The IFSC Boulder World Cup continues this weekend, and it returns to the city that hosted the IFSC Climbing and Paraclimbing World Championships 2023 – Bern, Switzerland.

The fifth of sixth World Cups in 2025 for the Boulder discipline, athletes will once again return to the mats in the Swiss capital and home nation climber Julien Clémence will be hoping for more of the same amazing atmosphere that graced the World Championships.

Talking about competing at home, Clémence said: “Having a home World Cup feels amazing. Having family, friends and teammates cheering for you on the biggest stage is an additional boost to perform well. I still get goosebumps thinking about World Champs in Bern in 2023. The atmosphere is just different.”

Despite the added boost from the familiar surroundings, Clémence still wants to maintain his routine when it comes to competition: “For me it’s yet another World Cup. I don’t want to change anything in my routine. I want to go out there, have fun, interact with the crowd and make the best out of it. I want to show the Swiss climbing community that we as the Swiss team are strong.”

Now five Boulder World Cups into the season, Clémence has had time to reflect on his 2025 so far: “My season is going great, probably the best one so far. I’ve been consistent and feel comfortable on the stage.”

When you talk about consistency, you have to mention Japan’s Anraku Sorato. In 2025 her has won three straight golds and a silver medal from the four Boulder World Cup events. The gold he didn’t claim, France’s Mejdi Schalck took that one, and both will be competing in the men’s competition in Bern.

Switzerland’s Olympian Sascha Lehmann is competing in Bern up against the likes of Great Britain’s Toby Roberts, Belgium’s Hannes Van Duysen, South Korean pair Jongwon Chon and Lee Dohyun and Slovenia’s Anze Peharc who is having a good Boulder season so far making multiple finals.

On the women’s side, all three medallists from Prague are competing with French duo Oriane Bertone and Agathe Calliet lining up with Japan’s Sekikawa Melody.

Making it through to the final last week for the first time was Great Britain’s Emma Edwards and Spain’s Gelia Macià Martín, and they will be hoping for more of the same as they didn’t get the chance to contest that final as the weather forced the final to be cancelled.

Some of the other women with World Cup medals and finals to their name in the start list include Great Britain’s Erin McNeice, Australia’s Oceania Mackenzie and USA’s Nekaia Sanders and Annie Sanders.

While some of the competitors would have been to Bern before, for others it will be the first time. For those athletes and spectators, Clémence has a little bit of advice for the anyone visiting the Swiss capital: “⁠⁠Because it’s summer and it’s going to be hot you should check out the river Aare. It’s fun to take a dip in the river to cool down.

“If you have more time you can go to the mountains to see some beautiful landscape. Otherwise strolling around town is lovely. The oldtown is beautiful and peaceful.”

If the World Championships and 2025 World Cups so far are to be considered, the Festhalle venue will not be peaceful with some fantastic and loudly cheering expected, but for sure there will be some beautiful climbing.

The IFSC World Cup Bern 2025 starts with women’s Boulder qualification on 13 June at 09:00 local time (UTC+2:00) with the men competing in their qualification at 15:30 the same day.

News and updates about the event will be available on the IFSC website and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.