Salt Lake City to open up World Climbing Para Series

USA Climbing has announced that Salt Lake City will host the opening event of the World Climbing Para Series, formerly known as the IFSC Para Climbing World Cup. 

The competition will take place from May 15 to 16 in Momentum Indoor Climbing Fort Union.

It’ll showcase the best adaptive climbing talent, including world champions and those gunning for a spot in the Paralympics.

“There’s definitely something special about competing in front of a home crowd. The cheers are always a little louder in Salt Lake City,” said Emily Seelenfreund in a news release from USA Climbing. 

Seelenfreund took gold at the Para Climbing World Championships in Seoul this past fall. 

Not many other details have been released about this year’s series.

Last year, Salt Lake City was also the opening city. The World Cup then travelled to Innsbruck and then Laval. 

In between, the World Championships, which occur every other year, were held in Seoul. 

Adaptive climbers compete in numbered sports classes. 

‘B’ is for the visually impaired. B1 indicates total blindness, B2 having limited vision and B3 having the most amount of sight, but still facing impairment.

The numbering system is similar across the other categories. 

AL; stands for ‘amputee, lower limb, and ranges from AL1 to AL2, the former for total loss, or no function in both legs, while the latter is loss, or limited function in one leg.

AU means ‘amputee, upper limb.’ AU2 means no wrist joint, but a functioning elbow joint, while AU3 is for competitors with missing finger joints or a limited hand function with a functioning wrist joint. 

RP is for impairments in range and power, and this can include hidden disabilities that are neurological and physiological. It ranges from RP1, which is the most severe, to RP3, the least severe.

In the 2022 to 2023 season, AU1, which indicates the complete loss of an arm, was permanently combined with RP1.

Tickets for the Salt Lake City event can be found here. The event will also stream live on World Climbing’s YouTube channel.

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