![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.bergfreunde.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Speedklettern-Stoppuhr.jpg\")
<\/a>The first kind of speed climbing<\/strong> is the sports discipline explained above which is only vaguely related to climbing now. During speed climbing competitions, the action looks more like a vertical sprint than classic climbing. The world records of 5.00 seconds (men) and 6.53 seconds (women) also happen to be close to the fastest times for the 100 metre sprint. But this kind of speed is only possible with a top rope, meaning an auto-belay device from the top. Speed climbers are secured mechanically these days.<\/p>\n\n This discipline is primarily (or perhaps only) popular in Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe, possibly because \u201cconventional\u201d climbing opportunities are sparse there. And perhaps because this sport was designed for the precise measurement of strength in the east for many decades.<\/p>\n\n The high degree of standardisation and artificialness are reasons why many sports and rock climbers aren\u2019t so keen<\/a> on the competitive discipline of speed climbing. More on that later.<\/p>\n\n The second kind of speed climbing<\/strong> has little to nothing to do with high-speed acrobatics in an artificial environment. This is the type of speed climbing where the Hubers, Stecks and Arnbolds of this world race up big walls like El Capitan or the Eiger North Face<\/a> in unbelievably short times. These athletes don\u2019t just max out for mere seconds but for several hours. There\u2019s also no top rope attached to the wall, but difficult and guaranteed unstandardised rock, ice and mixed terrain is conquered with few or no safeguards. All in all, this version of speed climbing is highly multi-faceted and incredibly difficult. It deserves its own article but is worth mentioning briefly.<\/p>\n\n I gave a rough outline of the relatively simple process above. Detailed standards for speed climbing are specified by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC)<\/strong>. An IFSC competition has several knock-out rounds<\/strong> where two climbers compete against each other to climb up a wall usually measuring 10, 12 or 15 metres. A plate below their feet starts timing the climbers as soon as they take their feet off it. At the top of the route, there\u2019s a buzzer<\/strong> that stops the time. Whoever hits the buzzer first wins and progresses to the next round until the overall winner is determined in the final.<\/p>\n\n In order to guarantee fair conditions, standardised climbing walls<\/strong> are used where standardised holds for hands and feet<\/strong> are laid out in an identical and precisely specified order<\/strong>. The climbers\u2019 route is therefore exactly the same in every competition everywhere in the world. The \u201cofficial\u201d speed climbing training wall looks exactly the same anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n\n In this \u201cfirst kind\u201d of speed climbing that we\u2019re looking at in more detail here, it\u2019s all about taking your hands and feet off the holds as quickly as possible to reach the next holds as quickly as possible<\/strong> \u2013 from where you\u2019re trying to reach the next holds as quickly as possible and so on and so forth … you get the idea.<\/p>\n It\u2019s really just the hands and feet<\/strong> that make contact with the wall \u2013 as opposed to speed rock climbing where almost every part of your body is involved in gripping, pressing and pushing. In addition to maximum precision during gripping and stepping, a high level of explosive and maximum strength is required \u2013 not just in the hands and feet but every muscle fibre in your body.<\/p>\n\n The quality of climbing the speed route is inconsequential, of course, because the challenge is unrelated to conquering obstacles but exclusively associated with speed<\/strong>. According to the UIAA Scale, the difficulty rating is 7.<\/p>\n\n These very specific requirements demand a different training programme than sport climbing. It\u2019s worth mentioning because competitors in future Olympic Games<\/strong> will have to take part in lead climbing, bouldering AND speed climbing<\/strong> \u2013 and all of it within two days.<\/p>\n\n This trio of disciplines is called \u201cOlympic Combined Mode\u201d<\/strong>. The reason is that the IOC considers speed climbing part of the climbing discipline and wants to \u201cportray its whole spectrum\u201d. The sports officials may be creating a self-fulfilling prophecy with this because by forcefully including this discipline in the Olympic climbing programme, the interest in speed climbing may not just increase in the general public but also in young climbers. The thought may be that non-climbing spectators may be more interested because of the simple, clear set-up of the competition which is \u201ceasier\u201d to watch than a lead climbing competition.<\/p>\n\n The detailed structure of the competitions and the integration of speed climbing into the Olympic Games is a complicated process that involves many institutions and hasn\u2019t been completed yet. Find out in this Climbing Article<\/a> how Olympic speed climbing and the Olympic mode will probably work and what difficulties are yet to be overcome.<\/p>\n\n If it wasn\u2019t becoming an Olympic discipline, speed climbing would probably not even be a subject of conversation for most climbers. Many statements made in online interviews seem to refer to the Olympic Games rather than speed climbing itself. According to the previously mentioned article in Climbing Magazine<\/a>, most athletes are thrilled<\/strong> that climbing has made it to the Olympic stage, but they criticise<\/strong> the format as a three-part event. They compare it with marathon<\/a> runners having to take part in a 100 metre race. Boulderers and sports climbers who want to win medals would have to devote time to train for Olympic speed climbing. One athlete commented that speed climbing is \u201ca long way from what is considered the spirit of climbing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n Some famous climbers feel the same way and have been quoted in the climbing article linked above. David Lama<\/strong>, for example, who has transformed into an elite mountaineer, said:<\/p>\n\n As long as we\u2019re aware that competitions have never reflected the basic idea of climbing and can never reflect it, it\u2019s neither good nor bad. It\u2019s simply indifferent. (…) But if I had to make a personal decision, I would be vehemently against the Olympic Games.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n These critical voices are by no means an exception. In addition to those who generally associate the Olympic Games with commerce and corruption, some climbers think it\u2019s impossible<\/strong> to fit the special characteristics of climbing into an Olympic competition. It\u2019s noticeable how many climbers mention the \u201cspirit\u201d and the \u201cfundamental idea\u201d of climbing, and explicitly exclude speed climbing from this.<\/p>\n\n If I may express a purely subjective opinion: the whole idea looks like a political trade to me: you get paid additional attention which goes hand-in-hand with more money, privileges and \u201copportunities for growth\u201d. But you accept increased regimentation and external control. I can\u2019t judge whether this kind of trade is good or bad for climbing. But it\u2019s certainly nothing new these days where this type of \u201ctrade\u201d<\/strong> takes place at all levels of society.<\/p>\n\n Speed climbing will certainly become more popular<\/strong> as part of the urbanisation and \u201cindoorisation\u201d of climbing. But it will probably neither become a sport for the masses nor the next mega trend. But I can\u2019t be sure of this prognosis. The only sure thing is that the times are changing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Speed climbing is climbing at speed, simple. Not on speed, i.e. under the influence of an amphetamine but trying to go as fast as possible. Though doping with speed was once prevalent in high-altitude mountaineering using innocuous brand names such as Pervitin. But today\u2019s speed climbers are going about their business without drugs. They\u2019re also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":76333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[211],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-108056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-tos"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpeed climbing 2<\/h2>\n\n
What happens during a speed climbing competition?<\/h2>\n\n
What is needed for speed climbing?<\/h2>\n\n
<\/a>(Speed) Climbing is becoming an Olympic discipline<\/h2>\n\n
Who enjoys speed climbing? Is it a popular discipline?<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\n
What\u2019s next? The future of speed climbing<\/h2>\n\n