Judging
As the sport of Sport climbing has progressed over the years, so has the requirements to have effective and consistent judging. These days judges are required to attend training (boulder & lead) & refreshers.
Judging can be a lot of fun, Auckland Sport Climbing is encouraging people (climbers and non climbers) with an interest in giving back to the sport, or learning more about the rules, to learn how to judge.
We have a mentoring programme operating through the Auckland College Climbing Series, judges have progressed from there to judging / co-judging at Climbing New Zealand National events. In addition there are opportunities to judge/ co-judge at local climbing gym competitions.
Ultimately the rules are governed by the IFSC, and the IFSC update the rules each year – so the rules and material on this site are up to date as at Jan 2024 – but the full IFSC rules are available on the IFSC site.
New Zealand uses an online, electronic scoring tool called Piki – this tool is a fantastic tool and managed / enforces the IFSC rules on scoring and count backs, making the judges lives much easier during New Zealand based competitions – but Piki is not used internationally. In 2024 New Zealand has started using the international platform ClimbAlong
Judge Training material
Auckland Sport Climbing Club runs a separate Lead & Boulder Judge training course annually, generally round March-May. We have been lucky enough to have IFSC & Olympic Judge Nelson Lam move to New Zealand and he has carried on the running of these courses, from Nick and Ian who did so for many years.
Thanks to John & Chris we now have a recording of the beginners course, that can be viewed at any time. Please email us for access. Please see below tips for bouldering & top rope judging as well.
The course is not just for judges – climbers competing at a National level & parents wanting to understand the rules can gain a lot of useful knowledge from it. There is definitely no obligation to commit to judging after the courses.
For those that can’t make the courses in person we have recordings of the course, and additional online resources available. Please email judgetrainingaccs@gmail.com or info@aucklandclimbing.co.nz with any enquiries.
See below for our tip sheets.
Route Maps – How to number holds