Organized by the Chinese Mountaineering Association and sponsored by outdoor brand Osprey and technical gear brand Petzl, the 2012 Getu Rock Climbing Exchange Conference was successfully held from August 24 to 28 in Getu, Ziyun, Guizhou.
At the opening ceremony, over 100 high-level domestic and international climbers, including 10 national team members and forty foreign athletes from more than ten countries and regions such as the United States, Russia, France, Canada, and Italy, attended the event and participated in the climbing exchange activities. Zhang Jiangyuan, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Mountaineering Association, Ding Xianghua, Head of the Rock and Ice Department of the Chinese Mountaineering Association, and Ms. Liu Pingge, General Manager of Osprey, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. The local government of Ziyun County and the Anshun Sports Bureau in Guizhou presented a variety show featuring Guizhou’s cultural traditions to welcome the climbers from both China and abroad. The performances, showcasing local songs and dances, expressed warm hospitality toward the attendees. The audience on-site numbered in the hundreds. Meanwhile, Oliver Balma, head coach of the CMDI (China Mountain Development Institute) sponsored by Osprey, along with some instructors and selected students from various cohorts, also joined the event, adding further highlights and expert guidance.
First Batch of CMDI (China Mountain Development Institute) Graduates Gather in Getu
It is reported that this rock climbing exchange conference not only facilitated experience sharing among climbers from China and abroad to promote the development of climbing, but also served as a platform where advanced climbing guides trained by CMDI—sponsored by Osprey—continued to develop more classic routes in Getu for both domestic and international climbers. The goal is to establish Getu as a sacred site for Chinese climbing as well as a hub for introducing foreign “climbing wall culture.” Additionally, the 2012 champions from the four locations (Beijing, Shanghai, Zhenjiang, and Changzhou) of the annual Osprey-sponsored “North-South Showdown” climbing competition were invited to the event. Over the three-day climbing exchange, 10 members of the Chinese National Climbing Team, including Mazda, who recently won the men’s bouldering championship at the Changzhi National Climbing Championships, competed and exchanged skills with climbers of diverse styles from around the world.
2012 Osprey “North-South Showdown” Champions Gather at Getu RocTrip
Group Photo of the Chinese National Climbing Team
During the climbing exchange conference, multiple open climbing areas were made available for participants to enjoy free climbing. This not only helped enhance climbers’ enthusiasm and technical skills on the walls, but also provided a platform for exchanging ideas with fellow climbing enthusiasts from around the world. The event aimed to make climbing an outdoor activity accessible to everyone, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or gender.
Qiu Hongshu, Member of the Chinese National Climbing Team
The Getu International Rock Climbing Exchange Conference, generously supported by outdoor brand Osprey, has been elevated to an annual international climbing exchange event. It has been hailed by domestic and international climbers as the “International Climbing Sanctuary” and “National Climbing Park,” becoming a new global highlight for the sport. The primary focus of this event was on exchange—not just among climbers, but also between regions and cultures. By hosting this event, local unique resources and ethnic culture were fully utilized to establish the “Getu Wall Culture” as a renowned brand activity both in China and abroad, contributing to the development of climbing. At the same time, it enriched the cultural and sports life of local residents and made positive contributions to social stability and economic development in the region.
CMDI: China Mountain Development Institute. With many mountains in China and a large number of climbing enthusiasts, the country has long lacked its own professional Alpine-style mountaineering guides. To cultivate guides suited to China’s conditions and promote the development of mountaineering in China through modern climbing and guiding concepts, the Chinese Mountaineering Association, with the support of Osprey, established the China Mountain Development Institute (CMDI).
To achieve this goal, CMDI hired Olivier Balma, an international mountaineering guide with years of experience in climbing, guiding, and teaching, from France to serve as the head coach. CMDI students come from western Chinese provinces with major mountain ranges, including Qinghai, Xinjiang, Tibet, Sichuan, and Guizhou, and have received strong support from their respective provincial mountaineering associations. From September 2006 to September 2008, CMDI students underwent two years of rigorous training, traveling to Jilin, Qinghai, Guangxi, Xinjiang, Sichuan, and other locations for various training sessions. These included mountaineering, rock climbing, bouldering, ice climbing, ski mountaineering, load-bearing trekking, and rescue operations. For CMDI, these two years of training marked the beginning of applying Alpine-style climbing techniques—both as guides and climbers—and laid the foundation for Chinese mountaineers to achieve greater efficiency and safety in their climbs.