In the women’s competition, the gold medal went to Catalina Shirley of the United States, the only athlete to top. The 23-year old maintained her impressive form in UIAA-sanctioned competitions. This was her ninth medal in ten events, covering both lead and speed competitions. Shirley, who was silver medallist in Zilina last weekend, saw off the challenge of Poland’s Olga Kosek, medalling in her first competition this season and Ladina Heller, the 20-year old Swiss athlete, who took bronze, her first podium finish in a senior competition. Shirley’s victory enabled her to close the gap in the seasonal leaderboard. Continental Cup leader Marion Salmon-Thomas had to settle for seventh after two podium finishes in the opening rounds.

The men’s competition saw five athletes top in the final meaning the podium places came down to speed. Jonathan Arthur Brown, Switzerland, proved to be the most nimble finishing in 5:44. His second medal of the season sees him move to third in the overall standings. For 19-year old local athlete Oliver Hamerský, the season had started in exceptional fashion. After claiming his first ever senior medal in Bern (round 1), another second place finish this weekend now sees him top the overall standings. He finished just a second behind Brown. Bronze in the men’s competition, like the women’s, went to a Swiss athlete medalling for the first time. Paul Zurbrügg’s climb of 6:01 enough to oust Florian Gantner for the podium. The two bronzes proved enough for Switzerland to head the team ranking.

Photos from the event will be available in due course.

Round 4 of the Continental season will be staged in Utrecht, Netherlands on Saturday 13 December. This is the last event before the turn of the year. The world level competitions commence in January with Cheongsong, South Korea hosting the first World Cup of the 2025-2026 season.

Current Continental Season Rankings (after three rounds)

Women: (1) M Salmon-Thomas (FRA), 221.5 points; (2) C Shirley (USA) 180 pts; (3) A Louzecka (CZE), 157 pts
Men: (1) O Hamerský (CZE), 185 pts, (2) V Devin (FRA), 166.5 pts, (3) J Brown (SUI), 166 pts

Further Resources

Event Programme
Event Page
Registrations
Live Results

Photo credit: @mattes_pictures

A number of countries bring impressive depth to the event staged in the second largest city in Czechia and hosted by the Czech Climbing Federation. This includes Canada (9), Liechtenstein (7), Poland (13), Spain (11), Switzerland (13), United Kingdom (12) and the United States (8). Unsurprisingly there is a strong contingent from the local team with 13 Czech athletes registered. To note, an additional 41 athletes will compete in the youth categories, meaning nearly 160 climbers will attend the weekend.

The entire event takes place on Saturday 6 December with qualification running from 08:30 – 16:00 in the lead (difficulty)-only competition. Finals take place from 18:40 – 20:30 and will be livestreamed on the UIAA YouTube Channel from the link provided below.

All six of the athletes currently on the Continental Tour season podium will compete this weekend as the season starts to take shape. For local athletes Aneta Louzecka and Oliver Hamerský, both sitting in third place, a gold medal performance could propel them to the top of the leaderboard. However, the field is rich with talent. The emerging team of young Spanish climbers will look at continuing a recent tradition of medal showings on the continental circuit; Marianne van der Steen (Netherlands), Olga Kosek (Poland) return to action in the women’s competition where United States’ Catalina Shirley will be determined to keep a run going of four straight UIAA-sanctioned events on the podium. In the men’s competition, last year’s winner in Brno, Jonathan Arthur Brown of Switzerland, will be amongst a strong field seeking to medal.

Current Continental Season Rankings (after two rounds)

Women: (1) M Salmon-Thomas (FRA), 180 points; (2) I Serrar (FRA), 108 pts; (3) A Louzecka (CZE), 102 pts
Men: (1) V Devin (FRA), 137 points, (2) A Gantner (LIE) 111 pts, (3) O Hamerský (CZE), 105 pts

Further Resources

Event Programme
Event Page
Registrations
Live Results

Photo credit: Hugo Vincent Photography / O’Bloc from Round 1 of the season in Bern, Switzerland

The world-level events in the UIAA Ice Climbing calendar commence on 9 January 2026, with the continental circuit kicking off in the middle of November. It promises to be an another enthralling season as the UIAA pushes towards the dream of ice climbing becoming part of the 2030 Winter Olympics – a decision on the sports programme for the Games should be made during the 2026 winter season.

