The 2025-2026 UIAA Ice Climbing season, and specifically the seven-leg Continental tour, commences this Saturday at the O’BLOC climbing centre in Ostermundigen, just outside Bern.
Over 70 athletes from 15 member associations – Canada, Czechia, Finland, France, Iran, Japan, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Ukraine, the UK and the United States have registered for the lead (difficulty)-only competition. Host nation Switzerland, through the Swiss Alpine Club, will bring an impressive team of 19 athletes.
The 2025-2026 UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour welcomes Fixe as the Official Technical Partner. The technical staff and teams at each UIAA ice climbing event will use Fixe ropes, carabiners, anchors, harnesses, and helmets. Additionally, the world’s top ice climbers will use Fixe ropes, carabiners, and belay stations throughout the circuit. Further details related to Fixe initiatives will be communicated across the season.
The Continental tour is both a forerunner for the main event – the World Tour series which runs from January to the end of February with four World Cup events on three continents. The Continental events have a somewhat dual identity: they offer a proving ground for rising talents and a platform where established contenders can assert early dominance.
Five of the six athletes who finished on the Continental Tour overall podium last season – the leading three women – Haruko Takeuchi (Japan), Annick Teepe (Netherlands) and Ilona Serrar (France) as well as two of the top three men – Jonathan Brown (Switzerland) and Jan Mondzelewski (Poland) – will be in attendance in the Swiss capital.
Several athletes who have podiumed on the world stage will also add lustre to the competition, including world champion in women’s speed Aneta Louzecka (Czechia), Marion Salmon-Thomas (France), Lea and Lorena Beck, sisters from the Liechtenstein team, Marianne van der Steen (Netherlands) and Franziska Schönbächler (Switzerland).
The event in Bern, organised in collaboration with O’BLOC, has been a regular host of continental events since 2019. Action takes place on Saturday 22 November with the women’s qualification in the morning following by the men’s qualification. The women’s and men’s finals commence from 19:30 local time with livestreaming available from the UIAA YouTube channel.
Further Resources
Event Programme
Event Page
Registrations
Live Results
Photo credits: @hugovincentphotography / @obloc.ch
