Welcome to Behind the Wall, your weekly update on the climbing competition world.
This week, I preview the first Boulder World Cup of the season, which starts in Keqiao, China, on Friday. Like last year, I will be covering the competition in my Instagram Stories.
As usual, I recap the latest news and my favourite media from the last week. I also recap where to buy tickets for upcoming international competitions and what you can watch this weekend.
Keqiao Boulder World Cup Preview
This week, the IFSC 2025 Climbing World Cup circuit kicks off in Keqiao, China. This is the second time Keqiao has hosted a World Cup. The venue was purpose-built for Sport Climbing at the 2022 Asian Games.
Last year, rain cancelled the men's qualification round halfway through. The routesetters created 10 new boulders for a new qualification round overnight, so that the competition could have 2 rounds.
Who will be there?
61 women and 71 men from 29 different countries are registered to compete in Keqiao. Yet, some of the top female competitors are notably absent.
Olympic gold medalist Janja Garnbret and Olympic silver medalist Brooke Raboutou are both taking a break from competitions this year. Garnbret has said she will be competing at the Innsbruck World Cup, the Koper World Cup, and the World Championship in Seoul.
Raboutou is skipping the China World Cups. She is registered for the World Cup in Bali and the Salt Lake City Boulder World Cups, though.
Four-time series winner Natalia Grossman has been recovering after tearing her ACL and meniscus earlier this year. Keqiao will be the first World Cup since Hachioji 2018 without either Janja Garnbret or Natalia Grossman, 29 World Cups ago.
However, Oriane Bertone, gold medal winner in Prague and silver medalist at the 2023 World Championship, is registered. She had said she would skip the early-season competitions after a difficult Olympics. But earlier this year, she won the French Boulder Championshi and then won the Boulder event at the CISM Military World Winter Games. She has clearly changed her mind.
Many of the younger climbers are competing in Keqiao. Annie Sanders, who won her first World Cup last year, is registered. As is Slovenian Jenny Buckley, who won a silver medal at her first and only Boulder World Cup last year. Agathe Calliet is also registered. She finished third at the European Championship and reached her first final last year.
Miho Nonaka, Futaba Ito, Mao Nakamura, and Anon Matsufuji are registered as part of a full Japanese team. Melody Sekikawa is also competing. She won the North Face Cup and came second at the Boulder Japan Cup. Also, look out for Olympians Oceania MacKenzie, Erin McNeice, Camilla Moroni, Lucia Dörffel, and Chaehyun Seo in Keqiao.
Most of the top male competitors are registered, including Olympic medalists Toby Roberts and Sorato Anraku.
Jakob Schubert and Adam Ondra are not registered. Both have signalled their intent to only compete in Lead World Cups. The Prague World Cup will be Ondra's last Boulder World Cup before retiring.
Anraku is one of six members of Japan's men's team. World Cup medalists Tomoa and Meichi Narasaki and Sohta Amagasa are part of the lineup.
France is also sending a strong team. This includes World Cup medalists Mejdi Schalck and Sam Avezou. Leo Favot, who won the recent Rome European Cup, and Adrien Le Maire, the 2025 French National Champion, join them.
Other names to look for include USA double Olympian Colin Duffy, Dohyun Lee, Jan-Luca Posch, and 2024 European bronze medalist Dayan Akhtar.
Who is routesetting?
The IFSC routesetters in Keqiao are:
- Sergio Verdasco (Spain): Olympic routesetter and World Cup headsetter, who is leading the routesetting team in Keqiao. He was the headsetter at the Prague Boulder World Cup last year and the 2024 European Championship in Villars.
- Anna Borella (Italy): World Cup routesetter at Brixen 2023 and SLC 2024 World Cups. She also set at Studio Bloc Masters and Dockmasters this year.
- Pierre Broyer (France): World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic routesetter. He worked with Flathold to create the first no-texture holds for the 2023 World Championship.
Weather
Last year, the weather did not play ball, with rain canceling a round. This year, the weather in Keqiao is expected to be hot and humid over the weekend. The humidity will be in the 50s and 60s during the day.
