SBS is back for 2025!
“Movement, the HECK is SBS?” Glad you asked! SBS, or Southern Bouldering Series, is our bouldering competition series returning after a hiatus in 2024! We’ve reimagined this DFW favorite with a true progressive series format that builds excitement from one comp to the next.
SBS season schedule:
- April 12th @ Denton (Qualifier)
- May 10th @ Design District (Qualifier)
- June 7th @ Plano (Grand Finale)
how does it work?
The 2025 SBS is designed to build momentum throughout the season:
- Qualifiers: Denton and Design District comps feature two 3-hour redpoint wave rounds where your ranking matters for the finale. After party to follow at the end of the day!
- Grand Finale: Everything comes down to this! A redpoint round followed by an after party + finals round for the Advanced and Open categories
Keep scrolling for more info!
register for SBS
sign-ups are live for each event! members – bundle all 3 comps and save $!
Day-Of Schedules
For each qualifier, pick the time slot that works for you:
- Wave 1: 11am – 2pm (Check-in 10am)
- Wave 2: 3pm – 6pm (Check-in 2pm)
During each 3-hour wave, you’ll:
- Climb as many boulder problems as you want, as many times as you want
- 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
- We’re on the honor system, so no cheating!
- Must be 13+ to compete
New for 2025: Series Progression!
Your rankings accumulate throughout the series, building toward the finale at Plano. While there will be podiums at each qualifier, the overall series champions will be crowned at the Plano finale.
Scoring for the series will be determined based on your top 5 numbered climbs throughout the series. At each event, your top 5 climbs are scored – meaning that you can have up to 15 climbs that have potential to count for your score. Your series ranking will be determined on the sum of the points of your top 5 climbs. In theory, someone could sign up for the Plano finale and not the qualifiers, kill it, and rank well in the series. However, the more comps you climb at – the more opportunity there is to keep improving, or to get better scores. There are 36 climbs at each SBS event – each ranked in ascending order of difficulty.
Let’s look at an example (we promise it will help) – both example participants are in the Intermediate category:
- Person A logs boulders #10, 11, 13, 15, and 17 at SBS Denton, #7, 8, 10, 16, and 17 at Design District, and #12, 13, 14, 15, 16 at Plano. Person A’s series score is the sum of the points of boulders #17 (Denton), #17 (Design), #16 (Plano), #16 (Design), and #15 (from Denton & Plano, although only 1 of these counts as it is the 5th highest boulder ranking). After point values are added, this is 8100 points.
- Person B logs boulders #14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 at Plano but doesn’t compete in a qualifier. After point values are added, this is 8000 points.
- While it may look like Person B climbed harder than Person A based on their Plano scores, Person A ranks higher than Person B because they have a higher total. This is because Person A was able to count the same numbered boulders (#16 & 17) several times, where Person B was limited to what could contribute to the sum of their score.
It could be very unlikely for you to do well in your category if you only compete at 1 of the 3 events. Plus, where’s the fun in that? More comps = more fun, and we highly recommend competing in all three events for the full SBS experience!
For the Grand Finale, competitors qualify for the finals round at the end of the day based on their combined scores from the qualifiers at Denton/Design AND the Plano redpoint round. For example, someone who places 2nd at Denton and Design District but 6th in the Plano redpoint round could still make finals based on their average scores!
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+
- (NEW!) 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
Each qualifier comp wraps up with an after-party featuring beverages, raffles, snacks, games, music, and all-around good times!
At the Plano Finale, we’ll wrap up the day with an exciting finals rounds for the Advanced and Open categories, along with beverages, snacks, and a big raffle for anyone who competed in the series. Spectators welcome!
Registration
Sign-ups are live for all 3 events! To compete at the Plano finale, you must also register for at least 1 qualifier comp.
- Qualifier Comps (Denton and Design District): $35 each for members, $45 for non-members
- Plano Finale: $45 for members, $55 for non-members
- Season passes available for members! Sign up for all three events for $99
We’re incredibly excited to bring back SBS—a staple of the DFW climbing community—with this new series format! Can’t wait to see familiar faces and welcome new ones to this DFW classic!