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Vertical Step Marathon is a private competition aimed mainly for climbers in the 16+ age category, according to its own rules, established by the organizers and made public on the event website. We accept the participation of juniors with a minimum age of 12 in order to gain experience. A separate category will be created for them.
CATEGORIES
- Rookie women / Rookie men – amateur climbers of basic level, who generally climb up to grade 6c (lead climbing routes, after work), having a minimum age of 16 years.
- Open women / Open men – intermediate and advanced climbers, who frequently climb above grade 6c (climbing routes, at work), with a minimum age of 16 years. Participants between the ages of 12 and 15 who consider they have the appropriate level, can register and participate in the OPEN category and will abide by the rules of this category – with the mention that only competitors who have 16 years old can enter the Finals.
- Juniors – participants between 12 and 15 years old, who want to participate in the competition with the aim of gaining experience on the same routes and in the same time slot intended for the ROOKIE category. Participants in this category must be 12 years old at the time of the event, and less than 16 years old.
CLAIMS
- Participants who in one of the previous editions of the Vertical Step Marathon occupied one of the first 3 places in the Rookie category, have the right to register and participate in this category, they will be able to see the accumulated points, but without scoring in the contest ranking. They can opt to participate in the OPEN and will score in the ranking of this category with full rights.
- FRAE-licensed athletes who participate in National Cups and Championships, from the official FRAE circuit, cannot register and participate in the ROOKIE category. This rule also applies to athletes from outside Romania, participants in the national competitive circuit from their country of origin. Depending on their level and age, they can participate in one of the JUNIOR or OPEN categories.
- Participants aged between 12 and 15 years, who believe they have the appropriate level, can register and participate in the OPEN category and will be circumscribed by the rules of this category – with the mention that only the competitors who are 16 years old can access the Final of the OPEN category.
- The JUNIOR category will have its own ranking only if there are at least 5 juniors per category – girls/boys. Juniors cannot participate in two categories – Juniors and Open and cannot enter the ROOKIE classification.
Registration in any of these categories is a personal choice, but the organizers reserve the right to reject the registration of participants in a specific category if it is evident that the conditions outlined in the previous paragraphs are not adhered to.
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS – 140
To organize a quality event and for each of you to have a memorable experience, the maximum number of participants is limited to 140.
SERIES
Participants from all categories will be divided into 2 mixed series – women and men. Each series will be allocated a maximum number of 35 places. To avoid overcrowding in the slot allocated to a particular series, we reserve the right to moderate entries so that there is a balanced distribution of participants across all series.
- Series 1 Rookie/Juniors & Series 1 Open – these categories perform simultaneously. Juniors constitute a distinct category but will compete simultaneously on the same routes designated for the Rookie category. Series 1 is scheduled for the initial time slot in the morning on both competition days.
- Series 2 Rookie/Juniors & Series 2 Open – these categories perform simultaneously. Juniors constitute a distinct category but will compete simultaneously on the same routes designated for the Rookie category. Series 2 will have the second time slot allocated during the afternoon on both days of the competition.
- Rookie and Juniors will compete in lead climbing on day 1 and bouldering on day 2. Open will compete in bouldering on day 1 and lead climbing on day 2.
IMPORTANT!! The chosen series cannot be changed after registration. There is a limited possibility to make changes after the online registration closes, within the limits of available places and in the order of requests received.
CERTIFICATE OF PARTICIPATION FOR MINORS
For minors, participation in the event is possible only on the basis of the Certificate of Participation. Download the Certificate
PARTICIPATION FEES (payment by card or bank transfer)
PAYMENT OF THE PARTICIPATION FEE IS MANDATORY FOR VALIDATION OF REGISTRATION
Participants are not obliged to score in the ranking nor to participate in both disciplines – bouldering & lead climbing, but this does not exempt them from the obligation to register and pay the participation fee (same for everyone).
The registration fee is not returned in case of non-participation!
COMPETITION DISCIPLINES – lead climbing & bouldering
For each separate category, the bouldering and lead climbing tests will take place on different days, and the participants will be divided into two series. For OPEN, the bouldering will be held on day 1 and the lead climbing on day 2. For ROOKIE the bouldering will be held on day 2 and the lead climbing on day 1.
ROUTES EVIDENCE
Each participant will receive a card with the list of routes of his category, which includes both bouldering and lead routes. Cards will have different colors for each category. This card will be used during both contest days. Cards will be delivered at the end of the first day of the competition to the organizers and will be given back to the competitors the next day. Non delivery of the cards after the first day results in the competitor’s exclusion from the rankings. Cards will be delivered and picked up personally by the participants at the contest organizers’ secretariat, with approval based on their signature. Organizers do not assume responsibility for their loss if the participant’s signature does not exist.
