UKC

Firstly, as always, apologies if this is old ground.

Now this is not meant as a criticism of the recent Olympics. Clearly the London Games have been an amazing success and will no doubt prove to have an overwhelmingly positive impact on British sport. Neither is it a jab at any existing 'Olympic' sports, which I'm sure all have their merits. . . .

My question is simply why has 'climbing' in some form not made it into the Games yet?

I haven't researched this properly and therefore don't know what criteria that the IOC consider a sport requires in order to achieve Olympic status, but surely climbing must beat the s*** out of some Olympic 'sports' which shall remain unnamed!

Further questions to consider:

-Given Britain's important role in the history of mountaineering (and modern climbing) have we missed a one-off opportunity to host Olympic Climbing at London 2012?

-Is there a movement underway to make climbing in the Olympics happen and if so, who is leading the charge?

-What format should a 'climbing' event(s) take?

Answers on a postcard!

In reply to GBurton:

Trad climbing race up the Sugarloaf?

In reply to GBurton: Watching anybody climb anything is the furthest from a spectator sport you can get, indoor or outdoor. Even watching a vid on here is worse than watching paint dry. The general public doesn't "get" most sports, this is a non starter. What a daft idea.

In reply to GBurton: No and thrice no.

In reply to Trangia:
I'm not sure climbing is exciting enough as a spectator sport, maybe if we made it more interesting?

Climbing with a packed lunch while being chased by the Beast of the Dewerstone"?

In reply to GBurton: are we seriously arguing that climbing is a lesser spectator sport than archery or shooting?

i believe there was some talk of introducing climbing for the 2020 games, i don't know under what format though.

probably speed, bouldering and lead comps?

In reply to unclesamsauntibess: "the general public doesnt get most sports"?
what sort of ludicrous statement is this. Where have you been for the last couple of weeks?

In reply to GBurton:
Yes it's been done a thousand times on here, with various apocalyptic forecasts, scaremongering and ridiculous accusations being banded around.

It's on the shortlist for 2020, with 2 out of 8 to be chosen

The IFSC is very keen and is doing the lobbying I believe

About 4 years the BMC's national council voted to support that stance, following consultations at area meeting which showed overwhelming support.

Personally I'd love to see bouldering in - I think it would be pretty exciting for both the climbing and non-climbing audience. Not so sure about lead or speed climbing

In reply to Trangia:

Joking aside, it already appears to be a spectator sport on the Sugarloaf according to Wiki!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarloaf_Mountain_(Brazil)

I don't recall the precise details but climbing is up for inclusion in the 2020 Olympics along with a handful of other sports including squash.

I believe(?) it's the IFSC who are putting the bid together, the three disciplines that are being toyed with for inclusion are lead climbing, bouldering and speed climbing. The IOC advise putting forward one discipline, two at a stretch. Speed climbing is the most publicly accessible of the three but it's f*cking lame and I'm not entirely convinced it'll be included.

ah, Chris beat me to it!

In reply to GBurton:
Well there's no way it could be on real rock as there is a chance some of the competitors would already have had practice on it, giving an unfair advantage (unless a brand new quarry face were dynamited out and made safe just for the competition - unlikely).

This leaves artificial walls. I guess the format would follow that of other existing lead or bouldering competitions.
I'd be all for leaving out 'speed climbing' though..

In reply to GBurton:

Great question! I think climbing should deffinately be in the olympics! What a great way to showcase our sport and improve participation, bringing with it more jobs and funding for our athletes!

This was posted on ukc a short while ago

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=62924

And Climbing can definately be a spectator sport, you just need to see the competition climbing section in Big Up productions Progression video to see it done well. Or even show up at one of the competition finals in the UK to sample the atmosphere! This might help showcase competitions in europe,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd1A1eJSTcM&feature=player_embedded

Hope this helps!

Sam!

In reply to SamStokes: Brilliant - thanks for the link to the old article!

In reply to GBurton:
They could put bouldering in but it's no fun if everyone flashes all the problems they need to fall off and get points for artistic impression on the way down a sort of bouldering diving hybrid

In reply to GBurton:

Some background for you.

On July 6 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board, meeting at the 123rd IOC session in Durban, South Africa, announced that sport climbing was one of eight sports shortlisted for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Three climbing disciplines--lead climbing, speed climbing, and bouldering--are proposed for the Olympics.

Only one of the sports--climbing, baseball, karate, roller sports, softball, squash, wakeboard, and wushu--will be included in the Games, so whether or not climbing makes the cut remains to be seen.

Climbing Possible for 2020 Olympics: Will It Make the Cut?

http://climbing.about.com/b/2011/07/08/climbing-possible-for-2020-olympics-...

Climbing Considered for 2020 Olympics

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=62924

Lots more out there.

In reply to unclesamsauntibess:

A few years back a climbing comp was televised. Some will remember the final Nadin, Tribout and Moffet. It was bloody gripping, fantastic to watch. Nadin and Tribout fell at a the same roof then Moffet climbing last dyno'd for the hold, held it and burned up to the chain with the crowd going nuts. Brilliant.

So I reckon it would be a pretty good spectator sport.

In reply to TwSpanner: It was Didier Raboutou not JB Tribout. And it was a super final as they were tied in the final

In reply to Graeme Alderson:

It's always good for climbers to be tied in

In reply to Graeme Alderson:
Yes you're right, memory is going.

