Moving quickly on from the first ever IFSC World Cup in South America, the climbers head north to more familiar surroundings for the next instalment in the Boulder discipline.

From Curitiba, Brazil to Salt Lake City, USA, many athletes have continued on the circuit and will once again take on the Boulder wall for a World Cup medal as 124 climbers from 28 are set to take part.

All but one of the medallists from Curitiba and from the first event in Keqiao, China will compete at the USA Climbing Training Center in Utah with Great Britain’s Erin McNiece the sole medallist not registered.

That means the likes of Japanese teammates Sorato Anraku and the Narasaki brothers, Tomoa and Meichi, will once again fight it out for podium places. They will go up against France’s Mejdi Schalck and South Korea’s Lee Dohyun.

For the women, home support will be behind Annie Sanders who started the season off strongly as she battles it out with French teammates Oriane Bertone and Naïlé Meignan. The other 2025 medallist in the line-up is Italy’s Camilla Moroni.

While those climbers have World Cup experience, Austria’s Flora Oblasser has none when it comes to Boulder. Oblasser has competed in Lead World Cups and done well, and she will be hoping for more of the same when she makes her Boulder debut.

Talking about her debut Oblasser said: “I’m feeling good. It’s my first Boulder World Cup so I have nothing to lose, and I am just going to enjoy myself here.”

The young Austrian climber has a busy schedule and skipped Curitiba due to other commitments, ones that we have all experienced: “It was a decision with my coach. I think three weeks in Asia, coming home, then going straight to both Brazil and Salt Lake City would be a bit too much. I also have school so it’s a bit more complicated. I still have some exams, and I can’t miss them.”

Although featuring only in Lead World Cups up to this point, Oblasser hasn’t been neglecting Boulder: “I did a lot of Boulder training at the start of the year and did a European Cup, then I shifted to Lead to get ready for the World Cups, but I never let Boulder go.

“I was doing slabs and coordination all the time and I feel physically very ready, and I hope my slab climbing has improved.”

When it comes to aims for Salt Lake City, Oblasser is keeping her expectations in check: “I’d like to make semi-finals. It’s very doable, but if not this comp, then Innsbruck or Prague definitely.”

A climber with more lofty ambitions is Belgium’s Hannes Van Duysen: “I want to win. Every World Cup I want to win, so that’s the goal.”

Although targeting for the top step of the podium, Van Duysen is aiming more for a bit of history repeating itself: “I climbed the final when I was last here in 2023 and I am looking at climbing another final here. That would be very cool.”

Just like Oblasser, and many others, Van Duysen is competing in both Lead and Boulder in 2025, but he is employing a ‘wait-and-see’ policy when it comes to the future: “This season I am combining both disciplines, so I am doing almost all of the World Cups.

“I’ll try to carry on doing both but it’s hard to say. For now, I will do it and then I will see what my level is and make a decision from that.”

As well as Annie Sanders, the USA team have 18 athletes registered including Nekaia Sanders who made it into her first semi-final and final in Curitiba and will be hoping to continue the form in front of her home crowd.

Both Sanders and the rest of the IFSC Boulder World Cup Salt Lake City entrants begin on 23 May with qualification for both the men and women.

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