Over 200 athletes from over 25 member associations are set to contest the coveted UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup lead and speed titles. Five venues on three different continents will offer unique ice towers, exciting routes and supreme technical challenges.

World Cups & World Youth Championships
Five events, Five countries, three continents

The season opener will again be held in Cheongsong, South Korea from 9-11 January. The municipality of Cheongsong and the Korean Alpine Federation (KAF) have been a longstanding organiser of UIAA Ice Climbing World Cups and recently committed to hosting events until the year 2030.

After a weekend’s gap to allow athletes to rest after the change in continents, the World Tour heads to Europe for the second round at another of its regular venues. Saas-Fee, Switzerland (22-24 January) has been an ever-present host of UIAA-sanctioned events since 2002 with its distinct ice dome offering a unique structure for competition. Built within the resort entry point, the venue in the Swiss Alps regularly attracts large crowds particularly for Saturday evening’s lead competition. The competition is organised by the experienced team in Saas-Fee and the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC).

The third world level event of the season will be the World Youth Championships which makes a welcome return to the idyllic wintery setting of Malbun, Liechtenstein (29-31 January), which first held the event back in 2018. The competition, which will also host a Continental Cup for senior athletes on the 1 February, is organised in by the Liechtensteiner Alpenverein (LAV).

Another rest weekend will follow to allow athletes to change continents again to return to last year’s debut venue for the World Cup series in Colorado. Longmont will play host to the third round of the World Cup from 20-22 February. The event will be hosted again by the Longmont Climbing Collective and supported by the American Alpine Club (AAC).

The final stop in the series will be a third visit to Edmonton, Canada – 27 February-1 March – hosted by Offbeat Entertain and supported by the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) – right in the city centre. This follows on from the inaugural event at the venue held earlier this year. As part of this initiative, the general public will be able to test themselves on the ice wall on the Sunday after the competition. Edmonton will crown the World Tour winners.

Event pages – including livestreaming information, event programmes and registration details – will be available in due course on iceclimbing.sport

Quotes
“We’re thrilled to launch the 2026 UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour calendar, returning to iconic venues and expanding our Continental Cup presence across Europe and North America. With the support of our new partners (to be announced in due course), it promises unforgettable moments for both athletes and fans.”
JoAnne Carilli-Stevenson, World Ice Climbing Board Chair

“It’s great to be working with established and experienced World Cup and Continental Cup organisers on the 2026 World Tour. I am especially looking forward to a return to Malbun, Liechtenstein for the World Youth Championships – this was my first event on the World Tour back in 2018! The youth have lots of opportunities to compete this season and I really hope we can grow the future of the sport.
Rob Adie, UIAA Sport Events Coordinator

Reigning World Tour winners
The reigning World Tour overall winners from 2025 are Benjamin Bosshard / Switzerland (men’s lead), Sina Goetz / Switzerland (women’s lead), Mandakhbayar Chuluunbaatar / Mongolia (men’s speed) and Selenge Nyamdoo / Mongolia (women’s speed).

World Championships
The next UIAA Ice Climbing World Championships will be held in 2027. This follows a decision from the World Ice Climbing Board to return to hosting Championships in odd years and for the UIAA and World Ice Climbing Board to work on developments and enhancements to the pinnacle event in the sport.

Continental Opens
A total of seven Continental Opens are being hosted in the 2025-26 season in Slovakia, Switzerland, Czechia, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein, the USA, England and Finland. Young climbers will also have the opportunity to test themselves in more competition environments with events being organised at most of this season’s Continental Opens.

Provisional 2025-2026 Calendar

World Cups
9-11 January – Cheongsong, South Korea
22-24 January – Saas-Fee, Switzerland
20-22 February – Longmont, USA
26-28 February – Edmonton, Canada

World Youth Championships
29-31January – Malbun, Liechtenstein

Continental Cups & Youth Events
22 November – Bern, Switzerland
29 November – Zilina, Slovakia – Youth Categories
6 December – Brno, Czechia – Youth Categories
13 December – Utrecht, Netherlands – Youth Categories
1 February – Malbun, Liechtenstein – Youth Categories
6-8 February – Sunderland, England – Youth Categories
7 March – Oulu, Finland – Youth Categories

The full calendar of events can also be viewed here.

