Competitions resume on 9 January with the headline acts of the 2025-2026 season taking precedence. Cheongsong, South Korea will be the destination for the first of four World Cups on three continents. A full preview of the World Tour events will be published on Wednesday 17 December. In terms of the (difficult/lead-only) Continental series across Europe, two more events remain – a visit to Sunderland, England on the weekend of 6-8 February (during a break in the world-level events) and the season closer in Oulu, Finland on 7 March.

When athletes return to the Continental circuit, the quest to be crowned champions promises to be gripping. Both the women’s and the men’s standings are finely poised. In the women’s competition, there was a shake-up in the leaderboard this weekend. A win on home territory saw Marianne van der Steen take the gold in Utrecht. This followed her first place in the season opener in Bern and bettered a second place at this event last season. World Champion in speed, Aneta Louzecka of Czechia claimed her first medal of the season, and in finishing second, demonstrated her versatility across both disciplines of ice climbing. She joins van der Steen at the top of the standings. Former leader Marion Salmon-Thomas did not compete this weekend so is relegated to third. There was some joy for the French team though with 21-year old Ilana Serrar taking a bronze for the second time in four events.

The men’s event proved to be wide open with none of the three leaders contending the final this weekend. Team Liechtenstein had an excellent competition with brothers Florian and Andreas Gantner excelling. Younger brother Florian claimed silver. A more noted speed climber, this was his first medal in difficulty. Andreas won bronze, his second third place of the season and a result which sees him make the top three in the seasonal standings. However, overall victory went to a rising talent in Spain’s 19-year old Jorge Veiga Rodriguez. He first won gold in 2024 in Finland, and this latest success adds to a number of impressive performances. It is also a nod to the Continental circuit’s objective at providing a pathway for young climbers. Rodriguez won the youth event in Utrecht in 2023 and in the space of two years has claimed the senior title.

Photos from the event can be viewed here.

Current Continental Season Rankings (after four rounds)

Women: (1) M Van der Steen (NED), 237 points, (2) A Louzecka (CZE), 237 pts, (3) M Salom-Thomas (FRA), 221.5 pts
Men: (1) O Hamerský (CZE), 206 pts, (2) A Gantner (LIE), 176 pts, (3) V Devin (FRA), 166.5 pts

Further Resources

Event Programme
Event Page
Registrations
Live Results

Photo credit: Marianne van der Steen in action during the 2025 event in Utrecht. UIAA/Rein Rijke

The event in the Netherlands, organised by the Royal Dutch Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (NKBV) and Sportcentrum Olympos, is set to welcome around 70 athletes from 16 countries.

A shake up of the podium and seasonal standings looks guaranteed with only the Czech pair of Oliver Hamerský, series leader in the men’s event and Aneta Louzecka, third in the women’s, likely to feature from the current top three. A strong performance from the 13-strong Dutch team will be forecast spearheaded by World Tour athletes Dennis van Hoek and Marianne van der Steen. The Liechtenstein team, with their many family connections, should also be in medal contention. In the women’s event, France’s Illona Serrar, a medallist in two of her last four competitions, will seek to return to the top three in the seasonal standings. The largest teams, besides the host nation are Czechia (6), Liechtenstein (6), Poland (6), Slovakia (5) and Spain (5).

There will be no livestreaming from Utrecht. The finals will take place from 17:30-20:00 local time.

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: Competition in 2023, UIAA/Rein Rijke

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

Brown is in imperious form having taken gold medals in each of the last three competitions – in Switzerland, Slovakia and now in the Netherlands. The Continental Cup has two more rounds, one in Ouray (United States) from 24-26 January followed by the closer to the European season in Sunderland on 8-9 March.

Athletes from seven countries contested the final eight in the male competition. Brown was the only athlete to top the route with Denis van Hoek, in his home competition, climbing for silver and Spain’s Javier Paredes Ramos, 20, taking his first ever senior medal.

It was a similar story in the women’s competition with Switzerland and the Netherlands, one and two. The two countries had five athletes in the final eight with Goetz narrowly edging Marianne van der Steen for the gold. The Swiss secured their third medal of the weekend with Vivien Labarile earning bronze. Fifth place for Japan’s Haruko Takeuchi means she was able to extend her lead in the overall series over Annick Teepe, eighth, and Aneta Louzecka, who narrowly missed out on the final.

A total of 79 athletes from 17 countries competed, demonstrating the growing appeal of the Continental events. In early 2025, the Continental season makes way for the main event – the UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour which will witnesses five World Cups on three continents and a World Youth Championships. The first of five, starts on the weekend of 10-12 January in Cheongsong, South Korea.

A season preview for the World Tour will be published on Tuesday 17 December.

Current Continental Season (Europe) Leaderboard – After 4/6 rounds

Women:
Haruko Takeuchi, Japan, 306 points
Annick Teepe, Netherlands, 236
Aneta Louzecka, Czech Republic, 192.5

Men:
Jonathan Brown, Switzerland, 305 points
Mehdi Bouchet Bert Manoz, France 206.5
Jan Mondzelewski, Poland, 182.25

Further Information
Utrecht event page
UIAA Ice Climbing 2024-2025 season calendar
Photos

UIAA ICE CLIMBING WORLD TOUR PARTNER

Action takes place throughout the day on Saturday with the finals commencing at 17:30 local time. The full programme can be viewed here. No livestream is planned for the event.

