Climbing New Zealand is excited to see NZ Paraclimber Rachel Māia competing in all three 2022 Paraclimbing World Cups.   

It is nearly three years since Rachel last competed internationally.  She was unable to secure MIQ to participate in the 2021 season but has continued training full time and now looks forward to spending two months overseas aiming for the podium.  

The World Cup dates are as follows:
Salt Lake City (USA)  24-25 May
Innsbruck (AUT) 21-23 June
Villars (SUI) 8-9 July

In the 2019 and 2018 World Championships Rachel placed 4th.  This year she competes with a prosthetic for the first time, and double the years of climbing experience.  We hope to see her in the finals again this year, these will be live streamed and links will be posted on Social Media when relevant. 

Rachel will be following IFSC guidelines by avoiding gatherings and isolating where possible for the 2 weeks prior to her departure on May 18, so we will not see her at New Zealand Nationals but wish her all the best.  

We are currently accepting registrations for the La Sportiva National Lead and Para-climbing Championships, Extreme Edge Panmure, 14th and 15th of May 2022.

Saturday: Youth D, Youth C, Opens, Para-climbing : Qualifiers and Finals

Sunday: Youth B, Youth A, Juniors, Masters: Qualifiers and Finals
We will publish a more detailed programme once the setters have confirmed the route plan and it will be subject to change based on entries.
Start time on both days will be Gym opening at 7.30am and Climbing starting at 8.30am. Finish time on the Sunday will be 4pm.

Opens and Para climbers understand that their Qualifiers may start as early as 8.30am on the Saturday when they are planning travel arrangements. 

Youth B will compete in Sunday as they did last year.

REGISTER HERE

Supported by:

Climbing New Zealand is pleased to announce the selection of 4 athletes to compete at the FISU World University Climbing Championships to be held in Innsbruck, Austria from the 14th to the 17th of June 2022. This will be the first time New Zealand has been represented at this event in many years and we hope to see this as a regular opportunity for University age athletes in the future with the event held every two years.

Thanks for the support from UTSNZ and FISU for making this event possible.

Link to event details: https://www.fisu.net/sport-events/sport-climbing/sport-climbing

Congratulations to the selected athletes:

Alexander Kiechle-Cornish, University of Auckland
Tayla Manning, University of Auckland
Tom Waldin, University of Canterbury
Phoebe Kenderdine, University of Otago

Short bios from each athlete are listed below.

Alexander Kiechle-Cornish

Alex is in his final semester at the University of Auckland studying a conjoint degree in Statistics, Finance & Economics. He has been competing in CNZ competitions for over 5 years and is looking forward to competing internationally for NZ.

Tayla Manning

My name is Tayla Manning and I’m a sport climber from New Plymouth, Taranaki. I’m
nineteen and currently in my second year of studying at the University of Auckland towards
a Bachelor of Health Sciences/Bachelor of Science Conjoint degree. I’ve been competitively
climbing since I was about fourteen and have been passionate and loving the sport ever
since. In this time, I have won around nine national titles across all three disciplines of lead,
speed, and bouldering. I have represented New Zealand at Oceania Climbing Champs,
Australian National Climbing Champs, and at the IFSC World Youth Championships in Arco,
Italy. Climbing is such a big passion of mine and so I’m super stoked to have another
opportunity to represent New Zealand at the 2022 FISU World University Championship for
Sport Climbing.

Tom Waldin

Tom has recently graduated from the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) and begun a job as a civil engineer. He has been climbing for close to nine years and has competed in a variety of competitions overseas, including Youth World Championships, Open World Cup events, and Open World Championships. Tom is the current and three time New Zealand Open Bouldering Champion.

Phoebe Kenderdine

I’m 19 years old and I’m studying a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences at Otago University, majoring in Anthropology and Ecology. I have been climbing for around 4 years, and competing for 3. Before then I did a range of very random sports, including karate, circus, and dance. I had the privilege of attending the IFSC Youth World Championships in Arco in 2019, alongside Tayla Manning. Climbing is a huge part of my life and I’m passionate about getting more people into climbing in New Zealand.

Following the La Sportiva National Speed Championships on the 5th of February the following athletes have been selected into the Climbing New Zealand Development Squads for 2022.