QUALIFICATIONS
Bouldering
● For each category (OPEN/ROOKIE) there will be different routes, mentioned on the different color cards that each category has.
● For the bouldering qualification, we will install cameras that will record the whole event. Each participant is required to write on the card the hour and the minute for every route that he/she has completed. For any contestation, the video records will be used as evidence. If we don’t find the registration at the hour and minute mentioned on the card, that route will not be validated as sent.
● For each category, there will be 20 routes with levels varying from easy to very difficult.
● Each participant will receive a list of routes according to the category to which he/she belongs.
● Routes will have different scores as follows: 1 – 10 points, 2 – 20 points, 3 – 30 points…….20 – 200 points.
- The difficulty of the route increases according to its number, with Tr.1 being the easiest, and Tr.20 being the hardest.
- For the routes climbed as a flash, there are bonus points (the score of the route plus ½ of this score, eg. for route number 5 completed flash, the competitor will receive 50 points + 25 points = 75 pts.) If the route has not been done flash, the number of attempts doesn’t matter.
- The routes will be differentiated by the color of their holds. The initial mandatory holds (only hand-holds) will be marked, and the last hold of the route will be the “Top hold”.
- If there are any restrictions for some routes, these will be presented in the previewing section.
- Qualifications will take part in an “after-work” manner and the number of tries doesn’t matter.
Lead climbing
▪ For Open Females and Open Males, a total of 11 climbing routes will be set up, some of these will be common to both categories.
▪ For Rookie Females and Rookie Males, a total of 14 routes will be set up, the same for both categories
▪ Qualifications will take place in an “after-work” way.
▪ All climbing routes should be climbed on lead.
▪ It is mandatory to clip all the quickdraws on the route. The organizers have the right to stop a participant’s ascension if he did not clip one or more quickdraws on a route.
▪ Routes will have different scores as follows:
Open: tr 1 – 100 pcte; tr 2 – 110 pcte; tr 3 – 120 pcte; tr 4 – 130 pcte; tr 5 – 140 pcte; tr 6 – 150 pct; tr 7 – 160 pcte; tr 8 – 170 pcte; tr 9 – 180 pcte; tr 10 – 190 pcte; tr 11 – 200 pcte.
Rookie: tr 1 – 70 pcte; tr 2 – 80 pcte; tr 3 – 90 pcte; tr 4 – 100 pcte; tr 5 – 110 pcte; tr 6 – 120 pct; tr 7 – 130 pcte; tr 8 – 140 pcte; tr 9 – 150 pcte; tr 10 – 160 pcte; tr 11 – 170 pcte; tr 12 – 180 pcte; tr 13 – 190 pcte; tr 14 – 200 pcte.
The difficulty of the route increases according to its number, with Tr.1 being the easiest, and Tr.20 being the hardest.
▪ For the routes climbed as a flash, there are bonus points (the score of the route plus ½ of this score, eg. for route number 5 completed flash on open, the competitor will receive 140 points + 70 points = 140 pts.) If the route has not been done flash, the number of attempts doesn’t matter.
▪ For the bonus, it is imperative to have the name of the belayer clearly written on the card and his/her signature. In case of dispute, the belayer will be called as a witness. If the belayer’s signature doesn’t exist, the route will not be validated.
▪ Participants must bring their own rope! The event organizers do not provide belayers and ropes for the lead climbing qualifications, except for the Final.
COMPETITION FINALS
Entering the Finals
The finals are organized only for OPEN MEN and OPEN WOMEN categories. Qualification to the finals is based on the total points collected from bouldering and lead climbing. The first 6 ranked competitors for each discipline will enter the finals. In case of a tie for 6th place, all those ranked in this place enter the final.
Bouldering
▪ The Final will proceed in an “onsight” manner.
▪ Female and male competitors will compete in parallel.
▪ The number of competitors qualifying for the final is 6 females and 6 males. In case of a tie for the 6th place, all those ranked in this position will qualify for the final.
▪ There will be 3 routes for each of these categories.
▪ Finalists will have a 2-minutes previewing time for each route. After this, the first competitor will start with the route immediately.
▪ Competitors will have 3 minutes to solve each route. If a competitor solves one of the routes in less than 3 minutes, the next competitor will start climbing only if the athlete who is competing in parallel has finished his try as well. After all the competitors have finished the first route, the entire group moves to the second route.
▪ Each of the 3 routes will provide 25 points when completed. Each route will have two zones, scored with 3 and 6 points respectively (Zone 1 – 3 pts, Zone 2 – 6 pts). For each unsuccessful attempt, 0.1pct is deducted, both for the top attempts and for the zone attempts.
