Climbing During COVID-19 Working Group

Chaired by the two Technical Delegates Fabrizio Minnino (ITA) and Graeme Alderson (GBR), the Working Group was created by the Executive Board to produce recommendations and guidelines for the climbing community to work towards the restart of climbing in gyms and during competitions.

As we slowly come out of this state of emergency, the IFSC seeks to create the conditions for a safe restart of the climbing activity for athletes and, more generally, climbers around the world. The Working Group will support the Continental Councils and Member Federations by providing best practices for competitions, including rule changes, and by sharing guidelines as an example for local implementation. The Working Group will also support the entire climbing community including climbing gyms worldwide, by gathering together as much research as possible to help facilitate the safe re-opening of the gyms and the restart of climbing worldwide.

Important:

• Knowing that each part of the world has a specific situation, national regulations shall apply first. Resources and guidelines shared here are of use only if contextualised.
• Follow the World Health Organization advice and recommendations.

Disclaimer:

This list of resources is continuously updated and shall not be intended as exhaustive. Guidelines and best practices reported here are to be used and adapted to the needs and circumstances of each country.

• IFSC Medical Commission
• Dietary supplements: vitamin C and Zinc supplement as well as vitamin D - Amin Gasmi, Sadaf Noor, Torsak Tippairote, Maryam Dadar, Alain Menzel, Geir Bjørklund, Individual risk management strategy and potential therapeutic options for the COVID-19 pandemic [EN]
• FASI: COVID-19 risk reduction guidelines in the training of athletes at national level [IT]

We recommend checking:

• this webpage for IOC updates and Coronavirus advice for athletes
• a reference library of guidelines of the WHO, NOCs and other IFs

WADA understands that athletes have questions concerning antidoping in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, with the help of its Athlete Committee, WADA have developed a Q&A document that covers some of the most frequently asked questions.

• Guidelines for Sport Climbing competitions (Update on 19/08/2020)

• WHO Risk Assessment for Sport Events and Considerations for sports federations/sports event organizers when planning mass gatherings in the context of COVID-19

National Federations

• South African National Climbing Federation (SANCF) Sport Climbing Facilities Re-opening Proposal
• Climbing Escalade Canada (CEC) Pandemic Task Force

General Resources

• CWA COVID-19 resources for climbing gyms
• Strategy Outline for Covid-19 Risk Mitigation in Climbing Gyms, Vertical-life 
• ABC Coronavirus Updates and Weekly News [GBR]
• South Korean Climbing Gyms resources [KOR]

• The effect of climbing chalk powder on the infectivity of human coronavirus OC43 (GBR)

International Covid-19 news related to sports

• IAKS - International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities - Covid-19 news collection
• Climbing Business Journal - Climbing Gym Resources During COVID-19 Outbreak

Equipment cleaning

• United States Environmental Protection Agency - Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2
• Practical Guide - PPE disinfection - COVID19 [FR]

General guidelines

• World Health Organisation - Situation reports
• Robert Koch Institut - SARS-CoV-2 Fact Sheet for Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) [GER]
• Robert Koch Institut - RKI recommendations on hygiene measures in the context of the treatment and care of patients with an infection by SARS-CoV-2 [GER]
• Folkhälsomyndigheten - Information for sports associations and training centers on covid-19 [SWE]
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) [USA]

Transmission processes

• Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1 (van Doremalen N, Bushmaker T, Morris DH, Holbrook MG, Gamble A, Williamson BN, et al) [EN]
• How long do nosocomial pathogens persist on inanimate surfaces? A systematic review. (Axel Kramer, Ingeborg Schwebke and Günter Kampf) [EN]
• Can the new type of coronavirus be transmitted via food and objects? [EN]
• Blood transmission on holds: Regulations put in place in IFSC competitions should apply to other climbing areas. (IFSC Medical Commission Tasks & Activities > Controlling the Prevention System in Favour of Athlete Health > Blood on the Field of Play)

Physical and mental health

• New research shows exercise could help people survive Covid-19 [EN]
• Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak [EN]
• Physical exercise as therapy to fight against the mental and physical consequences of COVID-19 quarantine: Special focus in older people (David Jiménez-Pavón, Ana Carbonell-Baeza, and Carl J. Lavie) [EN]
• Exercise in the time of COVID-19 (Kieran Fallon) [EN]
• Using psychoneuroimmunity against COVID-19 (Sung-Wan Kim, Kuan-Pin Su) [EN]