Climbing Competition Technical Incidents and Protests

When a technical incident occurs during an indoor rock climbing competition, the climber and his coach have the right to protest or appeal. This is the right of thecompetition climber. There are processes set up to handle unforeseen situation that causes an unfair disadvantage to a competition rock climber or climbing team. A protest may applyto a judge's decision, procedures or processes that may have caused an unfair advantage ordisadvantage to other competition climbers. A protest may be filed by a coach or climber,while a technical incident is usually limited to being filed by the competition climber.

Each indoor climbing competition may define its own rules for handling a technicalincident. The specific rules may vary from event to event, so it is important to get therules each time.

There are several possible causes for technical incidents during an indoor climbingcompetition. The belayer may not pay out rope as fast as you are climbing. This mayrestrict dynamic movement or in extreme cases, prevent you from physically reaching thehold. A carabiner may get twisted on the quickdraw, or a carabiner gate may be sticky orstuck. Equipment provided for the competition should be properly set up and in workingcondition. All competitors should have the same conditions. Sometimes a climbing hold willspin, break or move. Holds must be secure against the wall. If a hold moves it could causea fall. Even if it does not cause a fall, you may protest at the point of the hold. Apower outage or irregular lighting (including spotlights or camera flashes) which othercompetitors were not subjected to may be considered a valid reason for a protest. Inaddition to situations that apply to your climbing, you may also file protests about theranking results, a judge's or staff's decision. Causes for technical incidents aresituation specific. If you feel you have had some aspect applied to you unfairly, file aprotest. Filing a protest is your right as a competitor.

At international events there will be a fee to file a protest. The fee is rightlyintended to limit frivolous protests. Protests are filed through the competition climbingteam manager or coach. The team manager will also attend pre-competition meetings and mustbe versed in the rules for the competition. The manager represents the interests of histeam to the event organizers and judges..

At national or local events the climber will usually address his protest directly tothe person responsible - usually either the judge or event organizer.

When a technical incident occurs, a protest should be filed immediately. The fact thateveryone saw it does not guarantee any action will take place. It is the climber'sresponsibility to file the incident. If you are climbing when the incident takes place anddecide to climb on, you will most likely lose your claim. If the incident does not makeyou fall, you should turn and communicate directly to the route judge that you intend toclaim a technical incident. If the incident has caused you to fall, immediatelycommunicate your intention to the route judge while you are being lowered, then on theground re-state your intention. The judge will: 1) accept your claim; 2) investigate yourclaim, then accept or reject; 3) reject your claim.

If your claim is accepted: You will immediately go to a holding area and be given areasonable amount of time to rest. You should be given an opportunity to recover from yourclimb. You need some time for your muscles to recover, but you don't want to cool down.

If your claim is rejected and you are not satisfied with the explanation, immediatelyverbally state your intention to appeal. Your appeal to the chief judge may need to be inwriting. This will depend on the level of competition. Generally national andinternational competitions will require an appeal to the chief judge to be in writing.Look up rules and state the specific paragraph that may be applicable.

If all appeals have been exhausted, you should write to your country's governing bodyfor competition climbing. You may be able to get the problem fixed for the nextcompetition. Be specific in your complaint. Cite the specific controlling paragraph in therules. Write and mail your appeal as soon as possible. The longer you wait the moredifficult it will be to resolve.

Your right as a competitor to protest can be exercised for technical incidents orimproper application of the rules. It keeps the playing field fair. No onewill think less of a climber for exercising his right of protest. This is a powerful wayto improve comps and see that the sport continues to grow.

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