Main photo credit: UIAA/Slobodan Mišković

Action took place in Brno, Czech Republic with the Czech Mountaineering Federation organising its sixth UIAA Continental Cup in the city. The event was contested by 85 male and 38 female athletes from 18 countries.

Having triumphed in the opening round in Slovakia, Takeuchi again demonstrated her fantastic early season form in climbing highest in the final. She was only fourth in qualification. Marianne van der Steen, Netherlands, had posted the best qualifying performance and would go on to take bronze, her first medal of the season. Silver went to her Dutch teammate Annick Teepe, who built on the bronze medal claimed in Slovakia. Takeuchi leads the overall standings (255 points) from Teepe (196) and Aneta Louzecka (158.5) who had to settle for seventh in her home event.

Switzerland’s Jonathan Brown leads the men’s standings after following up on his gold medal in Round 2 in Bern with another strong performance in Brno on a very challenging route. He came within seconds of topping. The Czech Republic secured second place with a first medal of the season for Matyáš Lienerth and bronze was claimed by Slovenia’s Gregor Šegel. Brown heads the standings on 205 points with Mehdi Bouchet Bert Manoz of France (151.1 points) and Jan Mondzelewski, Poland, on 131.25 points.

A replay of the livestream of the finals is available on the UIAA YouTube channel:

Round 4 of the European continental season takes place in Utrecht, Netherlands on Saturday 14 December. The World Cup events, the first of five, start on the weekend of 10-12 January in Cheongsong, South Korea.

Photo credit: Honza Hanák/UIAA

Further Information
Brno event page
Brno results
Brno photos
UIAA Ice Climbing 2024-2025 season calendar
Operating Unit ‘World Ice Climbing’ created

UIAA ICE CLIMBING WORLD TOUR PARTNER

Action takes place throughout the day on Saturday with the finals commencing at 17:40 local time. The full programme can be viewed here. A livestream of the finals will be available on the UIAA YouTube channel:

Among the participants are ten athletes from North America (five from Canada, five from the United States) and a large contingent from the following countries: France (5), Great Britain (17), Liechtenstein (7), Netherlands (6), Poland (16), Slovenia (8), Spain (5), Switzerland (10) and Slovakia (8).

The event is organised by the Czech Mountaineering Federation who will be represented by 17 of their own athletes.

After two rounds of competition in Slovakia and Switzerland, Japan’s Haruko Takeuchi (155 points) leads the women’s standings from Dutch athlete Annick Teepe (116) and Aneta Louzecka (115.5), who will be competing in her home country. All three will be competing in Brno.

In the men’s competition, Poland’s Jan Mondzelewski (107.25 points) has a slender lead over Switzerland’s Jonathan Brown (105) and Spain’s Henoc Garcia Montoya (103).

Round 4 of the European continental season takes place in Utrecht, Netherlands on Saturday 14 December. The World Cup events, the first of five, start on the weekend of 10-12 January in Cheongsong, South Korea.

Further Information
Brno event page
Brno athlete registrations
UIAA Ice Climbing 2024-2025 season calendar
Operating Unit ‘World Ice Climbing’ created

UIAA ICE CLIMBING WORLD TOUR PARTNER

The world-level events in the 2024-25 UIAA Ice Climbing calendar commence on 3 January 2025, with the continental circuit kicking off at the end of November. 

Approximately 150 athletes from over 25 member associations are set to contest the coveted UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup lead and speed titles. Six venues on three different continents will offer unique ice towers, exciting routes and supreme technical challenges.

Please also refer to the recent news article related to updates in the post-season, the 2030 Winter Olympic Games, and work of the Ice Climbing Governing Group. Furthermore, from 6-7 July the UIAA and FFCAM, la Fédération française des clubs alpins et de montagne, are organising the second annual UIAA Ice Climbing Stakeholders meeting – a two day workshop in July to shape the future direction of competition ice climbing. Further information here.

