Behind the Scenes at IFSC World Cups, Olympic Routesetting and Performance Rock Climbing

Welcome to Behind The Wall, a weekly newsletter published every Saturday.

Each week, I highlight the favourite things I’ve watched, read and listened to from the world of indoor and competition climbing. I also keep track of what climbing competitions are coming up and where you can buy tickets.

This week, Olga Niemiec appears on two more podcasts to talk about Olympic routesetting. Erin McNeice shares what a Lead climbing training camp looks like and gives her reflections on the Koper World Cup. We also got to hear about all the hard work Toby Roberts put into winning the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Also, catch up on the Arco Rockmaster festival, including the class Duel format, where Lead climbers race head-to-head on an unknown route.

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Watch

Performance Rock Climbing (1993) | udini. Udo Neumann released the 1993 Performance Rock Climbing video on YouTube. There is a section on competition climbing starting at 13:22, including a section on the first-ever World Championship at 17 minutes in.
How I Won Climbing Gold In Paris | Toby Roberts. Toby and his Dad break down his year of training before winning gold at the Paris Olympics.
The Leeds Trip. and The Koper Debrief. Erin McNeice took us on a training trip to Leeds for some Lead execution, Endurance and Boulder training. Plus, some Pokemon Go action. She also shared her reflections on her experience in Koper and rated her performances from “legendary” to “what are you doing” on the semi-final and final routes.
IFSC Worldcup Koper - Men's semifinal insights with the route setters | Beta Routesetting. The Koper World Cup routesetters take Niki on a tour of the men's semi-final route up in the lift, breaking down every move. The discussion of the holds on the rose cross-through move, which stumped many athletes, is around 7 minutes in.
The Arco Rockmasters Boulder & Duel competitions happened between the Koper and Prague IFSC World Cups. We got to see multiple 2024 Olympians competing in a fun and relaxed competition.
Prague 2024 World Climbing Club Day 1 | IFSC. World Climbing Club returns in Prague, where Matt Groom discusses the crack boulder in qualifications with head routesetter Sergio Verdasco, interviews Adam Ondra about competing in front of his home crowd, and a “grid” walk.

Read

Olympic Route Setter Garrett Gregor on Paris 2024 | UK Climbing. Natalie Berry asked Olympic Boulder Head Routesetter Garrett Gregor about how he felt the Olympics went for UK Climbing.

Listen

IFSC setter Olga Niemiec joins for a laugh | Another Setting Podcast. Olga Niemiec talks with Niki Wiechmann and Jake Mason about being a competition-only routesetter, dealing with pressure at the Olympics, and the constraints around brands when routesetting at World Cups.
Olga Niemiec, IFSC Olympic Routesetter | That’s Not Real Climbing Podcast. Olga Niemiec also talked with Jini Xia about how she started climbing, nearly competing at the Winter Olympics for Snowboarding, and how she juggles being an IFSC routesetter and a single mother.

International Climbing Competition Tickets

The World Cup season is wrapping up with two competitions left, plus the Asian and Pan American continental championships. Here is a rundown of climbing competitions to watch out for the rest of the year.