Lead Climbing
▪ Routes on the Finals will be climbed in an “on-sight” manner.
▪ The number of competitors qualifying for the final is 6 females and 6 males. In case of a tie for the 6th place, all those ranked in this position will qualify for the final.
▪ It will be 1 route for each category.
▪ Finalists will have 6 minutes previewing for the final route. After this, the first competitor will start climbing the first route immediately.
▪ There is no time limit for climbing the route.
▪ We will consider the last grabbed hold in a controlled way.
▪ The final route will have scoring zones similar to the Olympic Games regulations.
▪ We will consider that a route has been completed or Topped if the top hold is grabbed in a controlled way and the last quickdraw has been clipped.
▪ It is compulsory to clip all the quickdraws, otherwise the climber will be stopped and disqualified.
▪ If one or more climbers have the same result in the final they will be ranked accordingly to the results from qualifications. In case of a tie in this situation as well, the place will be awarded to all of them.
▪ Females and males will compete in turns in an alternating way (Male – Female – Male – and so on)
PENALTIES
▪ In the Qualification of the sport climbing section, the ascent is not validated in the following situations:
a. missing to clip a quickdraw.
b. using holds from another route (another color).
c. using elements from the climbing wall structure (bolts, quickdraws, panel edge).
d. not grabbing the Top hold in a controlled manner (grabbing the Top hold in a controlled way with only one hand is valid).
▪ In the Finals of the Lead climbing sections, penalties are applied in the following situations:
a. Using holds from another route (will score the last valid hold used from the final route).
b. Using elements from the climbing wall structure – bolts, quickdraws, panel edge (will score the last hold used from the route before the forbidden element).
c. Not grabbing the Top hold in a controlled manner (grabbing the Top hold in a controlled way with only one hand is valid).
▪ In the Qualification of the bouldering section, the ascent is not validated in the following situations:
a. Using holds from another route (another color).
b. Using elements from the climbing wall structure (panel edge),
c. Not grabbing the Top hold in a controlled manner (grabbing the Top hold in a controlled way with only one hand is valid).
DISQUALIFICATIONS (applicable to the related section)
▪ Missing a clip in the final route – if the competitor has their feet placed on a hold that is above the bolt of the unclipped quickdraw.
▪ The violation of the isolation area restrictions in the sport climbing/bouldering Finals.
▪ In case of disqualification in the finals, the competitor is not eliminated from the competition but is awarded the score of the last place in the final for that section.
▪ Violent behavior or vulgar language in the competition.
▪ Competing drunk or drug-induced, as well as the consumption of these substances during the contest.
RANKINGS
▪ The rank order will be based on the scores obtained by each competitor both for bouldering and lead climbing. (by summing up the points from the bouldering and lead climbing routes they completed).
▪ Scoring in the final: Block points + Escalation points are accumulated, according to the IFSC Combined Regulations
▪ In case of a tie after the Finals, for a tiebreaker the results of the Qualifications will be taken into account. In case of a tie in this situation as well, the place will be awarded to the participants involved.
APPEALS
▪ Appeals can only be submitted by participating athletes or by their coaches. In the case of underage participants, appeals can be submitted only by their coaches.
▪ Appeals can only be submitted within a maximum of 30 minutes after displaying the ranking of one section or the final ranking.
▪ Time for solving appeals: 50 minutes after the appeal time expires.
▪ Appeals must be submitted in writing to the secretariat of the contest based on signatures.
▪ The appeal form is standard and may be requested from the secretariat of the contest.
WARNING
Engaging in sport climbing and bouldering entails inherent risks that may result in various injuries, severe bodily harm, or death. Lack of knowledge, non-compliance, or disregard for safety rules and techniques specific to this sport can lead to accidents with particularly serious consequences for individuals involved. Participants in the Vertical Step Marathon who are 18 years or older assume these risks voluntarily throughout the event and bear full responsibility for any accidents and their consequences, whether caused by them or not.
For minors, participation is permitted only with the written consent of parents or legal guardians and under their supervision or that of a coach/instructor authorized by them. The entire responsibility for the safety of minors during the Vertical Step Marathon lies with the parent/legal guardian or accompanying coach/instructor.
Participants have the freedom to choose their partner in the lead climbing section (the one securing the climber). Both the climber and the belayer bear sole responsibility for any incidents that may occur.
During the competition, climbing grips may rotate (due to the force applied) or break (due to manufacturing defects). The organizers are not liable for such incidents and their consequences (injury, harm, or death of those involved). All climbing equipment, materials, or holds used in the Vertical Spirit climbing room, including the Vertical Step Marathon, are procured from certified manufacturers and utilized in accordance with prevailing safety rules and regulations.
