Climbing as a winter sport does seem strange. I am also curious as to how the US came up with Emily Harrington and Vadim Vinokur. Anybody know?

Climbing to be Represented at the Olympics

The 2006 Winter Olympics are to be held in Turin, Italy from February 10th through February 26th. For the first time in history, climbing has been asked to be a part of the Olympics as a representative sport. The International Olympic Committee granted the UIAA – Climbing Council (formerly known as the ICC) permission to run competitive climbing events in conjunction with the snowboarding events that are being held in the neighboring town of Bardonecchia.

At the Management Meeting for the UIAA – Climbing Council in December in Paris, it was decided that each member country would be slotted a number of invitations for climbers, totaling 35 competitors. The US was slotted 2 invitations and Emily Harrington and Vadim Vinokur will be traveling to Italy on the 10th of February to represent our country. Debbie Gawrych, the President of USA, will be traveling as US Representatives to convene with other officials in terms of working towards the long-term goal of climbing becoming an official sport of the Olympic Games.

The Climbing Challenges will be held throughout the course of the scheduled Olympic Games and will encompass traditional bouldering competitions amongst the invited climbing athletes as well as climbing challenges between climbers and snowboarders.

The primary goal of UIAA – Climbing for the inclusion of the climbing challenges in the Winter Olympics is to create awareness amongst other athletes, officials and most importantly, the International Olympic Committee.