The IFSC Releases an Intense World Cup Calendar

This last year provided one of the greatest challenges for international competition. Between all of the regulations and cancellations, organizers and athletes endured many uncertainties to bring this last year’s season to life. Fortunately, it seems that 2022 may provide less friction than the previous year’s events.

On October 5, 2021, the IFSC announced the complete calendar for the 2022 IFSC World Cup season. This came with a schedule for the related international events accompanying this year’s World Cup Series.

To begin, the 2022 IFSC World Cup Series will open in the same location as 2021 concluded: Moscow. On April 1, 2022, Russia will host the season’s first Boulder and Speed events. The season will then move through 12 other events taking place in 10 countries across three continents.

The complete schedule is reproduced below, however Boulder and Speed will kick off this year’s Series, followed by another Boulder World Cup in Switzerland one week later. With all of the cancellations of this last year, the volume of events transpiring between the first of April and September 30 suggest a high intensity for athletes seeking to compete in most of this year’s competitions.

This compounds with the split of the events. Although Speed events will occur over the length of the season, all World Cup Boulder events will take place by the end of June. To that effect, all Lead events will occur between June 22 and September 30.

For Boulder, the World Cup events will be carried out in two-week blocks, excepting the final Boulder event in Innsbruck. This will reflect the opening format of the Moscow and Meiringen Boulder World Cups being held in quick succession. The Series will then travel to Japan after three weeks rest, concluding five days before the next Boulder World Cup in Seoul, Korea.

After another 12 days, Salt Lake City will host its second Boulder World Cup double header, one week after another. Three more weeks of rest will lead to the Series Finale while simultaneously kicking off the Lead World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria.

Differing from Boulder, Lead will follow with an intense three weeks filled with three World Cups all in Europe. The series will travel from Innsbruck to Villars and then to Chamonix before a 12-day rest takes the World Cup competitors into Briançon for the fourth Lead event of the season.

This point in the season will slow giving athletes time to rest before the final three World Cups of the Series. These events will take place in Slovenia, then Bali, and will ultimately conclude in China.

Speed’s schedule is the most relaxed of the disciplines with one Speed event per two or three Boulder/Lead events.

While this sort of schedule appears intense, it should reduce costs for athletes. It will do this by placing similar disciplines in geographic proximity to one another. The high frequency of the events should also make it difficult for one athlete to sweep the category with a complete set of Gold Medals. This last detail remains to be seen.

Although this year will go without an Olympic Games and World Championships, Sport Climbing will feature three different multi-sport events in 2022. The World Games Birmingham 2022, the European Championships 2022, and the Asian Games will all take place this year.

The World Games will occur July 14 to July 16 while the European Championships will take place between August 11 and 18. The Asian Games will conclude these events in September between the 15 and 19 in China.

As each of these events take place during the Lead season, it will be interesting to see who the overall Lead World Cup Series winner might become. Only the European Championships do not interfere directly with the World Cup season.

Finally, the IFSC Youth World Championship will take place in the United States this year. Also set for August, this event will give Canadians and Americans an affordable opportunity to compete on the world stage.

According to the IFSC, the 2022 Paraclimbing schedule will be released later this year.

The full schedule of the 2022 IFSC World Cup Series is as follows:

• 1-3 April – Moscow (RUS) – Boulder, Speed
• 8-10 April – Meiringen (SUI) – Boulder
• 29 April-1 May – TBD location in Japan – Boulder
• 6-8 May – Seoul (KOR) – Boulder, Speed
• 20-22 May – Salt Lake City (USA) – Boulder
• 27-29 May – Salt Lake City (USA) – Boulder, Speed
• 22-25 June – Innsbruck (AUT) – Boulder, Lead
• 1-3 July – Villars (SUI) – Lead, Speed
• 8-10 July – Chamonix (FRA) – Lead, Speed
• 22-23 July – Briançon (FRA) – Lead
• 3-4 September – TBD location in Slovenia – Lead
• 22-24 September – Bali (INA) – Lead, Speed
• 28-30 September – TBD location in China – Lead, Speed

Featured Image by Jan Virt.