IFSC World Championship in Arco a 10 day climbing celebration

After months of intense preparations, yesterday finally the city of Arco handed over the beautiful new Climbing Stadium to the organisers and tomorrow, punctually at 12.00, the 11th IFSC Climbing World Championship will get underway. What lies in store are 10 intense days filled to the brim with sport climbing competitions, exciting events and intense moments to admire and celebrate climbing in all its forms

As with all great meetings this World Championship has numerous moments which will guarantee celebrations and spectacle. Two are worth mentioning. The first is the opening ceremony invented and directed by Carlo Casillo & Bruno De Tassis: dance, music and lights will represent climbing and the grand finale will be interpreted by two sport climbing greats, Lynn Hill and François Legrand. The second is the special evening hosted by Kay Rush on 21 July and includes legends such as Lynn Hill, Luisa Iovane, Yuji Hirayama and François Legrand as they take a step back in time and recount 25 Rock master years. This will then be capped by the 6th Arco Rock Legends and the La Sportiva Competition Award and Salewa Rock Award.

Boulder. On Firday 15 July the first to set foot in the magnificent new Climbing Stadium will be the strongest boulderers in the world. Then, on Saturday morning, it'll be the turn of their female counterparts. After this first qualification round the day ends with the spectacular opening ceremony which marks the official start of the 10 competition days. One thing can be certain: the 134 men and 74 women will certainly battle it out to the final elusive top. Those who stand an excellent chance of winning the world title include Austrian Kilian Fischhuber – this is the only comp missing from his immense list of victories - and Dmitry Sharafutdinov from Russia, currently placed second in the highly fought over Bouldering World Cup 2011. Guillaume Glairon Mondet from France has provided plenty of surprises this year and he could walk away with the biggest prize of all, as could Alexey Rubtsov from Russia; the defending world champion is currently on top form. And then one mustn't forget Adam Ondra who in his debut bouldering year returned to the Czech Republic with the World Cup firmly in his grasp. Ondra travels to Arco with great expectations: he will compete in the boulder event, as well as Lead and Speed. He is not the only athlete to attempt this impossible triple whammy Boulder + Lead + Speed and many others have chosen to take part in this vertical marathon. A man to look out for is Cedric Lachat: those who watched him compete here last year in the pre-World Championship event will remember his impressive “man of the match” performance and evidently the Swissman is capable of everything.
In the women's event it is highly likely that the the great duel between Anna Stöhr from Austria and Akiyo Noguchi from Japan will continue. It would be a mistake however to think that the battle for first place is down to only these two, and this year Jain Kim, the super Korean Lead climber, has decided to dabble in a bit of bouldering, too. Her results have been startling and she'll be joined by the extremely talented American Sasha DiGiulian who has just completed an unprecedented season. So watch out for these two therefore. But watch out for two team-mates, the two Alex, or rather Puccio and Johnson: their “stars and stripes” pride and talent could lift them very high indeed.

Paraclimbing. Arco will celebrate a new record on 18 and 19 July: the Italian town will celebrate the first ever Paraclimbing World Championship. Two days of climbing for the disabled which go to show how this sport welcomes everyone with open arms. And this translates not only into Paraclimbing Speed on Monday and Paraclimbing Lead on Tuesday, but also concrete actions such as the world's first crag bolted specifically for the disabled: Baone now boasts eight routes for the blind.

Lead. The Lead qualifiers and Semifinals take place from Wednesday 20 to Friday 22 July. 138 men and 78 women will fight their way up the legendary Climbing Stadium wall which has been completely revamped specifically for the World Championship. Wednesday and Thursday will certainly be the longest days of all, but essential for those who hope to inherit the tile from Austrian Johanna Ernst and Spaniard Patxi Usobiaga Lakunza (who due to injury won't take part but will nevertheless be in Arco to watch the event). Ramon Julian Puigblanque is tipped hot favourite and the 2007 World Champion isn't only one of the stongest athletes of all times, he has also won 5 Rock Master titles and is therefore unbeatable here at Arco. Adam Ondra will be nipping at his heels and he has stated clearly that his main goal for 2011 is wining this competition. But there are other terrible contenders, such as Austrian Jakob Schubert, Canadian Sean McColl and Norwegian Magnus Midtboe.
One of the biggest names in the women's event is Angela Eiter from Austria: with five Rock Master victories Arco is practically her second home. But you can bet that she'll have a tough time with the likes of Jain Kim who won the pre-event here in Arco last year. The French team is superbly strong with Charlotte Durif, Caroline Ciavaldini and Alizèe Dufraisse, while Slovenia is represented by the expert trio Mina Markovic, Natalija Gros & Maja Vidmar.

Speed. In many respects climbing's third discipline, Speed, is the one which requires the most specific training. Expectations are high for the nth sound barrier to the broken, for a new speed record. And there is also some degree of curiosity surrounding those Lead and Bouldering champions who will take part in this vertical spring in search of points for the Combined title... no doubt some will go in slow motion compared to the supersonic sprinters.

Italian hopes will be defended by Sara Avoscan, Marcello Bombardi, Elena Chiappa, Christian Core, Michela Facci, Stefano Ghisolfi, Leonardo Gontero, Martino Ischia, Alexandra Ladurner, Jenny Lavarda, Sara Morandi, Rudi Moroder, Gabriele Moroni, Lucas Preti, Silvio Reffo, Stefan Scarperi, Gianluca Sirotti, Michel Sirotti and Manuela Valsecchi.

Arco Rock Legends and 25 years Rock Master – Thrusday 21 July 21:00
Another great event is the 6th edition of the Arco Rock Legends. This coveted award, handed out by a jury comprised of 25 international magazines, is a head-to-head between three superb athletes for the La Sportiva Competition Award: Jain Kim from Korea, Adam Ondra from the Czech Republic and Ramón Julian Puigblanque from Spain. The choice is by no means easy... but if the indecision is great in this category, then the task is even more difficult in the Salewa Rock Award. The climbers in the running are Sasha DiGiulian from the States, young Frenchman Enzo Oddo (this is his second nomination), Italy's strongest Gabriele Moroni and two past winners, Adam Ondra and king Chris Sharma. All come to Arco with routes which have made climbing history and it comes as no surprise that the Arco Rock Legends Award is a part of the evening dedicated to 25 Rock Master years. This quarter a century of cutting-edge competitions will be recounted by 4 exceptional climbing legends: Luisa Iovane from Italy, Yuji Hirayama from Japan, Francois Legrand from France and Lynn Hill from the USA. Four of the biggest names in rock climbing who, here at the Climbing Stadium in Arco, experienced some of their most important moments in their vertical career.

Much more could be said about the special new Team Speed and the Lead Duel on Sunday 24 July which rounds off the World Championship. But we don't want to give too much away right now. We'll tell you more as it unfolds, minute by minute... and if you can, do join us at the Climbing Stadium and take part in this world-class event.

- Check out the program of the IFSC Climbing World Championship 2011 on www.arco2011.it