One of the first records of the connection between climbing and disabled people is a report featured in a specialty magazine over 20 years ago, written by a mountain climbing guide and which described an experimental event to introduce climbing to disabled people.
However, even before then, hearing-impaired people had been enjoying rock climbing, using specialized signs to communicate with each other. There is also a record of a climber who lost a leg while exploring new routes due to disease, and yet continued climbing. In this way, climbing has been enjoyed by disabled people for a long time.
In recent years, thanks to the spread of climbing gyms, more and more people, including autistic children and mentally-disabled people, are now able to enjoy this sport.
Furthermore, taking advantage of the institutionalization of NPOs, various organizations have begun public welfare activities drawing on this sport. These initiatives have all helped disabled people to continuously enjoy free climbing.
In this way, free climbing has gradually spread among disabled people. We feel that this sport is especially suited for visually-impaired people, and it is our sincere hope that this sport will spread in the same way as other sports for disabled people, representing an opportunity for disabled people to demonstrate their potential.
In Japan, the first competition in which visually-impaired people participated was the Challenge Cup in Nagasaki. In this competition, held now for four consecutive years, visually-impaired climbers climb the same route as sighted people, though the time and methods of analyzing the wall are different. Other competitions include the national championships for the visually-impaired, which has taken place alongside the national championships for two consecutive years since 2008, and the Kobaton Cup held in Kazo City (the site of the world championships).
Experimenting with different rules, the climbing community has strived to create a style which allows visually-impaired people to tackle the wall actively, rather than climbing by passively receiving orders.
Internationally, the first world championships was held in Ekaterinburg, Russia, in July 2006. It was revolutionary in that the tournament was for all disabled people, and it saw climbers from various countries, including Russia, Eastern European countries, Italy, and Japan join. The paraclimbing tournament has continuously been held since, the 2010 tournament being the third year.
The biggest difference of this year’s tournament is that visually-impaired people judged to be the best-suited participated. The judgements were made considering the results of the past 4 years of tournament experience in Japan.
The tournament in Russia and the expanding climbing community. The spread of climbing as an inclusive sport in Europe. The role of climbing as a rehabilitation method in the United States. The initiatives taken at facilities for the disabled in South America.
While we have dots of information of such encouraging activities, the dots have yet to be connected, and the activities have yet to truly expand.
Let us connect.
Through this tournament, we wish to promote the spread of climbing as a sport for visually-impaired people; and to expand the network of visually-impaired climbers around the world. As such, it is our sincere hope that the next tournament will be held, perhaps two years from now, in a country outside of Asia.