Speed climbing is a

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...

discipline in which speed is the ultimate goal. Speed climbing is done on rocks, walls and poles and is only recommended for highly skilled and experienced climbers. Competition speed climbing, which takes place on an artificial and standardized climbing wall, is the main form of speed climbing. However, there are types of speed climbing that take place outdoors, such as climbing famous

big wall climbing Big wall climbing is a form of rock climbing that takes place on long and sheer multi-pitch climbing, multi-pitch climbing routes, routes (of ''at least'' 6–10 pitches or 300–500 metres) that require a full day, if not several days, to ascen ...

routes in the shortest times, notable examples being on ''

El Capitan El Capitan (; ) is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit alo ...

'' in

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

Competition speed climbing

Competition speed climbing Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock-climbing competition held indoors on purpose-built artificial climbing walls (earlier versions were held on external natural rock surfaces). The three competition climbing disciplines are lead ...

as governed by the

International Federation of Sport Climbing The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) is the international governing body for the sport of competition climbing, which consists of the disciplines lead climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing. Charter The IFSC describes itself ...

(IFSC) takes place on artificial walls. Competitors climb a 5-degree overhanging IFSC-certified wall, with an auto-belaying system from the top of the wall. Since 2007 the IFSC has created a standard wall for the world record. The standard has a simple rule and it involves climbers competing on the same route, side by side, and whoever reaches the top first wins. The holds and order are always identical, and the difficulty rating is around F6b (approximately YDS 5.10c), which is a level most recreational climbers could complete. The IFSC also sanctions speed climbing competitions and those events that entail world record attempts. Speed climbing was one of the three climbing modalities included in the combined format at the

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo, along with

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

. Beginning at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris, speed climbing will be its own standalone competition, separate from the lead and bouldering combined event. Time is determined by mechanical-electric timing (the competitor leaves the starting pad and strikes a switch at the top of the route). When mechanical-electric timing is used, the climbing time is displayed with an accuracy of one-hundredth of a second. In the rules modifications in 2018, the possibility to use manual timing was removed, and the mechanical-electric timing should record with a precision of 1/1000 second. This precision is only used for ranking in case of a tie. Further, the timing system needs to announce a false start, which is considered a start with less than 0.1 seconds of reaction time after the starting beep. File:Chamonix 2018 Jan Kriz.jpg, Two climbers compete against each other on the Speed Wall (Chamonix 2018) File:Climbing World Championships 2018 Speed (DSC09055).jpg, Full view of the standardized Speed Wall File:Climbing World Championships 2018 Speed Eighth-finals (BT0A6048).jpg, Start position. The climber stands on a pressure plate foot trigger, which is used for detecting false starts. File:Climbing World Championships 2018 Combined Final speed (BT0B0374).jpg, Hitting a button at the top of the wall stops the timer. The climber is secured by an auto-

belay In climbing and mountaineering, belaying comprises techniques used to create friction within a climbing protection system, particularly on a climbing rope, so that a falling climber does not fall very far. A climbing partner typically applies ...

device. File:Climbing World Championships 2018 Combined Final speed (BT0B0407).jpg, Two competitors in the 2018 Climbing World Championships File:Speed climbing hold large.jpg, Large standardised speed climbing hold. File:Speed climbing hold small.jpg, Small standardised speed climbing hold.

World champions

The defending men's and women's speed climbing world champions are Matteo Zurloni of Italy and

Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi (born 24 January 2001) is an Indonesian competition climber specializing in competition speed climbing. In November 2023, Desak was named to the BBC's 100 Women list. Competition climbing career Desak finished tenth ...

of Indonesia, respectively; they won their respective speed events at the

2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships The 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships, the 18th edition, was held in Bern, Switzerland from 1 to 12 August 2023. The competition climbing championships consisted of lead, speed, bouldering, and boulder & lead combined events, along with the ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, Switzerland.

Veddriq Leonardo Veddriq Leonardo (born 11 March 1997) is an Indonesian competition speed climber. He has held the world record for the discipline for about a year twice, first after setting it en route to winning the men's speed climbing event at the 2021 IFSC ...

of Indonesia and Natalia Kalucka of Poland were the overall men's and women's winners for the

2023 IFSC Climbing World Cup The 2023 IFSC Climbing World Cup is the 35th edition of the international competition climbing series organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC), held in 12 locations. There are 18 events: six bouldering, six lead, and six ...

speed series.

World and Olympic records

Since Qixin Zhong of China ran the 15-meter standardized wall in 6.26 seconds in 2011, the world record has been broken 20 times. The record has been broken thirteen times since 2021, most recently 4.64 seconds by Samuel Watson of USA in May 2025 at the World Cup event in Bali, Indonesia. That represents a drop of 25.9 percent since 2011. Similarly, the women's speed climbing record has been broken 20 times since 2013, nine times since 2021, dropping from 7.85 seconds to the 6.06 seconds set by

Aleksandra Mirosław Aleksandra (Ola) Mirosław (; née Rudzińska, born 2 February 1994) is a Polish soldier and competition speed climber. She is a two-time women's speed world champion as well as the current women's competition speed climbing world record holde ...

of Poland in August 2024, a 22.8-percent reduction.