A total of 76 athletes are current registered for the competition organised by the NKBV, Royal Dutch Climbing and Mountaineering Club. The following countries are represented: Canada (2), Czech Republic (2), Finland (2), France (3), Germany (2), Iran (1), Japan (4), the Netherlands (23),  Poland (10), Slovenia (3), Switzerland (4), Slovakia (2), Spain (4), Ukraine (1), UK (11), United States (2).

Current Continental Season (Europe) Leaderboard

Women:
Haruko Takeuchi, Japan, 255 points
Annick Teepe, Netherlands, 196
Aneta Louzecka, Czech Republic, 158.5

Men:
Jonathan Brown, Switzerland, 205 points
Mehdi Bouchet Bert Manoz, France 151.1
Jan Mondzelewski, Poland, 131.25

The World Cup events, the first of five, start on the weekend of 10-12 January in Cheongsong, South Korea.

Further Information
Utrecht event page
Utrecht athlete registrations
UIAA Ice Climbing 2024-2025 season calendar

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

In her home competition, Marianne van der Steen (247 points after three rounds) claimed the women’s title in Utrecht, to secure a second medal of the season and return to the top of the Continental Open leaderboard. Japan’s Haruko Takeuchi took her first ever Continental medal, finishing in second place with 24-year old Swiss athlete Sina Goetz taking bronze. It was a solid weekend for the Swiss women’s team with three athletes making the final eight. A seventh place for Aneta Louzecka (194) keeps her in second place in the overall standings. With previous Continental Open Tour leader Olga Kosek not competing in Utrecht, Takeuchi now sits in third on 175 points.

Javier Cano Blázquez, from Spain, won the men’s event, improving on his silver medal last time out in Brno. Victory also propelled him to the top of the overall leaderboard on 227 points. Jonathan Brown of Switzerland took silver and Will Morris of Great Britain the bronze medal. Those two athletes share 200 points and sit in second and third place in the Continental Open standings.

A total of 75 athletes competed in the senior competition with a further 14 contesting the youth event. This latter competition saw gold medals for Great Britain, Spain and Switzerland.

Following the turn of the year, the UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour kicks off with the opening World Cup in Cheongsong, South Korea (12-14 January). A full media preview of the World Tour will be published shortly. The Continental Open Series still has three rounds to run with the next event taking place in Champagny-en-Vanoise, France on 20-21 January.

Results
Photos (to follow)

Main photo: Marianne van der Steen climbing to gold by UIAA/Wim Kluvers

UIAA ICE CLIMBING WORLD TOUR PARTNER

The event is organised by the Royal Dutch Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (NKBV) and Sportcentrum Olympos. For the full event programme click here.

After two rounds of competition, Poland’s Olga Kosek (two second places to date) leads the women’s competition with 160 points. The Czech Republic’s Aneta Louzecka is second on 151 points. In her ‘home’ competition, third place Marianne van der Steen (147 points) will seek to claim a second gold of the season.

Two Spanish Jorge Veiga Rodriguez (134) and Javier Cano Blázquez (127) currently in the men’s top three. William Morris of Great Britain, winner in Round 1 in Slovakia, leads the standings with 135 points.

Men and women will compete in the lead discipline. In the adult event registration comes from 69 athletes representing the following national teams –  Czech Republic (4), Finland (2), France (7), Great Britain & NI (10), Germany (3), Iran (1), Ireland (1), Japan (2), host nation the Netherlands (19), Poland (4), Romania (1), Slovenia (3), Slovakia (3), Spain (8), Switzerland (8) and the United States (1).

Demonstration videos will be available through this link.

Please note that no livestream will be available from this weekend’s competition.

Following the turn of the year, the UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour kicks off with the opening World Cup in Cheongsong, South Korea (12-14 January). A full media preview of the World Tour will be published on week of 18 December.

Event Page
Registrations
Live Results

Main photo: UIAA/Pavel Nesvadba

UIAA ICE CLIMBING WORLD TOUR PARTNER

Organised by UIAA member federation NKBV (Royal Dutch Mountaineering Federation), the competition was the fourth in the series of European Cups held since mid November.

Women: Dutch climber Marianne van der Steen and Finland’s Enni Bertling resumed the sporting rivalry which has defined the women’s lead competition so far this season. Following a third place and a second, van der Steen secured her first victory of the season and for the first time finished ahead of Bertling. In the overall European rankings Bertling now holds a more slender 27-point advantage over van der Steen. Aneta Louzecka, Czech Republic, has also taken part in all four events and third place in Utrecht means she now holds the same position in the overall classification.

Men: The Netherlands’ Dennis Van Hoek (main photo) and Tom Phillips claimed second and third place respectively to ensure a strong weekend for the hosts. Despite the second place finish Van Hoek has seen his deficit to the European Cup leader Virgile Devin increase. The French athlete won in Utrecht to extend his overall advantage to 65 points. In doing so he was the only athlete to top the route in the final.

Youth: Four youth events were also held. The category winners were U16 men – Rory Watson (Great Britain); U19 men – Robert Erno Seregi (Hungary); U19 women – Caitlin Russell-Connor (Great Britain); U21 men – Théophile Truchard (France).

The European season resumes on 22 January with an event in Malbun, Liechtenstein. Before that comes the small matter of first World Cup event of the season in Cheongsong, South Korea to be held from 14-16 January.

A full replay of the event can be found below:

The event page and links to results can be found here.

A microsite created for the event can be found here.

Photos from Utrecht courtesy of Robert Hendriksen and Joep van de Zandt can be found on the UIAA Flickr Channel.

TITLE SPONSOR UIAA ICE CLIMBING WORLD TOUR