships 2018 Combined Final speed (BT0B0374).jpg|Hitting a button at the top of the wall stops the timer. The climber is secured by an auto-belay device.

File:Climbing World Championships 2018 Combined Final speed (BT0B0407).jpg|Two competitors in the 2018 Climbing World Championships

File:Speed climbing hold large.jpg|Large standardised speed climbing hold.

File:Speed climbing hold small.jpg|Small standardised speed climbing hold.

=World champions=

The defending men's and women's speed climbing world champions are Matteo Zurloni of Italy and Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi of Indonesia, respectively; they won their respective speed events at the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Bern, Switzerland.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/bern-2023|title = IFSC - Climbing World Championships (B,L,S) - Bern 2023}} Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia and Natalia Kalucka of Poland were the overall men's and women's winners for the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Cup speed series.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition/calendar?task=ranking-complete&cup=90&category=2&year=2023|title = IFSC - Climbing World Cup (Speed Men) - 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition/calendar?task=ranking-complete&cup=90&category=6&year=2023|title = IFSC - Climbing World Cup (Speed Women) - 2023}}

=World and Olympic records=

{{Image frame

|caption = Progression of IFSC speed climbing records to July 2022

|content = {{Graph:Chart

|width = 480 |height = 384

|type = line

|x = 2011-08-27, 2012-10-13, 2013-08-30, 2014-08-31, 2014-09-12, 2017-04-30, 2021-05-28, 2021-05-28, 2022-05-06, 2022-05-27, 2022-06-20, 2022-06-30, 2022-07-08, 2013-10-19, 2015-05-17, 2015-06-21, 2015-07-11, 2017-04-23, 2017-04-30, 2017-07-22, 2018-04-22, 2019-04-26, 2019-10-19, 2020-11-21, 2021-08-06, 2022-05-06, 2022-05-27

|y1 = 6.26, 5.88, 5.76, 5.73, 5.6, 5.48, 5.25, 5.2, 5.17, 5.1, 5.09, 5.04, 5.009

|y2 = , , , , , , , , , , , , , 7.85, 7.74, 7.56, 7.53, 7.46, 7.38, 7.32, 7.32, 7.1, 6.99, 6.96, 6.84, 6.64, 6.53

|xType = date

|yAxisMin = 4.8 |yAxisMax = 8

|y1Title = Men's |y2Title = Women's

|xAxisTitle = Date |yAxisTitle = Record time (s) |legend = Event

|interpolate = step-after

|showSymbols = 3 |symbolsShape = x |symbolsStroke = 1.5

|yGrid = |xGrid =

}}

Since Qixin Zhong of China ran the 15-meter standardized wall in 6.26 seconds in 2011, the world record has been broken 20 times. The record has been broken thirteen times since 2021, most recently 4.64 seconds by Samuel Watson of USA in May 2025 at the World Cup event in Bali, Indonesia. That represents a drop of 25.9 percent since 2011.

Similarly, the women's speed climbing record has been broken 20 times since 2013, nine times since 2021, dropping from 7.85 seconds to the 6.06 seconds set by Aleksandra Mirosław of Poland in August 2024, a 22.8-percent reduction.{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Noah |title=What is the Limit? Katibin Sets New Speed World Record |url=https://gripped.com/indoor-climbing/what-is-the-limit-katibin-sets-new-speed-world-record/ |access-date=July 7, 2022 |work=Gripped |date=July 1, 2022}}

class="wikitable"

|+Men's World Record History

!Date

!Time (s)

!Person

!Location

!Competition

May 3, 2025

|4.64{{Cite web |date= |title=World Records |url=https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/speed/world_records |access-date=2025-05-03}}

|{{flagicon|USA}} Samuel Watson

|Bali, Indonesia

Speed climbing

Competition speed climbing

=World champions=

=World and Olympic records=

Non-competition speed climbing

=Notable non-competition records=

==California==

==Colorado==

==Nevada==

==New York==

==Wyoming==

See also

References