- Friday: 33°C (91°F) and sunny.
- Saturday: 26°C (79°F) and raining.
- Sunday: 28°C (82°F) and sunny.
Local fact
Keqiao is one of the largest textile dyeing and printing places in China. It is home to China Textile City, a 3.65 million square metre marketplace with 29,000 sellers.
News
Lots of IFSC news from the past week
- The IFSC held their General Assembly last weekend in Larnaca, Cyprus.
- The IFSC National Federations re-elected Marco Scolaris as President of the IFSC for the next 4 years. They also elected a new executive board.
- The IFSC annoinced that Brno, Czechia, will host the 2027 World Championship. Brno beat Beijing to host the competition.
- The IOC announced that the Long Beach area will host Sport Climbing at the LA28 Olympics.
Media Recommendations
My favourite 5 pieces of media from the past week.
Toby Roberts shares how he did on a set of anti-style boulders in a competition simulation.
Why do people love Ai Mori so much?
Mejdi Schalck shares a spray wall session with the French national team.
Epic TV follows Futaba Ito throughout Studio Bloc Masters from the qualification to the semi-final and final rounds.
Kyra and Allison talk with Will Anglin about what went into making the Tension Board 2 and how board climbing has become its own thing.
Competition Tickets
With the season approaching, I’ve gone hunting to find out where and when tickets will be available.
- 18th – 20th April Keqiao IFSC Boulder World Cup. Tickets are available locally through the "kan ge bi sai" (Watch-a-game) app. Details are in the event information document.
- 25th – 27th April Wujiang IFSC Lead & Speed World Cup. Tickets are available locally.
- 2nd – 4th May Bali IFSC Lead & Speed World Cup. The competition will be free to attend. It is not yet known if tickets are required for entry.
- 16th – 18th May Curitiba IFSC Boulder World Cup. Ticket information still to be announced.
- 22nd – 25th May Salt Lake City IFSC Boulder World Cup and IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup. Tickets are available through Eventbrite.
- 31st May – 1st June Denver IFSC Speed World Cup. Tickets will be released around 2nd April through USA Climbing.
- 5th – 8th June Prague IFSC Boulder World Cup. Tickets are still on sale.
- 12th – 15th June Bern IFSC Boulder World Cup. Tickets are still on sale.
- 23rd – 29th June Innsbruck IFSC Boulder and Lead World Cup & IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup. Tickets go on sale in April and June:
- 7th April: World Cup Passes for the whole event [Sold out]
- 28th April: Single Day Tickets - early phase.
- 16th June: Single Day Tickets - late phase.
- 5th – 6th July Krakow IFSC Speed World Cup. This event is free of charge, and no tickets are required for entry.
- 11th – 13th July Chamonix IFSC Lead and Speed World Cup. This event is free of charge, and no tickets are required for entry.
- 17th – 19th July Madrid IFSC Lead World Cup. This event is free of charge. It is not yet known if tickets are required for entry.
- 28th July – 3rd August IFSC Youth World Championships in Helsinki. Tickets are for:
- 4th – 6th September Koper IFSC Lead World Cup. Tickets will be made available here.
- 19th – 28th September Seoul IFSC World Championships. Tickets will be needed for the following (All indoor events):
- Paraclimbing Finals
- Speed Qualification & Finals - Women and Men
- Lead Semi-finals & Finals - Women and Men
- Boulder Semi-Finals & Finals - Women and Men.
All other events are free of charge. Access to the venue is limited. Entry is restricted to first-come, first-served.
- 23rd – 26th October, Laval IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup. Ticket information is still to be announced.
What to Watch
The 2025 IFSC Climbing World Cup circuit starts in Keqiao, China, this week. As usual, you can watch in Europe and the UK on Eurosport/Max/TNT. Outside of Europe, you can watch on the IFSC YouTube channel, subject to some other local restrictions.
All times are local times (UTC+8).
Friday, 18th April
- 09:00 Women's Qualification
- 16:00 Men's Qualifications
Saturday, 19th April
Sunday, 20th April
