Speed Climbing: The Ultimate Form of Climbing and the Future of the Olympics

You may not like it, but speed climbing is the ultimate form of climbing—and soon, onsight speed climbing will be the crown jewel of Olympic climbing. Here’s the truth: real climbing is about cutting out the fluff. Yosemite’s legends—from Bridwell to Honnold—weren't out there to sip tea on ledges; they were chasing time itself, racing up The Nose and rewriting the rules with every new record.

Now imagine the Olympics pushing it even further: onsight speed climbing. Climbers tackling an unknown route with zero beta, making split-second decisions, no rehearsed moves. Just them, the wall, and the clock. This would strip climbing down to its purest essence: raw athleticism, adaptability, and nerve. If you think climbing should be a 'slow journey,' that’s fine, but maybe that’s just code for not keeping up.

So…have you heard of Arco Rockmasters?

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Yawn.

YAWN.......Just like gym climbers saying "Yea I'm a climber I climb lots". 

Me,oh yea where do you climb ??  

Oh the gym....

End of conversation....

Eric Mosswrote:

and soon, onsight speed climbing will be the crown jewel of Olympic climbing

Ok, 'll bite. Why is watching who can be the fastest to onsight 5.12 (or maybe 5.13) more interesting than seeing who can top (or get the highest) trying to onsight a 5.14? For speed to be the primary factor, the grade would have to be dumbed down, and I don't understand  why that's more interesting. 

Jim Amidonwrote:

YAWN.......Just like gym climbers saying "Yea I'm a climber I climb lots". 

Me,oh yea where do you climb ??  

Oh the gym....

End of conversation....

Is it better if I say I climb nearly exclusively on my woodies?

Imagine you took everything cool about climbing, all the cool aspects, every thing about climbing that's awesome. The style, the adventure, the creativity, the personality. 

Bundle all of that awesomeness up.

Now throw it out the window.

What you're left with is speed climbing.

If this results in fewer people at the crags, I'm all for it.

John Clarkwrote:

Is it better if I say I climb nearly exclusively on my woodies?

what you do with your or anyone else's woodie is between you and god

Removing the risk from climbing and calling it the "ultimate" is like removing orgasms from sex and calling it "ecstacy".  I call bullshit on the entire premise.

George Mwrote:

what you do with your or anyone else's woodie is between you and god

Lmao 

anyone who says woodie angle doesn’t matter for training is a dirty sandbagger ;)

Olympic climbing should be a winter games event, imo.

Climb a mountain, where the climber picks her own route within a defined area. Terrain should include approach hiking, scree and talus navigation, rock, snow and ice climbing and skis are allowed on the descent. Aid or free doesn't matter, fastest loop wins (but falling of any sort DQ's the climber).

Now THAT would be an event to watch.

Cherokee Nuneswrote:

Olympic climbing should be a winter games event, imo.

Climb a mountain, where the climber picks her own route within a defined area. Terrain should include approach hiking, scree and talus navigation, rock, snow and ice climbing and skis are allowed on the descent. Aid or free doesn't matter, fastest loop wins (but falling of any sort DQ's the climber).

Now THAT would be an event to watch.

Mount Marathon race

Tim Brattenwrote:

Ok, 'll bite. Why is watching who can be the fastest to onsight 5.12 (or maybe 5.13) more interesting than seeing who can top (or get the highest) trying to onsight a 5.14? For speed to be the primary factor, the grade would have to be dumbed down, and I don't understand  why that's more interesting. 

Because many climbing routes at that level are all about physical stature.

Eric Mosswrote:

Now imagine the Olympics pushing it even further: onsight speed climbing. Climbers tackling an unknown route with zero beta, making split-second decisions, no rehearsed moves. Just them, the wall, and the clock.

That's just sport climbing in the Olympics, right? Most competitors don't make it to the top because of difficulty and the one who makes it there the fastest wins. The only thing you're proposing is getting rid of the 5 minute preview from the ground where everyone mimes the moves together.

Bb Cc wrote:

Will this be 100 yards or 440?

It will be metric - duh

Make it unroped and call it "Beat the Reaper."

Long Rangerwrote:

That's just sport climbing in the Olympics, right? Most competitors don't make it to the top because of difficulty and the one who makes it there the fastest wins. The only thing you're proposing is getting rid of the 5 minute preview from the ground where everyone mimes the moves together.

Make it something all the competitors can realistically send.  It's no fun watching elite climbers struggle on one move just because they have the wrong body type.

Eric Mosswrote:

Make it something all the competitors can realistically send.  It's no fun watching elite climbers struggle on one move just because they have the wrong body type.

Psicobloc for the win. The only thing different is each round on psicobloc is the same route, so coming up with the spread of routes would be difficult without some brand new tech to switch routes easily on a standardized board and buddy: I don't see that happening anytime soon. 

Eric Mosswrote:

Make it something all the competitors can realistically send.  It's no fun watching elite climbers struggle on one move just because they have the wrong body type.

We already have the OTHER type of "speed climbing" where everyone can send and they go really fast. So you're proposing something in between? Psicobloc is already pretty much that, too.