World Cups: Six events, six countries, three continents

The opening UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup of the season is a welcome return to China on 3-5 January 2025 – the exact venue is still to be confirmed by the Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA). This will be the fifth World Cup to take place in China – previous events were held in Beijing and Hohhot. The second event of the season takes place in Cheongsong, South Korea from 10-12 January. The municipality of Cheongsong and the Korean Alpine Federation (KAF) have been a longstanding host of UIAA Ice Climbing World Cups.

After a weekend’s gap to allow athletes to rest after the change in continents, the World Tour heads to Europe for the third round at another of its regular venues. Saas-Fee, Switzerland (23-25 January) has been an ever-present host of UIAA-sanctioned competitions since 2002 with its distinct ice dome offering a unique structure for competition. Built within the resort entry point, the venue in the Swiss Alps regularly attracts large crowds particularly for Saturday evening’s lead competition.

The fourth World Cup of the season will be in Champagny-en-Vanoise, France (31 January – 2 February) organised in collaboration with FFCAM. After hosting the World Youth Championships last season, the event returns to the World Cup fold – it is sure to be another exciting and always idyllic wintery event.

Another rest weekend will follow to allow athletes to change continents again before arriving at a exciting new venue for the World Cup series in Colorado. Longmont will play host to the fifth stop of the tour from 21-23 February 2025. This new stop will be held on the edge of the Rocky Mountain National Park and follows events previously staged in the state – in Boulder and in Denver. The event will be hosted by the Longmont Climbing Collective and supported by the American Alpine Club (AAC).

The final stop in the series will be a return visit to Edmonton, Canada – 27 February –1 March – the event supported by the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) – right in the city centre, will also feature the YEG Ice Fest. This follows on from the inaugural event at the venue held earlier this year. As part of this initiative, the general public will be able to test themselves on the ice wall on the Sunday after the competition.

Reigning World Tour winners

The reigning World Tour overall winners from 2024 are Younggeon Lee / South Korea (men’s lead), Woonseon Shin / South Korea (women’s lead), Mandakhbayar Chuluunbaatar / Mongolia (men’s speed) and Aneta Louzecka / Czech Republic (women’s speed).

Franziska Schonbachler (Switzerland) in action at the 2024 UIAA Ice Climbing World Championships in Edmonton. Photo credit: Slobodan Mišković / UIAA

World Youth Championships & Continental Opens

The date and venue for the World Youth Championships are yet to be confirmed and will be announced in due course. Young climbers will also having the opportunity to test themselves in more competition environments with events being organised at most of this season’s Continental Opens. A total of six Continental Opens are being hosted in the 24-25 season in Slovakia, Switzerland the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the USA and England.

Provisional 2024-2025 Calendar

World Cups
3-5 January – TBC, China
10-12 January – Cheongsong, South Korea
24-25 January – Saas-Fee, Switzerland
31 January – 2 February – Champagny-en-Vanoise, France
21-23 February – Longmont, USA
27 February – 1 March – Edmonton, Canada

World Youth Championships
TBC

Continental Cups & Youth Events
23 November – Zilina, Slovakia
30 November – Bern, Switzerland – Youth Categories
7 December – Brno, Czech Republic – Youth Categories
14 December – Utrecht, Netherlands – Youth Categories
25 January – Ouray, USA
8-9 March – Sunderland, England – Youth Categories

Other Events
11-13 October – Youth Training Camp, Brno, Czech Republic
18-20 October – Continental Training Camp, Brno, Czech Republic

The full calendar of events can also be viewed here.

Woonseon Shin (South Korea) at the 2024 Saas-Fee – UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup. Photo credit: UIAA/Kaspar Kellerhals

Quotes

“Everybody, from the UIAA Office to the Governing Group to the event organisers have worked very hard to put in place the biggest and best calendar for a number of years. We are excited to announce a number of top-level events. However, this is only one part of the work being done with the UIAA delivering on feedback given by both organisers and athletes from the most recent season and working to create a more sustainable future for the sport. The next few years promise to be very exciting for all involved in competition ice climbing.”
Martin Lascano, Chair, Ice Climbing Governing Group

