More than 30 youngsters from across New Zealand will spend this weekend literally climbing the walls in Queenstown.
Frankton’s Basecamp Adventures climbing centre’s hosting the 2025/’26 Climbing NZ (CNZ) lead, top rope and boulder national champs for the first time on Saturday and Sunday, open to all under-13 to U15 climbers and, for the first time in boulder, U11s.
U15s will compete in lead climbing, with top rope for U13s and U11s.
There’ll be four qualifying climbs per athlete, and a time limit of six minutes per climb.
Instead of finals, aggregate scoring across the four climbs will determine the national champions.
In the boulder champs, open to all age groups, there’ll be session-based bouldering with seven to nine "boulder problems" per category, designed to reflect the style and challenge of the Australian Youth Nationals.
CNZ event coordinator Victoria O’Daniel says "the best of the best" young climbers will be in action this weekend — along with vying for national titles, they’ll also be hoping to qualify for other international competitions and potentially earn a spot on the CNZ development squad.
A confirmed timetable for this weekend’s competition is yet to be finalised, but it’s expected the champs will run from about 8am both days, with spectators welcome — "the more the merrier", O’Daniel says.
— TRACEY ROXBURGH
