The organisers of Cliffhanger (Sheffield City Council and Heason Events) are very excited to announce that Cliffhanger 2010 will play host to a round of the IFSC Bouldering World Cup.

BMC Vice-President Audrey Seguy (British Bouldering Champion '06 and '08 & British Lead Climbing Champion '08): I have enjoyed participating in the British Bouldering Championships for the past three years at Cliffhanger and watching the event just get better and better. Selection to host a round of the IFSC Bouldering World Cup is a great accomplishment and I have no doubt that Sheffield City Council, in co-operation with the British Mountaineering Council, will put together the best event yet. I, for one, am really looking forward to it already!

The IFSC Bouldering World Cup is an annual circuit of bouldering competitions held around the world. The competitor with the most points overall at the end of the season is declared the winner, and thus the best competition boulderer in the world (the World Championships are a single one-off event that take place every two years and are the only competition with more prestige than the World Cup). In 2009 there were 5 rounds of the Bouldering World Cup, in Kazo (Japan), Hall & Wien (Austria), Vail (USA) and Eindhoven (Netherlands). The Full 2010 calendar is yet to be published, but Sheffield will definitely be on it.

Co-organiser Matt Heason said “we've been working incredibly hard over the last two years to bring the World Cup to Cliffhanger. Things were looking good and then the credit crunch hit. Just a few months ago it was all doom and gloom. It's testament to Sheffield City Council's belief in the city's unique position as a rock climbing hot-spot that they are backing the event in these hard times. Unknown to many, Sheffield was the UK's first 'City Of Sport' and has a rich history in large scale sporting events. Cliffhanger looks set to join their ranks.

The event will take place on the weekend of July 3 and 4 - Wimbledon finals weekend - at Millhouses Park.

If you weren't one of the 20,000 that made it to Cliffhanger 2009 you might be interested to check out this video.

It's producers, Hayfisher Productions, are currently working on an hour long programme which will air on Sky Sports sometime this Autumn. Sign up to the newsletter via the website if you'd like to be kept informed of when it is to be aired, and other event updates.