USA Climbing is the national governing body for competition climbing in the United States and is responsible for sanctioning the American Bouldering Series (ABS), the Sport Climbing Series (SCS) and the Collegiate Climbing Series (CCS).
For competition purposes, USA Climbing divides the U.S. into five divisions, with each division containing multiple regions. The Northern California/Northern Nevada region belongs to Division 1. The Northern California/Northern Nevada region includes northern California as far south as Fresno and northern Nevada, including Reno/Sparks. Division 1 also includes the Washington/Alaska region and Northwest region, which encompasses Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the western half of North Dakota and South Dakota. (You can view a USA Climbing region map here.)
Do I have to belong to a climbing gym or a team to compete?
No, local USA Climbing competitions are open to anyone who pays the registration fee. A number of climbing gyms in the Northern California/Northern Nevada region have teams that provide coaching and organized practice regimens and many of the team members participate in local competitions, but anyone can also register and participate as an "Independent" climber.
ABS 14 Competition Rules
- All competitors climb at the same time and are allowed to observe other climbers prior to their attempts. Competitors may also discuss the problems amongst each other.
- Place your scorecard FACE UP on the BOTTOM of the stack. When your card reaches the top of the stack, it is your turn to climb. To climb the route again, return your card to the bottom of the stack.
- Competitors must start the problem from the start holds (in other words, competitors may not work on a problem from the middle).
- Two hand start; two hand finish; control the finish.
- When signing cards, clearly PRINT your INITIALS and don’t sign a card if you didn’t see the climber finish the route (honor system).
ABS 14 Scoring Rules
- Competitors witness each other climb and when a competitor completes a problem, he/she has two witnesses initial his/her scorecard.
- Competitors choose which and how many of the problems they will attempt, and they get as many attempts as time permits.
- Scores are calculated based on each climber's top five problems.
- Ties are broken by number of attempts
