Welcome to Behind the Wall, your weekly digest on what is happening in the climbing competition world.
The IFSC announced the new Boulder World Cup format for 2025 last week, which will adopt a new points system for scoring. This week, I take a deeper look at how the new system works.
I also recap the news over the last couple of weeks and share my favourite media.
As usual, I recap where you can buy tickets for upcoming international competitions and what competitions you can watch this weekend.
The New Boulder Points System
The previous Boulder World Cup format got a lot of flack.
It is confusing. You need to remember four numbers to determine an athlete’s score. Even Matt Groom, the IFSC commentator, sometimes doesn’t know what athletes need to do to win in the final.
The format can have a lot of dead time when athletes are resting on the mat. The audience has failed to see the athlete get off the ground multiple times. Finally, why is a fall lower down worth less than a fall close to the top? They are both falls, right?
As someone who has been watching Boulder World Cups since 2016, I understand the format. It seemed simple enough. Other sports have more complicated scoring systems, looking at you gymnastics and ice skating, and people don’t complain about them.
But don’t ask me to explain the Boulder scoring system to a newcomer.
The biggest benefit of the 2024 Olympic format Boulder&Lead was the points system for Boulder. It made it so much easier to understand what athletes needed to do to progress.
So, when Climbers Japan leaked a new points-based scoring system in January, which was used at the Japan Cup, I was psyched.
The new Boulder World Cup format takes many cues from the Olympic Boulder&Lead format, with some important differences that allow for greater freedom in the types of boulders.
What is the new format?
Over the years, the IFSC has changed the Boulder format multiple times to make it easier to follow.
The IFSC increased the importance of zones in 2017 when it changed the ranking to the number of tops and then the number of zones instead of attempts to top. There was outrage that tops were being diminished. Still, many were happier that reaching a scoring hold was valued more than an athlete’s number of tries.
In 2018, the IFSC changed the time limit in finals from 4+ minutes, where athletes could finish an attempt even if the buzzer went off, to just 4 minutes. People complained about the lack of suspense from a final attempt, but we got final buzzer beaters in exchange.
The new rules include two main changes: the number of athletes in the final and a new points system. Both are designed to make Boulder World Cups more engaging and easier to follow.
The IFSC has increased the number of athletes in the final to 8, the same as Lead and the Olympic combined format. They have also increased the number of athletes in the semi-final to 24. Just like in the Olympic Boulder format, athletes will rotate through, so for the duration of the middle two climbs, there will be two athletes on the mat at any one time.
In a document shared with the National Federations, the IFSC explains that this is to reduce the dead time when no action is happening. The IFSC even suggest that routesetters set the more experimental or difficult boulders as boulder two or three to minimise the lack of action.
An additional benefit is that more athletes will get semi-final and final experience, and more countries can be represented in the semi-finals and finals. Both are factors the IFSC really cares about.
In the old scoring system, athletes were ranked by
- The highest number of tops
- The highest number of zones
- The fewest attempts to top, and
- The fewest attempts to zone.
In the latest iteration, attempts are used to break ties if athletes have the same number of tops and zones. Attempts, even the flash, were never considered significant to scoring.
The new scoring system simplifies this, using points to rank athletes. In the new format,
- A top is worth 25 points
- A zone is worth 10 points
- For each fall, an athlete loses 0.1 points. This is independent of where an athlete falls.
So, an athlete who gets a zone on their second attempt scores 9.9 points. An athlete who gets the zone on a boulder on their third attempt and then tops the boulder on their fourth attempt scores 24.7 points.
Where do the systems differ?
Tops used to be valued above all else. But just like the Olympic format, the new system values zones far more. Because of this, athletes with multiple zones can score more points than those with more tops.
In the new system,
- 1T 4Z (55 points) > 2T 2Z (50 points)
- 4Z (40 points) > 1T 2Z (35 points)
- 3Z (30 points) > 1T 1Z (25 points)
In the previous rule set, all of these would have been inverted.
In a document shared with the National Federations, the IFSC explains why it chose this. The IFSC considered setting zones to 5 points to maintain the current tops above everything. Instead, it decided that zones should be worth 10 points to reward consistency over the different boulders.
The IFSC also hope that having the zone worth 10 points instead of 5 allows the routesetters to balance the two sections of the boulder better. They worry that a 5-point zone would lead to harder and riskier top sections where the athletes are high on the boulder.
What does the simplification of falls do?
The simplification of falls to not distinguish between falls going to the zone or the top has big consequences.
It reduces the importance of flashing, topping on the first attempt. This is because 1 top in 1 attempt and zone in 2 is worth the same as a top in 2 attempts and flashing a zone.
1 top in 1 attempt and zone in 2 is worth the same as a top in 2 attempts and flashing a zone
In Seoul last year, this change would have changed who would have won the World Cup.
Using the new points system, Annie Sanders would have scored fewer points than Zélia Avezou because of her 7 attempts to reach the zone.
- Annie Sanders: 3 x 25 + 10 - (0.3+0.6+0.1+0) = 84
- Zélia Avezou: 3 x 25 + 10 - (0.1+0.1+0.4+0) = 84.4
The simplification will likely lead to more ties, which the IFSC is aware of. Still, they don’t think it will significantly affect the results.
Because the IFSC want zones to be worth more than attempts, they decided not to use -1 points per fall, as this would make attempts more important. In the example above, the scores would be
- Annie Sanders: 3 x 25 + 10 - (3+6+1+0) = 75
- Zélia Avezou: 3 x 25 + 10 - (1+1+4=0) = 79
Using a -1 point per fall would also unbalance the different styles. Coordination and complex climbs, which often require more attempts, would have more influence on the scoring than intense boulders, where athletes have at most one to three good attempts. The -1 point per fall would also incentivise athletes not to keep attempting boulders, as they are heavily punished for falls.
