SPORT CLIMBING

Introduction

In additional to providing Adventurous Training (AT) opportunities across all mountaineering and climbing disciplines, the Army Mountaineering Association (AMA) is also the governing body, on behalf of Army Sport, for competitive Sport Climbing across the three Olympic disciplines of route-climbing, bouldering, and speed-climbing. 

Sport Climbing is currently recognised as a Category 2 Sport under JSP 660 and is eligible for public funding, within criteria, for equipment, travel, grants for coaching courses and CILOR.  Participation in Sport Climbing must be formally authorised by individual Chains of Command to enable personnel to compete.  Ice-climbing/dry-tooling is not currently recognised and not supported.

Army Climbing maintains close links to, and follows the competitive rules of, our National Governing Body (NGB), the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) and International Governing Body (IGB), the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC).

Fixtures

Fixtures run on an annual cycle from Autumn-Winter (Bouldering), Spring (Route-Climbing) and Summer (Combined disciplines and Inter-Services).  The current fixture list can be found on the Army Sport website here, and in detail on the AMA Defence Connect site here.

Representative Climbing 

The Army Team which competes at any specific Inter-Service fixture is drawn from a pool of individuals who form the Army Development Squad.  If you are interested in being scouted for the Army Development Squad your best option is to attend any of the open competitive fixtures (Armed Forces Bouldering League, Army Bouldering Championships, Army (North & Midlands) Climbing Competition, Army (South & LONDIST) Climbing Competition, Army (Scotland & NI) Climbing Compeition, Army Sport Climbing Championships) in the ‘Elite’ category and astound us with your performance!

If you are currently climbing on-sight at or above 7a/V6 (or U25s/females at 6b/V5) you are encouraged to contact the Sport Climbing Operations Manager directly.  The best of the Army Team are frequently selected to represent the UK Armed Forces (UKAF) Team at National and International level against civilian and professional athletes.

At Corps level most cap-badges have either already established or are in the process of building their Teams and Squads to compete in the 1st Inter-Corps Climbing Championships in Spring 2024.  A list of Corps leads is below and you should contact them directly; if your Corps currently has no representative please contact the Vice-Chair (Sport) for guidance if you are willing to take this on.  Each Corps has its own access to fixtures, equipment, funding and support through its respective Corps Sports Board.

At Unit level if you don’t already have a Team why not take the lead and form one?  Contact your Unit Sports Committee or QMSI.  Many of the fixtures delivered by the AMA also include a team competition with 5 Bn REME being the current (2023) Army Champion Team.

All fixtures are open to individual entrants and novices (including Reservists and UOTC personnel) unless specified otherwise. If you have never climbed competitively before we would recommend attending the Armed Forces Bouldering League (AFBL) fixtures for bouldering and either the Army (North & Midlands), Army (South & LONDIST) and Army (Scotland & NI) competitions for route climbing as your introduction to the competitive environment.  There are coffee, cake and friendly faces at every fixture!

Funding and Sponsorship

Army Climbing is funded primarily from non-public grants from Army Sport (through the Army Sports Lottery) and the Army Mountaineering Association.  This offsets some of the cost of delivering the programme of fixtures throughout each season and is supplemented by individual entry fees at each competition (which may be reclaimable from Unit Sports Funds or the Enhanced Commanding Officers Public Fund (ECOPF)).  All competitive climbers are strongly encouraged to support the Army Sports Lottery and join the Army Mountaineering Association and support the organisations that in turn support you.

Army Climbing currently has no formal sponsorship agreements outside those of the wider AMA.  Any organisation wishing to support Army Climbing through sponsorship (either financial or benefits in kind) are welcomely encouraged to contact the Sponsorship Representative to explore options which may be open to you.

Army Sport Climbing Committee

The following table lists the current Army Sport Climbing Committee which oversees all competitive Army Climbing, all positions are voluntary and individuals provide their time, skills and experience alongside their primary employment.  If you have skills, experience and time and would like to volunteer to support Army Climbing we are keen to hear from you.

Vacancies

The following positions are currently vacant:

Physio/Doctor.  Ideally the volunteer will have a keen interest in climbing though there is no requirement to be a competitive climber.  More important is the clinical background and availability to support competitive climbers to avoid and recover from common climbing injuries and to provide advice and support to the Army Team Coach.

Dietitian.  Ideally the volunteer will have a keen interest in climbing though there is no requirement to be a competitive climber.  More important is the academic background required to support competitive athletes to improve and maintain their diet for competition and avoid Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S).

Corps Climbing Contacts: