The Youth Climbing Series is an ideal competition for intermediate and experienced youth climbers, open to categories Youth E to Youth A; held across the regions Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

The Series consists of four rounds per region; 2 boulder rounds and 2 route rounds. The series will culminate in a two-day Grand Final, hosted in the UK, where the top three in each category from each region are invited to take part. Youth E are not eligible to attend the Grand Final.

Please note: 

As the Rules and Regulations for the YCS are changing we invite you to join the BMC Webinar on 14th August where the changes will be explained. This Webinar has now ended. Slides from the Webinar can be found here.

Dates and venues

Entry

• Entry is only accepted online.
• Entry for all rounds will open approx. six weeks before Round 1.
• Entries close at 8:00pm, on the Thursday before the week leading up to the competition. (See above for dates)
• Late entries will not be accepted.
• No entries are accepted on the day of the competition.

Entry Fees

Categories

The Youth Climbing Series is open to climbers in the following categories:

Rules

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wBoiEgjeSFKhcZxWj0rzLw

• The rules and regulations for the Youth Climbing Series are available via the following link: YCS 2024 Rules
• When entering the competition, all competitors must take note of the Anti-Doping information which can be found at:  https://www.mountaineering.ie/content/AntiDoping/180

Competitors can enter any regional round of their choice of the Nation they are resident in, but they must remain in the same region for the entire Series if they wish for their scores to count.

Parental/Guardian, Spectators & Coaches:
All competitors must be accompanied by one parent/guardian at each round. An additional parent/guardian, spectator or coach can attend if they are fulfilling a volunteer role.

Volunteers

Volunteers are pivotal to the running of the Youth Climbing Series. Please volunteer if you can. The more volunteers there are, the smoother the events can run.

• Volunteer requirements here (boulder)
• Volunteer requirements here (roped)

Parents of competitors can confirm their intention to volunteer on the on-line entry form. Anyone else wishing to volunteer please email ycs@mountaineering.ie stating which rounds and roles you are able to do. Roles will be allocated on the day.

Format - Bouldering rounds

• Round 1 and Round 3 are bouldering rounds.
• Each competition category will have eight boulder problems to attempt.
• Competitors can make up to five attempts per boulder problem.
• Competitors can attempt boulder problems in any order they choose.

Format - Route rounds

• Round 2 and Round 4 are route climbing rounds.
• Each competition category will have four routes to attempt.
• Competitors can make one attempt per route.
• Competitors in Youth E and Youth D will top-rope, competitors in Youth C, Youth B and Youth A will lead climb.

Schedule - Bouldering rounds 

All categories have two hours to complete eight boulder problems.

Please note: To spread out the competitor numbers over the day, the schedule has changed since Round 1 for D Boys and E Girls. Below is the updated version for Round 3 .

Schedule - Route rounds

All categories will register at the same time, and each category will have four routes to climb. A start list will be used to schedule the climbing time of each climber per category. The starting order for the routes are the same as the first route, but staggered according to the number of routes remaining.

The start list for 2024 YCS Round 4 Awesome Dublin can be found here

Category A - C, Lead Climbing

Category D - E, Top-roping

Note: - The competition schedule is subject to change up until, and on the day of the competition.

Qualification for Grand-Final

At the end of the last round, each competitor's Series score shall be the aggregate of their three best ranking results in the Series. The top three competitors in each category at the end of the Series who have competed in at least three rounds will qualify to enter the Grand Final. Youth E are not eligible to attend the Grand Final.

The Grand-Final will be held in the UK, and will take place on the 23rd & 24th November. Please see the BMC website for further details.

Results - YCS 2024

Click here for provisional results and here for overall rankings.