In reply to GBurton:

Was discussing this the other day, and was wondering where drug testing would come into it? I can think of a few climbers who are top of their game but wouldn't be too keen on piddling into a jar.

In reply to GBurton:

Maybe I am just an older hippy, but for me climbing is different from other sports. You can still be at the crag and rub shoulders and climb with the very best, its still a smallish but obviously growing community, and wonder if climbing becomes a spectator [away from the local and other bouldering and leading comps]sport in the Olympics some of these great things about climbing may be lost.

What I am getting is that for me and am sure many more who have grown up as a climber before walls, [apart from Glossop wall although that was/is proper hard], still enjoy the smallness about the whole thing, the getting out, meeting like minded folk [might this bit be eroded], the success and failure, the anarchic element of the sport.

I dont know about others although I dont climb for any accolades, and medals, climbing is not about that, is it.....

In reply to TryfAndy:


... in which case they probably aren't into competitions at the moment since drug testing has been part of the competitive sport for many years now. I don't think out of competition testing happens much, if at all, but testing at major competitions is common.

In reply to llanberis36:


That's one of the beauties of comps in climbing - they have little or no impact on the rest of the sport and are just one of a number of choices top climbers may choose to get into. You could argue that snowboarding isn't about competition either but the various snowboard comps have little or no effect on my getting out on a board in winter and I certainly don't see any problem with people having them.

In reply to GBurton:

John Long on Climbing and the Olympics

http://www.falcon.com/features/long-onclimbing-olympic-sport

In reply to john arran:
IIRC the first winner of gold for Snowboarding was stripped of it after testing positive for cannabis.

There was a comment at the time that testing snowboarders for grass was a bit like testing darts players for traces of lager....

In reply to SamStokes: 'What a great way to showcase our sport and improve participation, bringing with it more jobs and funding for our athletes!'

Why are any of those even remotely desirable?

In reply to john arran: cycling and kayaking being other good examples...

Although I have kind of mixed feelings about this sort of thing because I there seem to be too many sports in the olympics anyway. I'd rather have a situation where sportspeople get attention and respect (and funding) based on the sport itself regardless of whether it'll help to push us up the medal table (thereby demonstrating the innate superiority of the democratic western way of life over communism or whatever it is that's meant to make us care...)

In reply to Chris the Tall:


And presumably Tour de France cyclists for all forms for performance enhancing drugs. Just because everyone does it doesn't make it right and at the end of the day, there is something quite nice about people completing on a man vs. man basis

In reply to TryfAndy:
I can think of a few climbers who are top of their game but wouldn't be too keen on piddling into a jar.

By reputation a few of them couldn't hit it, or would be wondering why the jar was talking to them but then they are unlikely to be comp climbers

In reply to GBurton:

I propose Olympic Dry Tooling, who's with me?!

I for one think It would be a fantastic idea to be included in 2020. I'm sure there is more people in the UK into or interested in bouldering than they are say handball or water polo
Indoor bouldering or indoor DWS would be massively entertaining! I think a lot of the general public like watching climbing to be fair. Most of my non climbing friends and colleges will sit in amazement if I show them a participially difficult bouldering video or some trad with huge falls in. Mostly they are impressed with the strength in the bouldering video's, I should highlight it wasn't me climbing in them!
A particular favourite was Dean Potter's accent of "king air", Loads of non climbers amazed by that. max

In reply to rotax123:

I too would be happy to see climbing in the 2020 games, it's something I enjoy doing and it's something I very much enjoy watching other people (who are far better than me) doing. If it gets more people interested then great.

In reply to GBurton: I have a great idea.There a good bit in 'the running man' a crap arnie film in a post apocalpyse world. They have a gameshow called 'climbing for dollars'.

multiple Climbers at the bottom of a tower fight their way up with cash stuck on the holds. At the top are three medals, first three to summit get the medals then all the holds spin sending the losers into the void. Great telly which after all, is all that matters!?

in the gameshow they had wolves at the bottom(optional). To live up to the olympic ideal would need to take away money and ?wolves.

honestly, no lets not.

In reply to rotax123: One thing to enjoy watching bouldering, particularly a well shot and edited film. Something completely different to believe it should be an Olympic sport.

Personally I hope the IOC reject it. The idea that climbing should be reduced to medals, competing for funding for athletes etc goes against everything that I enjoy about climbing.

In reply to GBurton:

There's an interesting article on this topic by Doug Scott in the most recent Alpine Journal. Medals for mountaineering were awarded at the Olympic Games in the 1920s-30s but the fact that they were was controversial.

In reply to GBurton:
I think climbing is well worthy of a spot at the Olympics.
Surely climbing 9a and above is roughly the equivalent to running 100m in sub 10s?
Arguably takes just as much training and dedication and that deserves recognition, for those that seek it.

In reply to llanberis36:
I don't see why anything would change for the vast majority of climbers. The fact that athletics is an Olympic sport doesn't alter the fact that runners of all calibres can turn up to local races and do their own thing. The same could be said of virtually every Olympic sport.

In reply to john arran: There is an out of competition testing pool for climbing. It is something like the top 10 in each discipline at the end of the year, Stew Watson was in it last year and think and I presume Shauna will be in it next year.

Climbing is probalematic though for out of comp testing due to it being difficult to predict where you will be climbing due to rain etc Eg you say you will be at Stanage but it rains so you go to The Works instead. It is also compounded by phone signals being a bit iffy in many areas so it is impossible to take the call from the testers.