Paraclimbing provides access for athletes with physical disabilities to compete in top rope climbing at the National and International level.
Categories included in Paraclimbing are open to those with physical disabilities:
USA Climbing Membership All competitors must create an account in the USA Climbing Member Portal and have an active Paraclimbing Membership to compete. Instructions for setting up a membership can be found at usaclimbing.org/memberships.
Classification The categories listed above, excluding Youth and Open, utilize the most current International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) classification rules. The IFSC Paraclimbing classification rules are hereby published as the USAC paraclimbing classification system, as set forth in Rule 1.4.4. The 2024 Paraclimbing classification rules are posted on the IFSC Resources page. Learn more about classification in the next section.
National Championships USA Climbing hosts a Paraclimbing National Championship each year which is an athlete’s avenue to get involved in our Paraclimbing Series. To participate at Paraclimbing Nationals, an athlete can go through classification in an effort to be classified into one of our official categories or if not wanting to compete in an official category or go through classification may sign up for one of the Open categories.
Paraclimbing National Championships will be a two round competition hosting a qualification round on day 1 and an onsight final round on day 2. The climbing will be executed on top rope.
IFSC World Cups and World Championships Invitations to the IFSC World Cups (yearly) and World Paraclimbing Championships (every two years), will be given based on the results of that year’s Paraclimbing National Championships.
If you have questions, please contact our Paraclimbing Series Manager, Madeleine Palmer, at madeleine@usaclimbing.org.
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USA Climbing will be holding the next Paraclimbing Nationals Championships in March 2025 and the dates and location will be announced soon. In preparation for the event, we would like to provide athletes with information related to in-person classifications ahead of Nationals so you may begin planning and submitting any necessary documentation to USA Climbing.
In order to compete in the classified categories, all competitors must be classified unless competing in a Visually Impaired category, Open category, Youth category, have a confirmed status or have a review date later than 2025. For past competitors, please review your Classification Status.
View Classification Status
At Classification Licensed health professionals trained as Classifiers will perform physical examinations to assess the competitor’s range of motion, strength, and function. They will then use that information to classify each athlete based on the most current IFSC Classification rules.
Classification dates are usually scheduled 2 days prior to the start of the Nationals.
Classification Medical Diagnostic Form and Supporting Documents To be classified into one of the official categories, a competitor must submit a new Medical Diagnostic Form (MDF) each year. For the 2025 National Championship, MDFs must completed and signed by a physician (Medical Doctor or Doctor of Osteopathy) after March 10, 2024:
MDFs cannot be signed by a physical therapist, occupational therapist, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner or optometrist.
Supporting documentation should explain the history and work-up for the underlying medical diagnosis associated with the impairment. Supporting documentation often does not need to be newly completed but can often consist of medical history, visit documentation, or testing that was used to make the original diagnosis.
Classification Document Submission To submit your Medical Diagnostic Form and supporting documents, follow these steps: 1. Log into your USA Climbing Member Portal 2. View your Profile 3. Click on the “Documents” tab on the left-hand side 4. Click “Add Document” 5. Select “Physical Medical Diagnostic Form” or “Visual Medical Diagnostic Form” 6. Upload your Medical Diagnostic Form
Document Review Classifiers will review documents for completeness. Athletes are notified if additional documents are necessary or if their documents are ready for in-person classification at Nationals.
We are accepting documents starting August 2024. Documents will be reviewed the month after they are received. We recommend getting your documents ready before Nationals registration opens.
Deadline for all classification documents submission is Friday, January 10, 2025. Documentation submitted after the deadline will not be reviewed prior to the competition and incomplete documentation may result in the inability to complete the classification process. Documents at Classification will no longer be accepted, unless approved by Classifiers ahead of time.
National Championship Registration When Nationals registration opens, you will select your classification date/time and select the sport class you have either competed in in the past or you think you fit in. During classification, you will be placed in the correct sport class. These appointments are on a first-come, first-serve basis and competitors should consider these prior to making your travel plans.
Starting this year, your classification slot is not confirmed until all submitted classifications documents are complete. Please familiarize yourself with the classification document submission above.
USA Climbing Membership All competitors must have an active USA Climbing Paraclimbing Membership to compete. Log into the USA Climbing Member Portal to check your membership status.
NB: Even though USA Climbing is a not considered a HIPPA covered entity, your medical documents will be kept secure and only reviewed by essential USA Climbing Staff and the Classifiers. Please email us at classification@usaclimbing.org for additional questions.
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