Open Female: Sarah Tetzlaff
Open Male: Julian David, Flynn Chisholm, Antony Death
Juniors Female: Abby Gebert (exceptional circumstances)
Youth A Female: Meredith Butcher (conditional)
Youth A Male: Julian David, Antony Death, Flynn Chisholm, Ned Johnston
Youth B Female: Mischa Boorman

Congratulations to those selected.

Richard Waldin
For Climbing New Zealand Selection Committee.

According to the CNZ Selection Policy an athlete wishing to be considered for New Zealand Team selection in 2022, but unable to compete, can apply to be considered for discretionary selection under exceptional circumstances.

The selection policy sets out examples for reasons where exceptional circumstances will be considered. 

In all cases athletes wishing to be considered for selection under exceptional circumstances still need to apply to CNZ to be included in the selection process.

You need to make your application to Selection@climbing.nz as soon as possible with a cut off date of Thursday the 10th of February 2022.

Please ensure that your application asks for Discretionary selection under exceptional circumstances and provides the following information:

Athlete Name:

Athlete DOB:

Event – e.g Speed Championships:

Reason for seeking discretionary selection under exceptional circumstances:

Send all related information on recent and previous performances, all current or recent climbing activities, any injury, illness and recovery information, climbing goals and anything related that may assist the selectors.

Note: Attendance and performance at prior recent CNZ National Championship events will be expected.

How does selection work when dealing with exceptional circumstances cases with Speed events?

Athletes are likely to require proof of performance (e.g. demonstrate ability to meet the qualifying times) prior to being selected to compete in Speed as part of a New Zealand Team.

Kind Regards

Richard Waldin
President, Climbing New Zealand

What is your personal best time? Are you chasing a New Zealand Record on the Speed wall?

Register today for this event. It is open to all climbers, whether you have attempted Speed before or not.

The event is on the 5th of February, at Blake Park, Mount Maunganui.

This event will crown our National Speed Champions for 2021/2022. Climbers wishing to compete in Speed at international events in 2022 need to be competing to be eligible for selection.

Refer to the registration page here for event details and to complete your registration.

NOTE: COVID-19 Requirements. All athletes, officials and spectators over the age of 12 at this event must have and show their vaccine pass.

REGISTER HERE

Supported by:

Initial Selections (posted and notified 9.30am, 21/12/2021)

Finalised and Notified 8th January 2022.

Following the CNZ Open Bouldering Championships, the following athletes have been selected into the Open Development Squad for 2022.

There were no changes to the selections on appeal.

Selected Athletes

Open Female	Erica Gatland
Open Female	Amanda Speed
Open Female	Cirrus Tan
Open Female	Phoebe Kenderdine
Open Female	Sarah Tetzlaff	Discretionary
Open Female	Rochelle Andrews	Discretionary
Open Female	Abby Gebert	Discretionary
Open Female	Tayla Manning	Discretionary
Open Female	Miriam Bright	Discretionary
Open Female	Lucy Sinclair	Discretionary
Open Male	Tom Waldin
Open Male	Enzo Murray
Open Male	Jake Townshend
Open Male	Henry Booker
Open Male	Oskar Wolff	Discretionary
Open Male	George Sanders	Discretionary
Open Male	Alexander Kiechle-Cornish	Discretionary

Reminder of the criteria for selections:

Automatic selection of the top 25% of the eligible athletes invited to be a member of the 2021/22 NZ Open Development Squad. Discretionary selections can also be made, refer to the policy for details.

Climbing New Zealand selection processes are documented in our selection policy page on our website, please refer to this in the first instance if you have questions. The actual policy document is on our web page here.

Richard Waldin
President
Climbing New Zealand

According to the CNZ Selection Policy an athlete wishing to be considered for New Zealand Team selection in 2022, but unable to compete, can apply to be considered for discretionary selection under exceptional circumstances.

The selection policy sets out examples for reasons where exceptional circumstances will be considered. The inability to attend an event due to Covid-19 restrictions has been accepted as exceptional circumstances by Climbing New Zealand. 

In all cases athletes wishing to be considered for selection under exceptional circumstances still need to apply to CNZ to be included in the selection process.

You need to make your application to Selection@climbing.nz as soon as possible with a cut off date of Sunday the 12th of December 2021.

Please ensure that your application asks for Discretionary selection under exceptional circumstances being Covid alert level and boundary restrictions (or any other relevant circumstance).  