“The return to six World Cups is significant and great news for all involved. Having two competitions in Asia, Europe and North America creates a very balanced calendar with visits to well-established venues and exciting events in new locations.”
Rob Adie, UIAA Sports Events Coordinator

UIAA Ice Climbing Continental Open – Champagny-en-Vanoise, France. Photo credit: Photo: UIAA / Julia ROGER-VEYER

On Thin Ice: Episode One Coming Soon

The UIAA is delighted to announce the launch of a new accompaniment to the UIAA Ice Climbing season. On Thin Ice is set to unveil the drama and untold stories behind the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup. This emotional documentary will take viewers beyond the competition itself and provide an unfiltered look at the athletes, their passions, the intense battles, and the parties that define the sport. From the real ice and alpinism in remote landscapes around the world to the intensity of the competition arena, the documentary promises an immersive experience that transcends the sport and will capture the imagination of all sports fans.

As the producers state: “We’ll meet the athletes and delve into their personal struggles, triumphs, and the unbreakable camaraderie that binds them together on the World Tour. We’ll live every moment of the competitions with them.”

Through intimate interviews and unfettered access, On Thin Ice promises to be an emotional rollercoaster that leaves audiences on the edge of their seats. The trailer for episode 1 is available (see below) and the full episode is scheduled to go live on Saturday 29 June – please subscribe to the UIAA YouTube Channel for updates.

Podcasts: Spreading knowledge about the UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour

Want to discover more about the UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour? Look no further than the UIAA podcast, Mountain Voices. Across each episode, experts from the climbing and mountaineering world discuss issues that impact climbers and mountaineers. Episode #1, available on all major podcast platforms, addresses competition ice climbing and features the contributions of Rob Adie, UIAA Sports Event Coordinator, as well as athletes Gordon McArthur and Eimir McSwiggan.

Furthermore, the UIAA’s Rob Adie features in the latest episode of Ice Ice Beta, a podcast about ice climbing, mixed, and dry-tooling. A recent episode also featured UIAA competition ice climber Kevin Lindlau (United States) and also the an episode featured athletes Willis Morris and Oz Miller from the Scottish Drytooling Club.

Further Information

Subscribe to the UIAA YouTube Channel for reminders and updates. Visit the channel for a wealth of content (livestreams from competitions and short form content)

To subscribe to press releases please click here.

Photos, free of restrictions for editorial use, are posted for each competition on the UIAA Flickr channel. 

Follow the UIAA social media channels, notably Instagram and Facebook.

Visit the UIAA Ice Climbing website for further information about the World Tour.

UIAA ICE CLIMBING WORLD TOUR PARTNER

A total of 107 athletes from 19 countries took part in the event organised by the Czech Mountaineering Association and held at the dry tooling structure at the Lokomotiva Brno Climbing Club. This represents a record for a UIAA continental level competition. Organizers also created both a fun and challenging event with athletes tackling ten different routes. For the first time, the Continental Open also included a dedicated youth component split across U20, U18 and U16 categories.

In the women’s competition, Olga Kosek from Poland is the only athlete to podium at both 2023-24 events. She followed up her silver medal in Slovakia with a repeat performance in Brno. Local advantage proved crucial with 23-year old Czech climber Aneta Louzecka taking gold. This is first medal since claiming speed gold at the World Cup in Cheongsong earlier this year. Switzerland’s Vivien Labarile, highly consistent last season, took bronze. Kosek (160 points) leads the overall standings with Louzecka (151) in second and last week’s winner Marianne van der Steen (147) in third place.

None of last week’s male medallists were able to make the podium in Brno. Following last week’s gold medal for Jorge Veiga Rodriguez, the Spanish team claimed a silver medal through Javier Cano Blázquez. Gold went to Switzerland with Benjamin Bosshard the only athlete to top the route. Bosshard had not featured in Round 1 in Zilina. The Swiss team went home with three medals in the senior competition with Jonathan Brown claiming bronze. Last weekend’s gold medallist William Morris of Great Britain leads the standings with 135 points, trailed by the two Spanish climbers, Rodriguez (134) and Blázquez (127).

Please follow the link below for a replay of the livestream.

