What is the IFSC Climbing World Championships?

The IFSC Climbing World Championships is a biennial climbing competition that determines the male and female world champions in lead climbing, bouldering and speed climbing. This year is the 18th edition and it was held in Bern, Switzerland and lasted from Aug 1st -12th. The non-profits goal is to promote, regulate and give direction for climbing competitions world wide.

The 2023 Winners!

The overall combined women’s winner was 24 year old Jana Garnbret from Slovenia. She’s 5’5’’ and started climbing when she was in elementary school. In her first season she was awarded the European Junior Champion in 2013.

The breakdown winners:

The overall combined male winner was 32 year old Jakob Schubert from Austria. He’s 5’9’’ and started competing when he was 12 years old. His first two youth competitions he finished in 16th and 22nd place but in 2009 he claimed his first-place finish in Brno, Czechia.

The breakdown winners:

Try Something New

I highly recommend trying a competition or some sort of event. You’ll be surprised how much nerves play a part in how your body behaves. As you’ll hear from my personal experience in the next section I became pumped really quickly. Keep your eye out around your gym or do a quick google search for competitions in the area. It can be a really fun outing with friends or a great way to meet new people if you’re new to the seen!

My Competition Experience!

My first (and so far only) climbing competition was back in Feb of 2023. I was excited and a little nervous, just buzzing with energy. We had a form to give to our staffed belayers and essentially just got to tie in and go. If we completed the route the staff would initial the paper and the harder the route the more points you obtained. I was surprised that I was over gripping so much and quickly I became pumped because of this. I had originally thought the allotted 3 hours was going to be too long, but quickly realized it wasn’t. Ashley and Ally both placed, taking 1st and 2nd place respectively!🥳. So all in all it was a really good experience and a fun deviation from our normal climbing routine.