Non-competition speed climbing

Most non-competition speed climbing records lack the standards normally associated with objective records. Competition speed climber

Hans Florine Hans Florine (born June 18, 1964) is an American rock climber, who holds the record for the number of ascents of Yosemite Valley's El Capitan and is known for holding the speed record on '' The Nose'' of Yosemite’s El Capitan 8 different times ...

has written about non-competition speed climbing: "I will be the first to say that climbing is silly. To make rules about it is just piling ridiculous on top of silly."''Speed Climbing!: How to Climb Faster and Better'' 2nd edition, By Hans Florine, Bill Wright Published by Globe Pequot, 2004, , 978-0-7627-3095-7 However, various climbers have set "speed records" on well-known and frequently climbed routes, such as

Dan Osman Daniel Eugene Osman (February 11, 1963 – November 23, 1998) was an American extreme sport practitioner, known for the dangerous sport of free-soloing, rock climbing without ropes or other safety gear. He participated in rope jumping, fallin ...

climbing Lover's Leap via the ''

Bear's Reach The Bear's Reach is a technical rock climbing route on Lover's Leap near Lake Tahoe, California. Considered a classic for its grade, it includes both face and crack climbing. The route is named for the crux of the second pitch, a long reach bet ...

'' route (5.7, 120+ metre) in 4 min 25 sec. The most notable of such records are listed below:

Notable non-competition records

California

The Nose,

*1:58:07

Alex Honnold Alex Honnold (born August 17, 1985) is an American rock climber best known for his Free solo climbing, free solo ascents of Big wall climbing, big walls. Honnold rose to worldwide fame in June 2017 when he became the first person to free solo a f ...

and

Tommy Caldwell Tommy Caldwell (born August 11, 1978) is an American rock climber who has set records in sport climbing, traditional climbing, and in big-wall climbing. Caldwell made the first free ascents of several major routes on El Capitan in Yosemite Na ...

June 2018. *2:10:15

and

May 2018. *2:19:44 Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds October 2017. *2:45:45

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

and

Thomas Huber Thomas Huber (born 18 November 1966) is a German rock climber (and especially big wall climbing) and mountaineering, mountaineer (and especially alpine climbing). He lives in Berchtesgaden with his family. His brother and regular climbing partne ...

, 2007 *4:43:00 Mayan Smith-Gobat and Libby Sauter October 2014 (all female ascent). *12:15:00 Heidi Wertz and Wera Shulte-Pelcum 2004 (all female ascent). *11:41:00

solo. July 2005. *11:00:00

2005 (free ascent male). * 12:00:00 Thierry Renault and Pascall Etienne (french climbers), 1979 *23:46:00

Lynn Hill Carolynn Marie Hill (born January 3, 1961) is an American rock climber. Widely regarded as one of the leading competition climbers, traditional climbers (and particularly big wall climbers), sport climbers, and boulderers in the world during ...

1994 (free ascent). Regular Northwest Route,

Half Dome Half Dome is a quartz monzonite batholith at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, California. It is a well-known rock formation in the park, named for its distinct shape. One side is a sheer face while the other three s ...

*1:53:25 Jim Herson and

1999. *5:25 Heidi Wertz and Wera Shulte-Pelcum 2004 (all female ascent). *3:58

solo 1999 (Full day also included El Cap). Snake Dike,

*3:00

Dean Potter Dean Spaulding Potter (April 14, 1972 – May 16, 2015) was an American free climber, alpinist, BASE jumper, and highliner. He completed many hard first ascents, free solo ascents, speed ascents, and enchainments in Yosemite National Park and ...

1998 (car to car).

Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, US National Park located in southeastern California, straddling north-central Riverside County, California, Riverside County and part of southern San Bernardino County, ...

*280 Routes in a day

Michael Reardon Michael Reardon may refer to: * Michael Reardon (climber) (1965–2007), American climber, filmmaker and writer *Michael Reardon (actor), foreign actor who starred in '' The Syndicate: A Death in the Family'' (1970) *Michael Reardon (architect), En ...

solo 2004.

Colorado

Bastille Crack * 00:05:33 Mic Fairchild solo 1998. Third Flatiron * 36:27 Bill Briggs solo 1989 (car to car).

Nevada

Epinephrine Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands a ...

*0:39:40

2018 *1:15 Jash Stwart solo 2002. Cat In The Hat *2:35

David Laxton David Laxton is a Canadian politician who was elected to in the Yukon Legislative Assembly in the 2011 election. He served as the 10th Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly and represented the electoral district of Porter Creek Centre on be ...

solo 2013.

New York

The Gunks *50 Routes 13:30 Peter Darmi solo 2004. *46 Routes 13:30 Eric Weigeshoff and Peter Darmi 2004. 3400' of climbing and descent. *51 Routes 13:30 Eric Weigeshoff and Peter Darmi 2006 3400' of climbing and descent.

Wyoming

Grand Traverse *6:40

Rolando Garibotti Rolando Garibotti is an Argentinian and American professional climber, writer, and mountain guide. He is from Bariloche, Argentina. These days he splits his time between the town of El Chaltén, Argentina, and the Dolomites in Italy. Notable clim ...

solo 2000.

References

{{Racing Types of climbing Summer Olympic disciplines