BURSTThe first Pro Climbing League competition is happening this weekend, pitting some of the world’s best climbers in a head-to-head format for a total prize pot of £35,000, which is about $45,000 USD.
The inaugural event in London takes place on Feb. 28, and it will be livestreamed on Redbull TV.
It’ll be available here from 19:30 GMT / 20:30 UTC. For those in North America, that’s 2:30 p.m. ET and 11:30 a.m. PT.
The event will be showcasing some of the biggest names in the climbing world.
In the women’s side, that includes competition GOAT Janja Garnbret, as well as Oriane Bertone, Annie Sanders, Erin McNeice, Anon Matsufuji, Camilla Moroni, Jenny Buckley, and Lucia Dorffel.
In the men’s category, Olympic gold medallist Toby Roberts will compete alongside other big talents, such as Mejdi Shalck, Tomoa Narasaki, Colin Duffy, Max Milne, Yannick Flohe, Mickael Mawem, and Darius Rapa.
These athletes will vie for respective first, second and third prizes of £10,000, £5,000 and £2,500 in both men’s and women’s categories.
That’s about $13,500, $6,700 and $3,400 in USD.
Organizers say that this new head-to-head event has the goal of making competition clearer to understand for all spectators while bringing climbing to an ever-wider audience.
The new competition format means two climbers compete side by side on identical boulder problems, with whoever reaches the top first progressing to the next round.
Sixteen climbers (eight men and eight women) compete head-to-head in pairs across three rounds (Qualifying, Semi Final, and Final).
Each boulder has a 4+ minute time limit (climbers can finish an attempt if they leave the ground within the 4-minute time limit).
Shauna Coxsey, the most successful comp climber in the UK, and Bryn Lucas will host the livestream. US crusher Michaela Kiersch will be providing field interviews throughout the day.
The Pro Climbing League is a newcomer to hosting competition climbing events. While its head-to-head format is a change from current comps, it’s not necessarily the first one to experiment with this format.
Previously, Adidas Rockstars incorporated head-to-head matches as a way to spice things up. However, that event closed its doors when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Watch: Pro Climbing League preview
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