Why is there only one zone?
In Boulder, athletes are rewarded for solving movement puzzles, not progressing through holds. So, for each new scoring hold you add, you add a new section to the boulder to keep in the spirit of the discipline.
So when the IFSC added a second scoring hold for the Olympic format, they added a new section to each boulder. The routesetters then added this to the beginning of the climb.
This led to longer boulder problems with lots of sideways movement. This can be seen clearest in the coordination problems, which were made up of 3 coordination moves between the scoring holds, with each section increasing in risk and complexity.
There are other reasons why the IFSC want to keep 1 zone for practical reasons. Because boulders with two zones used up a lot more wall space, venues needed to use wider walls. By keeping to one zone, the IFSC is aiming to keep the boulder more contained.
There are also types of boulders, like complex coordination boulders or no-hands slabs, which don’t lend themselves well to a 2 zone format. By keeping to 1 zone, the routesetters are given the freedom to experiment.
Future Changes
The IFSC has said that the Boulder format will be examined more closely in 2025. This decision will depend on the IOC medal decision for Sport Climbing, whether Boulder and Lead are separated for LA2028 and the experience with this new system.
This change feels like a first step and not a destination for the Boulder format towards something easier to understand and follow.
Moving away from tops being everything to the new format, which rewards consistency over excellence in one style, is something we as a community need to work through. However, what the points represent can change while maintaining what makes the format easy to understand.
The biggest revelation I had about the combined format was the benefits of points and how much easier it makes understanding Boulder rounds.
Hopefully this will do the same.
News
- IFSC European Cup Munich Results. You can rewatch the women’s and men’s final replays on ARD1 (National German TV) with German commentary.
- Women: 1. Afra Hönig (Germany) 84.3pts, 2. Flora Oblasser (Austria) 74.9pts, 3. Lucia Dörffel (Germany) 74.8pts.
Hönig was one of two women to reach the zone on Boulder 1 to secure the win. Hönig started competing on the European Youth circuit back in 2009 in Munich.
- Women: 1. Afra Hönig (Germany) 84.3pts, 2. Flora Oblasser (Austria) 74.9pts, 3. Lucia Dörffel (Germany) 74.8pts.
- Men: 1. Thomas Lemagner (France) 84.5pts, 2. Jack MacDougall (UK) 69.1pts, 3. Leo Favot (France) 59.8pts.
Thomas Lemagner reached two IFSC Boulder World Cup semi-finals last year. - IFSC Asian Cup Hong Kong Results. Women’s and men’s finals are available to watch on YouTube.
- Women: 1. Manami Yama (Japan) 83.9pts, 2. Kaho Murakoshi (Japan) - 69.2pts, 3. Yui Suezawa (Japan) 44.5pts.
- Men: 1. Ritsu Kayotani (Japan) 34.7pts, 2. Keita Dohi (Japan) 34.5pts, 3. Cheung-Chi Shoji Chan (Hong Kong) 19.8pts.
- Plywood Masters Results. They used the previous format with tops and zones. You can rewatch on YouTube to see some of the best on-screen graphics of the year.
- Women: 1. Izzy Bridgens (UK), 2. Holly Toothill (UK) 3. Thea Cameron (UK)
- Men: 1. Max Milne (UK), 2. Toby Roberts (UK), 3. Sam Butterworth (UK)
- Vita Lukan announced on Instagram that she had injured her shoulder.
Media Recommendations
Here are my 5 favourite pieces of climbing media from the past week.
Jinni Xia
Jinni talks with Gregor Vezonik on the That’s Not Real Climbing Podcast about what makes Slovenia climbing special, what he enjoyed about competing, and his future shaping holds and routesetting.
Kyra and Allison talk with Kerry Scott about her relationship with competitive climbing and how it has changed over the years, how she transitioned from more of a lead climber to a boulderer and the difference between how men and women are encouraged to be competitive.
Jake and Niki ramble on from the latest rules changes for the 2025 season, to the London climbing scene, retexturing holds, to new group competition formats.
Kyra Condie shares how she built and set her new home wall in her garage.
Eric Karlsoon, Nikken and Teo climb with the Danish Champion, Thomas Brandtkjaer, on the hardest boulders in his home gym, Boulders, in Copenhagen.
Competition Tickets
- 12 – 16th March USA National Team Trails Tickets are still available.
- 15 – 16th March Studio Block Masters 2025
- 22 – 23rd March CWIF 2025 There are still some tickets to compete. Spectator tickets for the final are sold out.
- 23 – 29th June Innsbruck 2025 World Cup Tickets go on sale in early spring.
- 7 – 8th June Prague Boulder World Cup Tickets are on sale.
- 14 – 16th June Bern Boulder World Cup Tickets are on sale.
What to Watch?
This week, we have the USA National Team Trials and Studio Bloc Masters.
Studio Bloc Masters
Studio Bloc Masters usually live streams qualifications (scramble format), semi-final and final (2024 Boulder World Cup format) on the Studio Bloc Masters YouTube channel.
Here are the times and link. All times are local times (UTC+1).
Saturday 15 March - Qualifications
10:00 – 14:00 | Morning Qualification
15:00 – 19:00 | Afternoon Qualification
Sunday 16th March
11:30 | Semi-finals
16:00 | Finals
USA National Team Trials
Some of the USA National Team Trials 2025 are being streamed live on Outside TV, with Meagan Martin commentating. All times are local times (UTC-5).
Thursday 13 March
10:00 | Lead Semi-Finals
18:00 | Lead Finals
Friday 14 March
18:00 | Speed Finals
Sunday 16 March
10:00 | Boulder Semi-Finals
18:00 | Boulder Finals
