UKC

Following the announcement last year that sport climbing had been shortlisted for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a not-for-profit viral campaign called Climb2020 was launched last week to raise awareness and increase the profile of sport climbing in advance of the final decision in August.

Read more

In reply to UKC News:

I quite like the idea of a 20-overs, short-form version of the climbing game

In reply to UKC News:

Please God no. I already can't move at the local wall.

In reply to A Longleat Boulderer:

As I don't have a decent wall very local to me, I'm all for increasing popularity of indoor climbing in the hope that some more walls open up...

In reply to UKC News:

Based on the levels of corruption surfacing in some of the established sports that feature in the olympics, is it a good thing to chase the recognition of being included in the olympics?
One of the original appeals of climbing for me personally was that it historically had a less mainstream, less competitive culture.

In reply to UKC News:

From a purely entertainment point of view, I think I'd prefer skateboarding! I guess surfing could be interesting but not sure how that would work with filming and ensuring big enough waves?

In reply to UKC News:

I really enjoy watching good climbing comps but I'm not really sure why I should get excited about getting climbing into the Olympics. Seems to be supported by many top climbers and a lot of energy has gone into it but I just don't see the appeal. It's made worse by the fact that the event will be combo of lead, boulder and speed. Speed climbing is so totally different from climbing as we know it I don't know why that's in at all - it certainly shouldn't be combined though.

Overall I think the IFSC do a pretty good job with the World Cups. Not perfect certainly but mostly pretty good.

What I'd really like is for Britain to get a bit more involved so we could have some decent comps here with world class climbers competing. I can't help but feel we're very behind in this respect.

In reply to john arran:

But would it impact on the 'outdated' but pure 'test' climbing?

In reply to UKC News:

I was thinking about this combined medal proposal the other day as it happens. Surely no climbers would opt for this format as it just doesn't make a great deal of sense. Why has this approach been adopted over splitting the medals? maybe its something which was decided by the olympic governing body, and there wasn't much choice, anybody got the knowledge?.

In reply to moo:

I remember reading something about there being a limited number of medals available which is probably the reason behind the odd combined medal. I think that the number of medals each proposed new event needs will affect the chances of it being chosen so it might have been a decision by the climbing bods to maximise their chances of success?

In reply to moo:

That's basically it. There is a ceiling on the number of medals / athletes that can take part in the games. So whilst we would all prefer a medal for each of the 3 disciplines, its better to be there than not at al, and there is always the chance to change things in the future; events are constantly being added / removed from Olympic programs.

In reply to stp:

We were going to be hosting a round of the lead world cup in 2016, but this has had to be cancelled - financial reasons.
however, we are looking to 2017 to bring some international comps to the UK; both bouldering and lead / speed.

In reply to UKC News:

Great news. Me and my daughter will be watching it with great excitement. I find watching climbing (I dont climb) amazingly interesting.

In reply to Dominic Green:

I agree.
I think for a lot of people climbing's about getting out in the natural environment without profit or winning having to always be the main focus of attention, unlike a lot of the rest of the day to day activities.

I worry the main stream publicity of an event like the Olympics could drive the commercialisation of the sport to a level that the majority of the control moves from the climbers and there clubs to the businessmen.

On a more positive note if it does get into the Olympics, on the days its showing Stanage and froggat may be quieter than normal. So you will know where to find me....

In reply to Ian W:

Great. I look forward to it.

In reply to BloodyJam:


Well that would be a shame but in which spheres are you thinking of? Presumably I can't see how it would affect outdoor climbing. I think it would be a shame if companies like Virgin were to take over the indoor climbing scene though. I love that these places are all run by genuine keen climbers for the most part and that they are simply not part of the big corporate world.

In reply to BloodyJam:

I'm not surwe why there seems to be this assumption that increased commercialisation of the sports end of climbing will affect the "leisure" end. There will inevitably be a short term boost in the numbers going climbing, but this will be at the indoor walls rather than outdoors. I draw an analogy with cycling - there will be an increase in attention on comps of one sort or another (like the velodrome stuff), but the affect on normal hobby outdoor climbing will not be that great (what happens to chris hoy / bradley wiggins doesn't really affect my bimbling around on my bike in the local forest). My personal worry is not about the commercialisation of sports climbing on artificial walls, but on the expansion of comps such as that chalk cliff speed comp sponsored by red bull. That type of stuff we really can do without.......

In reply to UKC News:

Am I right in thinking that the last person to dish out Olympic medals for climbing was Hitler?

In reply to UKC News:

Looking at the 2020 site the motivation for this seems to be about two things, firstly increasing participation and secondly about getting more money into the sport. It's probably selfish to be against the first aim but I'm far from convinced the climbing community should be getting involved with the Olympics machine. This is an organisation that effectively diverts billions into projects that often end up in ruins after the Olympics is over, Greece for example:

http://www.politico.eu/article/how-the-olympics-rotted-greece/

But Rio is also looking pretty depressing in my opinion, with hundreds of thousands of people out on the streets protesting about their living conditions whilst billions are spent on sport facilities.

I'm sure there are climbing clubs that could do with some cash but I'd prefer to pay five or ten quid extra on my cc or BMC subs to help them out than support this. Unless perhaps someone can convince me that I've got it wrong about the Olympics?

In reply to Ian W:

I agree Ian. In my opinion, the long and short of it is that indoor climbing is practising for the pastime of actual climbing on rock. So to have this as an olympic sport gets my thumbs-down, because it perpetuates the progression of the public view of 'climbing' as upside-down cranking on plastic holds with no consequences of falling. It would do nothing to encourage people onto ever-more neglected local crags to help clean-up the routes and galvanise enthusiasm for the more rewarding side of climbing, where we can enjoy being outdoors in beautiful places, away from work pressures, competition pressures and all basically free of charge. Plastic cranking and competitions does not represent my interpretation of climbing and my vote is 'no, don't bother'.

In reply to DerwentDiluted:

No you are wrong. The only time medals have been given at an Olympics was at the 1924 Winter Games in Chamonix when the 1923 Everest Expedition got given some medals for nearly getting to the top.

In reply to Graeme Alderson:

I stand corrected, Harrer et al did get a gold medal but it was nothing to do with the Olympics.