2024-25 Collegiate Competitor Guide

Updated March 24, 2025

The USA Climbing Collegiate Series provides access for undergraduate or graduate students that are currently enrolled at a college or university to compete in Bouldering, Lead and Speed climbing.

1. SEASON OVERVIEW

For competitors planning to request funds from their clubs or universities, below is a table of estimated fees for the 2024-25 season. Travel, equipment, gym memberships are not included.

*average of 2023-24 registration fees: $30-$75

New for 2024-25

• Intermediate and Advanced category descriptions
• USA Climbing Participant Accident Coverage Policy
• Refund deadline for Qualification Events is Friday prior to the registration deadline. Please review the USA Climbing Registration Policy for details.

2. USA CLIMBING MEMBERSHIPS: COLLEGIATE AND COLLEGIATE RECREATION

All competitors must create an account in the USA Climbing Member Portal and have an active USA Climbing Membership to compete. Instructions for setting up or renewing a membership can be found at usaclimbing.org/memberships.

Participating at Events Outside of your Division

Collegiate competitors can participate at events outside of their selected Collegiate Division.

Proof of Enrollment

USA Climbing will begin to accept and approve Proof of Enrollment submissions beginning on September 1, 2024.  This must be uploaded when purchasing a Collegiate or Collegiate Recreational Membership.

Your Proof of Enrollment is submitted in your USA Climbing Member Portal:

• How to upload
• Examples

Refer to our Membership Policy on the policy page.

3. REGISTER FOR AN EVENT

Registrations for all USAC-sanctioned competitions take place in your USA Climbing Member Portal.

Membership

Competitors must have an active Collegiate or Collegiate Recreation Membership at the time of registration.

Find An Event

Visit the Collegiate Series events page on usaclimbing.org/compete/collegiate-series/ to find a Qualification Event in the US.

Registration

Log into your USA Climbing Member Portal to complete and pay for your registration.

• All competition details are found in the Info Sheet for each event.

If you have not received a confirmation email after 15 minutes, contact collegiateseries@usaclimbing.org.

For additional information, refer to our Registration Policy on the policy page.

4. COLLEGIATE CATEGORIES

Collegiate competitors self-select the category they will climb at Qualification Events (QE) and Collegiate National Qualification (CNQE).

*If you have competitive experience and plan to compete in the Intermediate category, please reach out to the Collegiate Series Manager to discuss your category.

5. QUALIFICATION EVENTS (QE)

Refer to our Collegiate Qualification Events for USA Climbing sanctioned events and recognized non-USA Climbing collegiate competition.

6. COLLEGIATE NATIONALS QUALIFICATION EVENT (CNQE)

Qualification for the CNQE is achieved by competing in a QE or Recognized event.

• All QE participants will be qualified in both boulder and lead disciplines at a CNQE.
• Proof of Enrollment is required at registration.
• Must have a Collegiate Membership
• May compete at a CNQE anywhere in the country and are limited to competing at one single CNQE
• A single registration will register you for both boulder and lead (Adv)/Top rope (Int), though you are not required to compete in both disciplines.
• At registration, competitors must choose Advanced or Intermediate category. Non-Binary is not an option this year but we are looking to add it in subsequent years.

For additional information, refer to our Collegiate Nationals Qualification Event (CNQE) Guide.

7. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2025 Collegiate National Championships will be held in Salt Lake City, UT on May 2-5, 2025.

• Boulder- USA Climbing Training Center (Current Location)
• Lead- USA Climbing Training Center (Interim Location)
• Speed- Momentum Fort Union

At each CNQE, the following competitors will be eligible in all disciplines (Boulder, Lead/TR and Speed) at Nationals:

• Speed eligibility is granted to all collegiate competitors.

• Must have an active Collegiate Membership

Registration Phases

*Must have an active Collegiate Membership at the time of registration.

At Phase 2, Extended and Late, competitors can register for additional disciplines if remaining capacity allows.

Registration Fee: Base fee ($160) + Per discipline ($60).

The Collegiate National Championships will determine national champions and the Collegiate National Team. The 2025 Team will be composed of the top five (5) ranked US athletes per gender per discipline in the Advanced category.

For additional information, refer to our Collegiate National Championships page.

8. SCHOLARSHIPS

USA Climbing is offering two scholarship opportunities to our Collegiate Members:

• Climbing Ambassador Scholarships
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Scholarships

USA Climbing will be awarding $3,000 in scholarships: first place $1,000 and second place $500 for each scholarship.

Applications open October 12, 2024 and close February 2, 2025.

For more information, visit usaclimbing.org/compete/collegiate-series/2025-collegiate-scholarships/.

9. TEAM ROSTER

Collegiate Team Rosters are now open.  This will be used for Team Championship awards at National Championship. New for 2024-25, team rosters are automatically created from the school you selected in your USA Climbing membership account.

To manage a Team Roster, refer to the Guide to Collegiate Team Roster Setup.

According to Rule 3.11.4 b), at a Collegiate Championship competition, the team’s three (3) highest ranked eligible team member competitors in the Discipline in each Category shall be awarded team ranking points. For this purpose, there are four (4) eligible categories which shall be awarded team ranking points including Men’s and Women's Advanced and Men’s and Women’s Intermediate.

10. TEAM PAYMENT

As of October 18, 2023, you will be able to pay for team discount codes in your USA Climbing Account. Please allocate an appropriate amount of time to complete this process.

Steps

1. Log into your USA Climbing Member Portal.
2. Use the Profile dropdown and choose Discount Codes
3. Click on Add Discount Codes button
4. Choose the discount code increment ($5 to $100)
5. In Discount Code Details, choose the quantity needed (1 to 10)
6. Repeat Steps 4 to 5 as needed
7. Checkout and pay

Once you’ve received the confirmation email, forward it madeleine@usaclimbing.org with the following information so we can generate your discount codes:

• Collegiate Division
• School Name
• Membership Quantity
• Qualification Event Name and Quantity

Team Distributes Codes to Members

The school will distribute the codes generated by USA Climbing to its members. For members to receive the discount, codes must be applied during the member’s checkout.

Schools are also able to create a USA Climbing Account to pay for team discount codes.

11. PARTICIPANT ACCIDENT COVERAGE

USA Climbing’s Participant Accident Coverage policy is supplemental to an individual’s primary insurance and may assist in covering out of pocket expenses for injuries sustained at USA Climbing sanctioned events.  For more detailed information, click on the link above.

12. RESOURCES

Our volunteer Collegiate Division Coordinators are available to answer your questions.  Visit your division’s page for their email.

Contacts

Collegiate Series Manager: Madeleine Palmer, madeleine@usaclimbing.org

Collegiate National Coordinator: Jeff Cass, jcass.usac@gmail.com

Links

• USA Climbing Collegiate Series
• Rulebook and Policies
• Competition Resources