The Youth Climbing Series is an ideal competition for intermediate and experienced youth climbers, open to categories U11 to U19; 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. U11 are not eligible to attend the Grand Final.
Dates and venues
| Round | Round 1 Bouldering | Round 2 Routes | Round 3 Bouldering | Round 4 Routes |
Competition Date | Saturday
06/09/2025 | Saturday 20/09/2025 | Saturday
04/10/2025 | Saturday
18/10/2025 |
Venue | Boulder World, Belfast | Awesome Walls, Cork | The Dublin Climbing Centre | Awesome Walls, Dublin |
| Entry Opens for all Rounds on the same date | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC |
| Entry Closes | Thursday
28/08/2025
8:00pm | Thursday
11/09/2025
8:00pm | Thursday
25/09/2025
8:00pm | Thursday
09/10/2025
8:00pm |
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| Click to enter | Enter Round 1 | Enter Round 2 | Enter Round 3 | Enter Round 4 |
Entry
- Entry is only accepted online.
- Entry for all rounds will open approx. one month 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
| Entry | Member of Mountaineering Ireland | €30.00 |
| Non-member of Mountaineering Ireland | €40.00 |
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Join Mountaineering Ireland and save money on entry fees! Individual youth membership is available for €25.Click here for more information: New Member Registration
Categories
The Youth Climbing Series is open to climbers in the following categories:
| Competition category for 2025 | Year of birth |
| U19 | Born - 2007 / 2008 |
| U17 | Born - 2009 / 2010 |
| U15 | Born - 2011 / 2012 |
| U13 - Top-rope | Born - 2013 / 2014 |
| U11 - Top-rope | Born - 2015 / 2016 |
Rules
- The rules and regulations for the Youth Climbing Series are available via the following link: YCS 2025 Rules
- There is one significant change from the 2024 Rules. The exclusion referred to in 1.2.9 now applies to GB teams only. This means that members of the Irish Youth Team may compete in the 2025 YCS.
- 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 must compete in the nation and region in which they are resident.
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 [email protected] 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 U11 and U13 will top-rope, competitors in U15, U17 and U19 A will lead climb.
Schedule - Bouldering rounds
All categories have two hours to complete eight boulder problems.
| CAT. | Registration Opens | Briefing | Climbing Starts | Climbing Finishes | Results Cut-Off | Provisional Results Published | Appeals Close |
| U11 male + U15 male | 09:00 | 09:45 | 10:00 | 12:00 | 12:15 | 12:30 | 13:00 |
| U13 male + U15 female | 11:00 | 11:45 | 12:00 | 14:00 | 14:15 | 14:30 | 15:00 |
| U11 female + U17 male | 13:00 | 13:45 | 14:00 | 16:00 | 16:15 | 16:30 | 17:00 |
| U13 female + U17 female | 15:00 | 15:45 | 16:00 | 18:00 | 18:15 | 18:30 | 19:00 |
| U19 male + U19 female | 17:00 | 17:45 | 18:00 | 20:00 | 20:15 | 20:30 | 21:00 |
Note: The competition schedule is subject to change up until, and on the day of the competition.
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 2025 YCS Round 2 Awesome Cork can be found here
The start list for 2025 YCS Round 4 Awesome Dublin can be found here
Category U19 - U15, Lead Climbing
Category U13 - U11, Top-roping
| CAT. | Registration Opens | Briefing | Climbing Starts | Climbing Finishes | Results Cut-Off | Provisional Results Published | Appeals Close | |
All | 10:00 | 10:45 | 11:00 | 15:40(tbc) | 15:55 (tbc) | 16:50 (tbc) | 17:20(tbc) |
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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. U11 are not eligible to attend the Grand Final.
The Grand-Final will be held in the UK, date tbc. Please see the BMC website for further details.
Results - YCS 2024
Click here for provisional results and here for overall rankings.
