The countdown has begun in earnest! This is the week of the IFSC World Youth Championships and in a few days time the small Italian city in the Alto Garda region will be literally invaded by thousands of young climbers from around the world, gunning for the World Champion titles of Lead, Speed ​​and – for the first time ever – Boulder. And it’ll be the newest discipline that inaugurates the World Championship on Friday morning with the qualifyers, followed by the the Opening ceremony and parade of athletes from 51 different nations.

Anyone who knows Arco – quite rightly rightly dubbed the Home of Climbing – knows that its track record of climbing competitions is second to none: 28 Rock Masters, 9 Arco Rock Legends, 1 World Championship in 2011 that broke all records and now, after having been awarded the games in Shanghai in 2013, the biggest climbing competition ever organized in Italy.

The organizers are currently adding the final touches to the event. In the Climbing Stadium the Lead routes have already been set and at this very minute the magic boulder problems are being invented for the three categories Under 16, Under-18 and Under-20.

The pre-competition days in Arco are fever-pitch, the enthusiasm is almost palpable and the invitation – open to all – is to go to Arco from 28 August to 6 September, to take part in an event that’ll bring to the forefront some great climbing and, above all, to witness the great joy for climbing, pure and beautiful, that young climbers have in their DNA.