In reply to UKC Articles:
I'm surprised this hasn't generated more comments by now.
Charging for these events will disenfranchise anyone who is not well off, including thousands of young people just getting involved in the sport, climbers from poorer countries, and casual viewers who might have got hooked if they'd been able to watch. Even as an older traditional climber, I have had huge pleasure watching IFSC competitions, and learnt a lot about technique in the process. I could afford to pay the fee but I won't in protest. The IFSC needs to be adequately financed, but this is not the way to do it.
I know indoor competitions aren't to everyone's taste, and IFSC is far from perfect - some might even relish the idea of it pricing itself out of the viewing market. But I believe it's important to maintain common ground between competition climbing and the rest of the climbing community, otherwise it will become a monster controlled exclusively by business interests.
I've signed the petition, emailed all the people at IFSC, and re-posted the petition in as many places as I can think of. I hope many of you will do the same.