Ice Climbing

^{Image: Alex Paun}

Ice Climbing is an activity of climbing through ice structures or formations. These formations may be in the form of frozen waterfalls, icefalls, ice slabs or rocks covered with frozen water or ice, or artificial structures. Ice climbing is a crucial part of any mountaineering activity or training.

What makes Ice Climbing beautiful is that it is nature in its raw form and routes are not always the same after a first climb. These unique characteristics drive the strong Ice Climbing community all over the world. UIAA recognises Ice Climbing as a competition sport and is responsible for the organisation of events and promotion.

World Cup season 2010

World Cup events of this exciting sport have taken place across Europe. Competitions include Lead and Speed, and for the first time ever, the European Ice Climbing Youth Championship was held, with former stars providing coaching and lectures. Read more.

Results and Rankings

The UIAA governs Ice Climbing as a competition sport and is responsible for its organisation and promotion. Go here for the 2010 results and rankings. Previous results can be found in the left column "results and ranking". Or see the UIAA calendar of events.

Rules and Regulations

UIAA Ice Climbing competitions are organised as per the UIAA Ice Climbing Rules & Regulations handbook. The rules and regulations, for both athletes and event organisers, are approved and enforced by the UIAA Ice Climbing Commission.

History and Future

Even though the first known ice climbing competition was organised in Italy in 1912, ice climbing as a sport is considered fairly new in terms of worldwide competition and participation. Read more about the history of this dynamic sport.

Ice Climbing Commission

UIAA’s Ice Climbing Commission is responsible for framing the rules and regulations for Ice Climbing competitions. It also ensures quality of the competitions as per UIAA terms and standards. Learn more

Ice Climbing Sponsors

Videos

Watch our ice climbing videos on YouTube channel, UIAAbern.

Ice Climbing World Cup 2009