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SBS 2026

“Movement, the HECK is SBS?” Glad you asked! SBS, or Southern Bouldering Series, is our bouldering competition series across multiple gyms over several months. We’ve reimagined this DFW favorite with a true progressive series format that builds excitement from one comp to the next. 

SBS season schedule:

  • February 7th @ Denton (Qualifier)  
  • March 7th @ The Hill (Qualifier)  
  • April 11th @ Fort Worth (Qualifier)  
  • May 23rd @ Carrollton (Grand Finale)  

how does it work? 

The 2026 SBS is designed to build momentum throughout the season:

Qualifiers: Denton, Dallas The Hill and Fort Worth competitions feature two 2-hour red point wave rounds where your performance for the day builds towards the series ranking. NEW Format: Each qualifier will feature an Open finals showdown! 

Grand Finale: Everything comes down to this! An invite only, pay-to-play red point round followed by finals round for the Advanced and Open categories 

Invitation to the grand finale will be for those who participate in at least 1 Qualifying rounds. 

register

Day-Of Schedules

For each qualifier, pick the time slot that works for you:

  • Wave 1: 2:15pm – 4:15pm (Check-in 1:30 pm) 
  • Wave 2: 4:45pm – 6:45pm (Check-in 4pm) 

During each 2-hour wave, you’ll:

  • Climb as many boulder problems as you want, as many times as you want (Your top 5 climbs will be counted towards your series ranking and for your standings for the day.)
  • Each problem has a point value.
  • Your top five boulders throughout the series count toward your total score at the end of the series – there are no flash bonuses and only 1 send per boulder,
  • We’re on the honor system, so no cheating!
  • Must be 13+ to compete

Cannot compete if participating in the JCCA competition the day of. Parents/Volunteers are able to participate in SBS after their JCCA shifts. 

New for 2026: Series Progression!

Your rankings accumulate throughout the series, building toward the finale at Carrollton. While there will be podiums at each qualifier, the overall series champions will be crowned at the Carrollton finale. Each competition gives ranking points based on where you place, not how hard the climbs are. At the end of the series, we count your best results. That way it doesn’t matter which gyms you attend or how hard each comp is—what matters is how you perform relative to everyone else. The scores for the Series will not affect the Carrollton Grand Finale! The Grand Finale will be a stand-alone show down with those who qualified in the other competitions.  

Don’t want to compete in all 3 qualifiers? No problem! You only need to compete in at least 1 qualifier to be eligible for the Grand Finale at Carrollton. If you rank well at one event, you could sit out the other and still have a chance to do well in the Series, however it will be really unlikely for you if you only compete at 1 of the 3 events. This year, the scoring system is based on ranking per competition rather than the sum of scores. Want to CRUSH the series!? Compete in all three events for the full SBS experience! 

Carrollton will be its own stand-alone event that will be an invite those who qualified through participating in 1 out of the 3 qualifying events! Battle through the sets of the comp for the day to see if you have what it takes to make it to finals and stand on the podium for the championship! 

There will be a separate podium for how you’re ranked through participating in the series! 

SERIES RANKING EXAMPLE – ALL CATEGORIES

  • Based on their scores at each event within their category, Person A gets 5th place at SBS Denton, 7th place at The Hill, and 3rd place at Fort Worth. They receive ranking points for their top two placements, giving them 192 pts.  
  • Person B gets 1st place in Denton, 3rd place in The Hill and then doesn’t compete in Fort Worth. Their ranking points equal 197. 
  • The overall ranking of person A, when taking their top two highest scores of 3rd place and 5th place, is 192 ranking points. Taking the top two highest scores of person B, 1st and 3rd place, gives them 197 points putting them in a higher rank than person A. 

Categories 

Competitors can compete in male, female, or non-binary categories at each skill level: 

  • Recreational: VB – V2 
  • Intermediate: V2 – V4 
  • Advanced: V5 – V7 
  • Open: V8+ 
  • Masters: Ages 40+ 

Choose the skill and gender category you’re most comfortable with. Your skill category should reflect the hardest grade you regularly redpoint in the gym. 

After-Party Vibes 

At each event after both qualifying waves have wrapped up, hang out, relax.

Celebrate together as we prepare for finals!

  • kaya scoring

    We’ll be using Kaya to score all SBS events this season! Make sure you have it downloaded beforehand so you can explore it for yourself before comp day. When you register for a challenge:

    • Go to the search bar on the “Home” page and scroll to the Challenges section.
    • Look up “SBS” and register for the corresponding event
    • On comp day, you’ll log your sends through each gym’s Kaya page and your scores will automatically calculate on the challenge.

  • where it all began

    Nearly 10 years ago, the SBS series began in the DFW area as an opportunity to climb together as a community, compete just for the fun of it (because let’s face it – deep down, we’re all a little competitive), and, of course, party! At the time, there were few gyms across the country providing comps like these for the recreational climbing community outside of the Elite competitive circuit (American Bouldering Series, Sport Climbing Series, etc.). However, that hasn’t stopped guest athletes like Janja Garnbret, Alex Puccio, Annie Sanders, Dillon Countryman, and more from joining in on the fun every now and again! Over the years, the series has grown and evolved as the climbing community continues to do the same.

    We’re proud of these roots, and we’re stoked to continue the legacy with SBS 2026. We can’t wait to see you there!