Climbing World Championship Arco: all the favourites qualify for the Semifinal Lead.

The Lead discipline got off to a great start here at the World Championship in Arco. The sun shone, the occasional cloud came and went, and the first female round was marked by an unusual difficulty and intensity. Seeing four athletes compete at the same time was spectacular. Also because the routes in the Climbing Stadium were by no means easy. Those who climbed them best - and qualified with full marks - were a mere 4: the Austrian favourites Johanna Ernst and Angela Eiter, Jain Kim from Korea and 17-year-old Magdalena Röck, the big surprise (Austrian once again) during this debut day. Italian Jenny Lavarda climbed well too and comfortably qualified to the next round.

The Semifinal was also reached by Christine Schranz, Maja Vidmar, Sasha DiGiulian, Nalija Gros, Yuka Kobayashi, Barbara Bacher, Katherine Choong, Hélène Janicot, Rebekka Stotz, Julia Serrière, Yana Chereshneva, Caroline Ciavaldini, Katharina Posch, Alexandra Eyer, Charlotte Durif, Seuran Han, Olga Shalagina, Mina Markovic, Dinara Fakhritdinova, Marine Thévenet and Tereza Svobodova.

Before the Semifinal and Final on Friday, tomorrow kicks off with men's Lead Qualification. All the world's best - apart from Patxi Usobiaga who is here in Arco but injured - will be at the starting blocks. These include the likes of Ramon Julian Puigblanque, Adam Ondra and the winner of the first Lead World Cup stage, Jakob Schubert…

After the competition the celebrations continue with an evening presented by Kay Rush dedicated to the first 25 Rock Master years, with exceptional guests such as Luisa Iovane, Lynn Hill, Yuji Hirayama and François Legrand. And this will be followed by another classic event: the Arco Rock Legends with its Salewa Rock Award and the La Sportiva Competition Award.

Read the full Female Qualification Lead report, check out the gallery and watch the videos produced by the Planetmountain teams on the official World Championship website www.arco2011.it