ready to kick it old school?

The vision of Old School Cool is to celebrate the setting styles of past decades while utilizing the resources of a modern climbing gym. For the climbers that shy away from modern moves like paddles, skate moves, and dynos, this competition is for you. To highlight the ‘old school’ style we will emphasize techniques that require body tension,
hard crimping, small moves, etc. and to keep it old school there will be no coordination moves and no fiberglass! Plus, all the throwback vibes you can handle: Uncrustables®, slap bracelets, Polaroids, and more goodies that’ll make you say ‘oh man, I remember these!’

Mark your calendar

• Saturday, September 19th, 2026

how does it work?

We’ve expanded our competition waves to better serve our climbing community! Choose the time slot that works best for you:

• Wave 1: Beginner and Intermediate Only Wave: Saturday, September 19th 10:00 AM-12:30 PM (Check-in 9:30 AM)
  
• Wave 2: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced & Open: Saturday, September 19th | 1:00 PM–3:30 PM (Check-in 12:30PM)
  
• Wave 3: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced & Open: Saturday, September 19th | 4:00 PM-6:30 PM (Check-in 3:30 PM)

Scroll for more info!

competition info

There are 2.5 hours in each wave for competitors to climb and log sends into KAYA. Here’s the rule breakdown:

• You’ll be able to climb as many boulder problems as you want as many times as you want.
• Each boulder problem will have a point value to it.
• Your top five boulder problems count as your total score. There will be no flash bonus.
• Honor system, so please no cheating!
• We will be using the KAYA app, so make sure you have it installed and set-up before the competition.
• You must be 13 years old or older to compete.

Your ticket provides you with drinks (non alcoholic and alcoholic / ID must be presented) before the Open Finals round. Finalists will be called at 7 PM, so all Open climbers must be present at that time to compete in finals. Spectating passes are available for purchase (include drinks + snacks)!

We will be taking day-of signups for all categories (with wave max capacity permitting). If you plan to compete in Open + want to be eligible for finals you MUST sign-up prior to September 19th.

category breakdown

Competitors can compete in the male, female, or non-binary category for each skill level. We welcome competitors to choose the skill and gender category they are most comfortable with. You will be competing against those in the same category/skill level as you. As a general rule, your skill category should be determined by the hardest grade you regularly redpoint in the gym.

• Beginner: VB – V2
• Intermediate: V3 – V5
• Advanced: V5 – V7
• Open: V8+

Finals Format

The top ten competitors in the Male and Female Open categories will advance to a knockout-format final. If there are not enough competitors in the Open category, the top competitors from the Advanced category will have the opportunity to fill any remaining finalist spots. Winners of the Advanced category following the qualifying round will not lose their placement in the Advanced category by participating in finals.

Finalists MUST be present in ISO by 7:00 PM to participate. Failure to report to ISO by this time will result in forfeiture of their spot. If you are close to making finals, you may be bumped up if a finalist is unable to participate or forfeits their spot. If you’re on the bubble, stick around—you may get the call!

Each Open final will consist of four boulders. All ten finalists will attempt the first boulder, after which the two climbers with the least successful results will be eliminated. Two additional climbers will be eliminated after the second boulder, followed by three more eliminations after the third boulder. The remaining three podium contestants will then battle it out on the final boulder.

Competitors will have three attempts or fewer per boulder and will be able to watch each other climb. There will NOT be a preview of the finals boulders before the final begins. Competitors may look at the finals climbs at their leisure during the qualifying rounds.

In the event of a scoring tie, we will use competitors’ results from previous boulders as a tiebreaker. Ties on the first boulder of finals will be broken using countbacks from the qualifying round.

raffle

Raffle will be held at the end of the day for all competitors.

anything else i need to know?

• Early bird pricing before August 31 – sign up early to save $$
• Spectator passes are required for access to the redpoint + finals rounds. Get your spectator tickets day-of competition. Competitors do not need to purchase spectator tickets.