In the youth competition, created as a means to allow more competitive opportunities and a clear pathways for climbers under the age of 20, the medals went to Switzerland (5), Great Britain (5), Spain (2), Czech Republic (1) and Slovakia (1).

One additional Continental Open will be held before the turn of the year. For the second time, Utrecht in the Netherlands will host an event. Action takes place on Saturday 16 December. Further details to follow.

Results from Brno
Men’s Lead, Women’s Lead, Youth events

Photos

Photos: UIAA/Pavel Nesvadba

The event in Brno will be organised by the Czech Mountaineering Association and held at the dry tooling structure at the Lokomotiva Brno Climbing Club.

The competition programme can be found here. Men and women will compete in the lead discipline. Youth climbers will compete on the same route as the senior athletes. In the adult event representation comes 109 athletes from the following national teams –  Croatia (2), host nation Czech Republic (15), Finland (2), France (8), Great Britain & NI (20), Germany (3), Hungary (1), Ireland (1), Italy (2), Japan (3), Mongolia (1), the Netherlands (4), Poland (13), Romania (1), Slovenia (5), Slovakia (11), Spain (4), Switzerland (9) and the United States (4).

A livestream of the competition, provided by the organizers, will be available on the UIAA YouTube channel. Please subscribe for updates. An embed of the feed is available below:

All six medallists from last weekend – Jorge Veiga Rodriguez (Spain), Will Morris (Great Britain), David Bouffard (Romania) in the men’s category as well as Marianne van der Steen (Netherlands), Olga Kosek (Poland) and Ladina Heller (Switzerland) are set to compete.

Event Page
Registrations
Live Results

Main photo: UIAA/Pavel Nesvadba

The main content of the programme was climbing and training before the next competition season begins and a mutual exchange of experience and information. The training structure underwent a full surface renovation before the camp and with the creation of a completely new profile on the side of the structure. In total, more than 40 routes and their variants were available to the ice climbers and it was possible to try the new TP holds, SmartStone, Intelect and also a number of local plastic ones. Climbing at the training center was supplemented on Friday with a workshop focused on speed ice climbing, where competitors could learn a number of tips from one of the world’s best sport climbing speed climbers – Rishat Khaibullin.

On Sunday, the training camp ended with a mock competition. Four competition routes, one lead, three top rope. The main goal was to clarify the scoring in different ice axe positions and to train athletes to cope under time pressure. The event was a great success and can be counted on as a fixed point of the calendar in the future.

The Czech Mountaineering Federation looks forward to welcoming athletes to their structure in Brno for the second time this season at the second round of the 2023/2024 UIAA Continental Cup, which will take place on 2 December 2023.

Photos courtesy of Marianne van der Steen and Radek Lienerth

Additional photos can be found here.

In both the men and women’s competition, the overall winner proved the dominant performer throughout the competition.

A stream of the finals of both the men and women’s events can be found here:

A total of 28 athletes contested the female competition. Last weekend’s winner Marianne van der Steen of the Netherlands started as the athlete to beat. She produced another excellent performance across a gruelling day of competition which comprised a number of qualification rounds before the top eight athletes contested the final. The Dutch athlete had looked set to complete the route in the final before a fall with the TOP marker in sight. The only athlete to better van der Steen’s performance was 25-year old Swiss athlete Franziska Schönbächler who was only seconds away from topping the route. Schönbächler had also been top performer in qualification. Taking third place was Marion Thomas of France (photographed below). She added to her second place in Žilina.

France’s Virgile Devin dominated qualification last weekend before a costly fall in the final. It was fate he avoided in Brno. Having again performed impressively in qualification and as last athlete to attack the incredibly steep route in the final, he was able to surpass the benchmark set by Switzerland’s Benjamin Bosshard, second, and compatriot Basile Fetet, third. The competition required the intervention of the judges before the final results were confirmed.

The event was organised in collaboration with the Czech Mountaineering Association.

Photos can be found here, credit: UIAA/Pavel Nesvadba or credit: UIAA/Robert Hendriksen

Results can be found here. Additional qualification results are available here (men, women)

The UIAA Ice Climbing season takes a break until early 2023 when an intense month of World Cup action starts in Cheongsong, Korea Republic on 13 January. Livestreaming will be available from the event.

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