The seminar, held in Salt Lake City, included essential briefings on the season ahead and knowledge sharing through dynamic interactions and discussions and is the only annual event of its kind.

Taking place over two days, 20 and 21 February, 39 officials attended made up of Event Delegates, Assistant Event Delegates, Judges, Routesetters and Para Routesetters, as well as World Climbing staff and guest speaker Derek Parra.

Parra, an Olympic gold and silver medallist from the Olympic Games Salt Lake City 2002, delivered a reflection through an Olympic journey, highlighting lessons on passion, adaptability, resilience, and growth.

The seminar delivered essential updates and a strategic outlook for the 2026-2028 period, including event calendar, format updates, and insights on preparation towards LA28. The programme also combined plenary briefings, group-specific workshops and practical exercises in gym environments to strengthen collective competency.

More details were given, and discussions took place on officials’ evaluation systems, development pathways, gender, diversity, belayer’s education, routesetting safety protocols, safeguarding and various policies and procedures with the aim of ensuring all officials entering the season are aligned and informed to help build a consistent global standard across all World Climbing events.

Next year’s seminar will return to Europe in February 2026 and be held in Torino, the home of the World Climbing headquarters, as the continents rotate hosting to help facilitate the travel demands of the officials worldwide and promote collaboration with the hosting National Federation.