The history of World Cup competitions in Kranj

If we wanted to glance in the background of organizing the World Cup competitions in Slovenia, we would need to look back to the year 1988. On the natural walls above the village of Osp, was back then the first sport climbing competition in Slovenia. The further development has been very exponential; an important step toward the World Cup competition was made in 1990, when for the first time in Kranj an international Master competition took place. Back then we decided to bring to Kranj and Slovenia the best climbers from all over the world. We were successful and their attendance at the Master convinced the world that we are able to organize competitions at the highest level.

After a few Masters, our aim was clear: the World Cup competition. In a new sport hall on Zlato Polje in Kranj, a new artificial climbing wall was built, which made an organization of such a high-level event feasible. In the fall of 1996 the first World Cup competition with 152 participants from 24 countries took place. The competition was a complete success. We received accolade for superb organization from the ICC and participating countries. Such acknowledgement has continued ever since.

Today we can fairly claim that the competition in Kranj is among the best in the World Cup at large. Numerous commentaries in foreign and Slovene media confirm this.

We can safely say that it's become one of the classic stops of the World Cup circuit, rivaled only by two of the biggest Master events - Serre Chevalier and Arco. But despite its reputation, the climbing wall at the Zlato polje Sports Hall in Kranj has become outdated and the International Federation of Sport Climbing hasn't included Kranj in the 2022 World Cup calendar. But we can continue this success story of hosting sport climbing events of the highest caliber in Koper. In the spring of 2022, the Plus Climbing Koper climbing center built an outdoor wall that meets all the standards required for hosting a World Cup event. First competition has been held in September 2022 with great Slovenian success - Luka Potočar won for the first time in World Cup, Janja Garnbret climbed to 2nd place. Next year, in 2023 Janja Garnbret corrected the competition result with a win.

Previous winners:

  • 1996* - Laurence Guyon (FRA) and Arnaud Petit (FRA)
  • 1997* - Liv Sansoz (FRA) and Chris Sharma (ZDA)
  • 1998* - Liv Sansoz (FRA) and Yuji Hirayama (JPN)
  • 1999* - Liv Sansoz (FRA) and Eugeni Ovtchinnikov (RUS)
  • 2000* - Liv Sansoz (FRA) and Yuji Hirayama (JPN)
  • 2001* - Martina Čufar (SLO) and Tomas Mrazek (CZE)
  • 2002* - Muriel Sarkany (BEL) and Ramon Julian Puigblanque (ESP)
  • 2003* - Muriel Sarkany (BEL) and Ramon Julian Puigblanque (ESP)
  • 2004* - Angela Eiter (AUT) and Tomas Mrazek (CZE)
  • 2005* - Angela Eiter (AUT) and Flavio Crespi (ITA)
  • 2006* - Maja Vidmar (SLO) and David Lama (AUT)
  • 2007* - Maja Vidmar (SLO) and Cedric Lachat (SUI)
  • 2008* - Johanna Ernst (AUT) and Klemen Bečan (SLO)
  • 2009* - Mina Markovič (SLO) and Adam Ondra (CZE)
  • 2010* - Jain Kim (KOR) and Ramon Julian Puigblanque (ESP)
  • 2011* - Jain Kim (KOR) and Sean McColl (CAN)
  • 2012* - Mina Markovič (SLO) and Jakob Schubert (AUT)
  • 2013* - Momoka Oda (JPN) and Jakob Schubert (AUT)
  • 2014* - Mina Markovič (SLO) and Adam Ondra (CZE)
  • 2015* - Mina Markovič (SLO) and Adam Ondra (CZE)
  • 2016* - Anak Verhoeven (BEL) and Sebastian Halenke (GER)
  • 2017* - Janja Garnbret (SLO) and Jakob Schubert (AUT)
  • 2018* - Jain Kim (KOR) and Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA)
  • 2019* - Chaehyun Seo (KOR) and Adam Ondra (CZE)
  • 2021* - Janja Garnbret (SLO) and Masahiro Higuchi (JPN)
  • 2022 - Ai Mori (JPN) and Luka Potočar (SLO)
  • 2023 - Janja Garnbret (SLO) and Soraku Anraku (JPN)

* competition in Kranj


Climbing wall in Kranj

Planned construction of the new climbing wall in Koper

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