The upcoming season will feature 13 Climbing World Cup stops, three Para Climbing World Cups, and the return of the Youth World Championships to Arco, Italy.
The IFSC is pleased to announce the calendar of events for the Climbing and Para Climbing season 2026 – a year that will bring the sport to audiences across 11 countries in Asia, Europe, and Pan America, continuing the momentum built through record-breaking seasons in 2024 and 2025.
A FULL WORLD CUP SEASON AHEAD
As in previous years, the IFSC World Cup Series is expected to kick off in China in early May, with exact dates and locations to be confirmed in mid-November. China is also set to host a Speed doubleheader in September, with further details to be announced at a later stage.
During the summer months, the Series will move to Europe for a packed schedule of Boulder, Lead, and Speed competitions that will bring the circuit to Switzerland, Spain, Czechia, Austria, Poland, France, and Slovenia.
For the second consecutive season, the World Cup Series will make a stop in South America, with the final stage scheduled in Santiago, Chile, in late October.
The Para Climbing season will open in May with the traditional World Cup in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. The other two hosts of Para Climbing World Cups in 2025 – Innsbruck, Austria, and Laval, France – have also been confirmed on the 2026 calendar.
ALL THE ACTION
The provisional calendar of Climbing and Para Climbing events in 2026 is as follows:
| DATES | EVENT | LOCATION | DISCIPLINES |
| 15-16 May | Para Climbing World Cup | Salt Lake City (USA) | Lead |
| 22-24 May | Climbing World Cup | Bern (SUI) | Boulder |
| 28-31 May | Climbing World Cup | Madrid (ESP) | Boulder, Speed |
| 3-7 June | Climbing World Cup | Prague (CZE) | Boulder, Lead |
| 15-16 June | Para Climbing World Cup | Innsbruck (AUT) | Lead |
| 17-21 June | Climbing World Cup | Innsbruck (AUT) | Boulder, Lead |
| 3-5 July | Climbing World Cup | Krakow (POL) | Speed |
| 10-12 July | Climbing World Cup | Chamonix (FRA) | Lead, Speed |
| 18-25 July | Climbing Youth World Championships | Arco (ITA) | Boulder, Lead, Speed |
| 28-29 August | Para Climbing World Cup | Laval (FRA) | Lead |
| 4-5 September | Climbing World Cup | Koper (SLO) | Lead |
| 16-18 October | Climbing World Cup | Salt Lake City (USA) | Boulder |
| 23-25 October | Climbing World Cup | Santiago (CHI) | Lead, Speed |
After being successfully launched at The World Games Chengdu 2025 last August, the four-lane Speed format will debut on the Climbing World Cup circuit in Krakow, with even more events expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
A WELCOME RETURN
The IFSC Youth World Championships will make a much-anticipated return to Arco, Italy, where the event was previously held in 2015 and 2019. With a programme featuring competitions across three disciplines and two age categories, the event will take place in the newly renovated Arco Climbing Stadium.
CONSOLIDATED PRESENCE AT THE ASIAN GAMES
The season will also see Climbing featured in the programme of the 20th edition of the Asian Games, set to take place in the Nagoya, Japan, and the Aichi Prefecture from 19 September to 4 October, marking the third consecutive edition of the event to include the sport. The Climbing programme at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 will feature span over five days – 29 September to 3 October – featuring Boulder, Lead, and Speed competitions, and consolidating Climbing’s growing presence in major multi-sport events.
News and updates about all IFSC events will be available on the IFSC website and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Bilibili, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.
