From June 29 to 30, 44 world-class rock climbing athletes from five countries and regions — the United States, Poland, Mexico, France, and China — will gather at the international rock climbing venue in Datong County, Xining City, Qinghai Province, to present an event that combines competition, fitness, and visual spectacle, dubbed a "cliff ballet" for outdoor sports enthusiasts. The 2013 China Datong · Qinghai Plateau International Rock Climbing Elite Competition will officially kick off then.
The event, themed "Extreme, Fashionable, Natural, and Shared," aims to promote the harmonious development between humans and nature. It is jointly organized by the Mountaineering Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, the Chinese Mountaineering Association, and the Qinghai Provincial Sports Bureau. According to the organizers, the rock climbing competition features four events: men’s and women’s difficulty and speed climbing. The 44 participants include 26 male and 18 female athletes.
"The competition has set up 500 new climbing holds, 30 volume holds, and two new speed routes. The difficulty level will be higher than that of the World Cup climbing competitions, making this a true professional event," said Liu Xinghai, director of the Qinghai Mountaineering Sports Management Center. Athletes from Mexico, France, and Poland are competing in Qinghai for the first time — all are either World Cup champions or have placed in the World Climbing Championships. This is also the largest international professional rock climbing competition ever held in Qinghai.
Yang Pei, deputy director of the Qinghai Provincial Sports Bureau, said that since 2006, Qinghai has successfully hosted six World Cup climbing competitions and one World Cup championship. According to UIAA regulations, a World Cup climbing event must be moved to a different location after being held in the same region for two or three times. Given Qinghai's contributions to the sport of rock climbing, the National Mountaineering Sports Management Center intends to continue holding climbing events in Qinghai. This international elite climbing competition will help promote the development of rock climbing in China.
The competition venue, Datong County in Qinghai Province, has a forest coverage rate of 38.1% and is an important water conservation base in the province. Known as the "China · Summer Capital Ecological Park," it has also been honored as one of "China's Top Ten Slow Travel Cities in 2012."