Please state:

Athlete Name

Athlete DOB

Event – e.g Open Bouldering

Send all related information on recent and previous performances, all current or recent climbing activities, any injury, illness and recovery information, climbing goals and anything related that may assist the selectors.

Note: Attendance and performance at prior recent CNZ National Championship events will be expected.

How does selection work when dealing with exceptional circumstances cases?

According to the selection policy there are a range of approaches that the selectors can take to rank athletes who missed a selection event alongside others. The aim is to ensure the process is as fair as possible for all athletes.

According to the selection policy:

Appendix 2

Effect of exemption

If the CNZ Committee has granted an application for Exceptional Circumstances, the Selection Committee may adjust the points to be awarded to the athlete using one or more of the following:

• If the athlete has missed a National Championship, award the athlete points equal to:

o Their placing at the previous National Championships they competed in, in the same gender, Age Category and Discipline, or

o The points they were awarded at the Selection Camp in that discipline, or

o The average of the points awarded to other athletes under Appendix 1 in respect of the National Championship in the same gender, Age Category and Discipline

Richard Waldin
President
Climbing New Zealand

Are you a speed climber? Do you have ambition to try, train and improve in your speed climbing? We are looking for speed climbers who are interested in dedicating their training towards speed climbing at the Paris 2024 Olympics Express your interest and find out more by emailing speed@climbing.nz

Updated to finalise Squad on 20/11/2021

Following the recent La Sportiva National Youth and Masters Bouldering Championships in Queenstown, we are pleased to offer athletes places in the Climbing New Zealand Youth Development Squad.

Selection into the Youth Development Squad provides athletes with the opportunity to seek further selection into a New Zealand Team in 2022. With current Covid-19 uncertainties further development squad activities are uncertain at this time.

Development Squad List

Junior Male	Henry Booker
Junior Male	Oliver Shanks	Discretionary
Junior Female	Kiri Shibahara
Junior Female	Abby Gebert
Junior Female	Phoebe Kenderdine	Discretionary
Youth A Male	Oskar Wolf
Youth A Male	Antony Death
Youth A Male	Fin Newton-Howes
Youth A Male	Nat Warburton
Youth A Male	Julian David
Youth A Female	Lucy Sinclair
Youth A Female	Willow Cook
Youth A Female	Azaria Briscoe
Youth A Female	Bella Domaneschi	Discretionary
Youth A Female	Isabella Shanks	Discretionary
Youth A Female	Meredith Butcher	Discretionary
Youth A Female	Rebecca Hounsell	Discretionary
Youth B Male	Spencer Menzies
Youth B Male	Wilfred Browne
Youth B Male	Keiran Death
Youth B Male	Tama Huston-Jefferies
Youth B Female	Jasmine Arnold-Clark
Youth B Female	Mischa Boorman
Youth B Female	Sophia Cook
Youth B Female	Florence Smith	Discretionary
Youth B Female	Grace Hansen	Discretionary
Youth B Female	Dixie Whiting	Discretionary
Youth C Male	Jamie Birchler
Youth C Male	Cooper Robinson
Youth C Male	Cooper Gibson
Youth C Male	Fletcher McGrath
Youth C Male	Alex Mitchell
Youth C Male	Conrad Bolger
Youth C Female	Katie Chinn
Youth C Female	Alisa Schenk
Youth C Female	Fia Warburton	Discretionary
Youth C Female	Xanthe Saunders	Discretionary
Youth D Male	Tobin Priestley
Youth D Male	Tristian Jayasuriya	Discretionary
Youth D Female	Anna Evans
Youth D Female	Charlotte Chinn

Reminder of the criteria for selections:
Automatic selection of the top 40% of the eligible athletes invited to be a member of the 2021/22 NZ Youth Development Squad. Discretionary selections can also be made, refer to the policy for details.

Climbing New Zealand selection processes are documented in our selection policy page on our website, please refer to this in the first instance if you have questions. The actual policy document is on our web page here.

Note on changes from the original Squad published: Sabrina and Riley Butler are not eligible for New Zealand selection and were both removed from the list. Fia Warburton and Xanthe Saunders were added to the squad as discretionary selections on appeal.

Congratulations to all those athletes selected.

Richard Waldin
President
Climbing New Zealand