Speed climbing

Speed climbing is a special kind of climbing where the goal is to go as fast as possible. People do speed climbing on rocks, walls, and even poles, but it is only for climbers who are very skilled and have a lot of experience.

The most common way people compete in speed climbing is on an artificial wall that is made just for this sport. This wall is built in a special way so that everyone has the same challenge. But speed climbing can also happen outside in nature. For example, some climbers try to go up very big walls, like El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, in the shortest time ever. These big wall climbs are famous and exciting for climbers around the world.

Competition speed climbing

Competition speed climbing as governed by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (World Climbing) takes place on 15-metre (49 ft) artificial walls. Competitors climb a 5-degree overhanging IFSC-certified wall, with an auto-belaying system from the top of the wall.

Since 2007 the IFSC has created a standard wall for the world record. The standard has a simple rule and it involves climbers competing on the same route, side by side, and whoever reaches the top first wins. The holds and order are always identical, and the difficulty rating is around F6b (approximately YDS 5.10c), which is a level most recreational climbers could complete. The IFSC also sanctions speed climbing competitions and those events that entail world record attempts. Speed climbing was one of the three climbing modalities included in the combined format at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, along with lead and bouldering. Beginning at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, speed climbing has been its own standalone competition, separate from the lead and bouldering combined event.

Time is determined by mechanical-electric timing (the competitor leaves the starting pad and strikes a switch at the top of the route). When mechanical-electric timing is used, the climbing time is displayed with an accuracy of one-hundredth of a second. In the rules modifications in 2018, the possibility to use manual timing was removed, and the mechanical-electric timing should record with a precision of 1/1000 second. This precision is only used for ranking in case of a tie. Further, the timing system needs to announce a false start, which is considered a start with less than 0.1 seconds of reaction time after the starting beep.

The defending men's and women's speed climbing world champions are Matteo Zurloni of Italy and Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi of Indonesia, respectively; they won their respective speed events at the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Bern, Switzerland. Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia and Natalia Kalucka of Poland were the overall men's and women's winners for the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Cup speed series.

Since Qixin Zhong of China ran the 15-meter standardized wall in 6.26 seconds in 2011, the world record has been broken 20 times. The record has been broken thirteen times since 2021, most recently 4.58 seconds by Zhao Yicheng of China in April 2026 at the Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China. That represents a drop of 26.8 percent since 2011.

Similarly, the women's speed climbing record has been broken 20 times since 2013, nine times since 2021, dropping from 7.85 seconds to the 6.06 seconds set by Aleksandra Mirosław of Poland in August 2024, a 22.8-percent reduction.

Non-competition speed climbing

Most records for non-competition speed climbing don't follow strict rules. Climber Hans Florine once said that making rules for climbing can seem silly.

Still, climbers have set fast times on famous routes. For example, Dan Osman climbed Lover's Leap using the Bear's Reach route in just over four minutes. Some of the best-known records include:

Notable non-competition records

California

The Nose, El Capitan

• 1 hour 58 minutes: Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell in June 2018.
• 2 hours 10 minutes: Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell in May 2018.
• 2 hours 19 minutes: Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds in October 2017.
• 2 hours 45 minutes: Alexander and Thomas Huber in 2007.
• 4 hours 43 minutes: Mayan Smith-Gobat and Libby Sauter in October 2014 (an all-female team).
• 12 hours 15 minutes: Heidi Wertz and Wera Shulte-Pelcum in 2004 (an all-female team).
• 11 hours 41 minutes: Hans Florine climbing alone in July 2005.
• 11 hours 0 minutes: Tommy Caldwell in 2005.
• 12 hours 0 minutes: Thierry Renault and Pascall Etienne in 1979.
• 23 hours 46 minutes: Lynn Hill in 1994.

Regular Northwest Route, Half Dome

• 1 hour 53 minutes: Jim Herson and Hans Florine in 1999.
• 5 hours 25 minutes: Heidi Wertz and Wera Shulte-Pelcum in 2004 (an all-female team).
• 3 hours 58 minutes: Hans Florine climbing alone in 1999.

Snake Dike, Half Dome

• 3 hours 0 minutes: Dean Potter in 1998.

Joshua Tree National Park

• 280 routes in one day: Michael Reardon climbing alone in 2004.

Colorado

Bastille Crack

• 5 minutes 33 seconds: Mic Fairchild climbing alone in 1998.

Third Flatiron

• 36 minutes 27 seconds: Bill Briggs climbing alone in 1989.

Nevada

Epinephrine

• 39 seconds: Alex Honnold in 2018.
• 1 hour 15 minutes: Jash Stwart climbing alone in 2002.

Cat In The Hat

• 2 minutes 35 seconds: David Laxton climbing alone in 2013.

New York

The Gunks

• 50 routes in 13½ hours: Peter Darmi climbing alone in 2004.
• 46 routes in 13½ hours: Eric Weigeshoff and Peter Darmi in 2004. This was 3,400 feet of climbing and coming back down.
• 51 routes in 13½ hours: Eric Weigeshoff and Peter Darmi in 2006. This was also 3,400 feet of climbing and coming back down.

Wyoming

Grand Traverse

• 6 hours 40 minutes: Rolando Garibotti climbing alone in 2000.