On January 20, 2013, the two-day China Yishan National Ice Climbing Elite Competition came to a successful close amidst falling snowflakes. Over 50 elite ice climbers from across the country gathered at the Shandong Yishan Scenic Area to stage an extraordinary speed ice climbing competition. The event was jointly organized by the Mountaineering Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, the Chinese Mountaineering Association, and the Shandong Provincial Sports Bureau. The professional outdoor brand KAILAS, as the main sponsor of the competition, was also invited and represented at the event.
Grand Scene of the China Yishan National Ice Climbing Elite Competition
The two-day ice climbing competition featured both men’s and women’s speed climbing events, with preliminary rounds and finals. As a strategic supporting partner of the event, KAILAS not only provided professional ice climbing gear including specialized ice climbing apparel, lightweight Selma helmets, and Entheos technical ice axes, but also offered attractive prizes for the winners and showcased its high-altitude mountaineering products on-site. Notably, KAILAS employee Zhang Qingwei achieved an outstanding fourth-place finish among the competitors.
As is well known, ice climbing is an emerging and fashionable winter extreme sport derived from modern mountaineering. It combines challenge, competition, and spectator appeal, and is one of the essential skills that high-altitude exploration team members must master. The first national ice climbing competition was held in 1998 at Longqing Gorge in Beijing. Since then, there has been one international ice climbing competition and six national competitions successfully held. This elite competition is the highest-level event since the 5th National Ice Climbing Championships in 2007, showcasing the skill level of China’s top ice climbers and the current development of the sport.
As a professional climbing brand, KAILAS is committed to "promoting the development of China's grassroots mountaineering and exploration sports." Since 2003, it has supported public welfare projects including the “KAILAS China Unclimbed Peaks Project,” “KAILAS Outdoor Coach Development Program,” “KAILAS Climbing Team,” and “KAILAS Mountaineering and Exploration School,” cultivating a large pool of key reserve talents for China’s mountaineering and outdoor sports. As an extension and evolution of rock climbing, ice climbing has gained increasing popularity and participation among outdoor enthusiasts in recent years.
It is reported that in response to the rapid growth of ice climbing and to meet the demands of mountaineering and outdoor enthusiasts, the Chinese Mountaineering Association is considering whether to establish a national competition similar to the National Rock Climbing Series.
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