As we count down the days to the biggest youth event of the season, here are some important reminders and clarifications for athletes and coaches to help you prepare.
Rules Reminder
For the 2024-2025 Youth Boulder and Lead National Championships, the 2024 IFSC Rules will be in effect, along with the 2024-2025 CEC Rule Amendments. You can review this information in our previous blog post.
However, one element of the 2025 IFSC rules will be implemented at this event, which is the increased quotas for Semifinals and Finals, giving more athletes the chance to experience the advanced rounds:
- Boulder and Lead
- 24 athletes will advance to Semifinals
- 8 athletes will advance to Finals
- *these numbers may be increased in the case of ties in previous round or Foreign Nationals participation
Boulder Finals – New Flow with Expanded Quota
With 8 athletes now advancing to Finals (instead of 6), the flow of the round changes slightly.
The Finals round will feature a four-athlete overlap, meaning that for each gender and category, there will be two climbers on the wall simultaneously for most of the round. As we run men and women simultaneously, there might be 4 climbers on the wall at the same time.
Athletes will follow a staggered rotation, as outlined in Figure 1 (see below), which illustrates the movement through problems during the final.
We encourage all athletes to follow the guidance of the Jury President while in Isolation. Stay attentive to instructions to help ensure a smooth and efficient process for everyone.
(names only for visibility purposes – Also note that there can be variation of this if there are more than 8 athletes in the final round, for instance through ties in previous rounds or Foreign Nationals participation)
Boulder Transition Zone (Call Zone) – How It Works
If you attended Regionals, you’re now familiar with the transition zone process. At Nationals, we will have a transition zone at all rounds of the Boulder competition (it is also possible that there’d be two transition zones). The transition zone layout consists of on-deck chairs and rest chairs for all boulder problems to facilitate easy movement throughout the round.
For those new to it, here’s a quick breakdown:
- At the START of the climbing rotation (4-minute round), athletes may leave the transition zone and hurry toward their assigned boulder. Yes, this transition time comes out of the 4-minute clock—but this is standardized across all athletes, maintaining fairness.
- Upon arrival at the boulder, athletes begin climbing immediately—no need to wait for judge approval.
- At the end of the rotation (or once the athlete finishes climbing), athletes must return promptly to the transition zone.
- During the 15-second transition period, the following happens:
- Athletes EXIT the field of play
- Judges quickly review the score and input data into the live system
- The Head Judge and Jury President do a visual sweep of the field to ensure judges are set and field of play is clean
- Brushes and any left-behind items (chalk bags, bottles, etc.) are cleared
This transition system mirrors the IFSC format used at events like the Youth World Championships, ensuring that Canadian athletes gain experience in a high-performance environment aligned with international standards.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions leading up to the event—we can’t wait to see you all in action!
Important emails: info@climbingcanada.ca ; officiating@climbingcanada.ca
