The IFSC is very pleased to announce that a pool of six partners will support the 2016 IFSC Climbing Season. In addition to Kailas and Entre-Prises, two longtime partners, four new companies recently partnered with the IFSC: DJI, Epic TV, Luxov and Tenaya.

Strong support from established sponsors
Entre-Prises renewed its partnership with the IFSC, confirming its position as the IFSC Official Climbing Wall Supplier. The French company brings 30 years of experience in the climbing market and a strong worldwide presence to the international federation. “Entre-Prises is at the forefront of climbing wall development around the world,” said Colin Boothroyd, Sales Director of Entre-Prises. “Our close links with the IFSC and the international competition climbing community is of paramount importance to us as we strive to both meet – and exceed – the expectations and requirements that appear on the horizon.”

The IFSC can also count on Kailas to support its fast growth. The Chinese company – which specializes in climbing apparel and equipment – became the IFSC Main Partner ( Apparel and Ropes & Safety Gears) upon renewing its partnership with the IFSC in 2015. Kailas is widely recognized across China as the nation’s most innovative and technical outdoor company, and the IFSC partner is also experiencing fast international growth. “‘Made to Climb’ is Kailas brand slogan. It
emphasizes our expertise in sport climbing and our passion for this sport. As an IFSC Main Partner, we are proud to show the quality of our products and the values of our company on an international level. Both Kailas and the IFSC are inspired and guided by common principles, such as preserving the environment in organizing and promoting our activities; respecting and supporting principles and universal values carried by sport climbing: accessible, healthy, educational for the youth, safe, equal for men and women…This has led to a very fruitful collaboration in order to promote sport climbing around the world.”, said Sam Zhong, from Kailas International Department.

Three companies confirm their interest in international Sport Climbing
In 2015, three companies began to collaborate with the IFSC to benefit from increased visibility on IFSC social networks.
They have now grown their involvement by becoming IFSC Official Partners, confirming their mutual interests and shared values with the IFSC.
First, IFSC Main Partner and IFSC Official Camera Drone Partner are labels granted by the IFSC to DJI, the world leader in flying drones. Viewers of IFSC live streaming last year can recall the amazing pictures taken by the Chinese company of the World Cup events in Chamonix and Munich. DJI brings its innovative expertise to the IFSC in order to upgrade the quality of competition footage and deliver breath-taking images to climbing fans and broadcasters worldwide. “DJI is
proud to be an official partner of IFSC,” said Martin Brandenburg, DJI’s marketing director for Europe. “We are going to share unique emotions and thrilling atmosphere, when climbers are facing steep walls, using DJI aerial and action video technology. Precision, emotion, professional sport and innovative technology is why DJI and IFSC are perfect partners.”

Born in Chamonix, EpicTV is no stranger to covering IFSC World Cups with detailed points of view and emotional interviews of international athletes. This year, EpicTV is expanding its coverage by becoming the IFSC Official Media Partner. “Since 2012, EpicTV has been an active player within the climbing industry, producing exclusive video content, working with major climbing brands, partnering with international athletes such as Adam Ondra and selling the latest climbing gear in our EpicTV SHOP,” said Jean-Mael Gineste, Head of Partnerships at EpicTV. “Our ambition in the years to come is to be the leading climbing network in Europe and globally. We are very excited to be part of the growth of climbing, its community and to support the IFSC even further this season in its quest to be selected in Tokyo 2020.”
After supporting the creation of Athlete profiles on the IFSC website in 2015, Tenaya went one step further by becoming the IFSC Official Partner in the Climbing Shoes category. In addition to supporting several top-performing athletes, the Spanish manufacturer gives its full support to the IFSC. “The aim to start a partnership with IFSC for Tenaya is to use the loudspeaker of International Competitions to promote together with IFSC the values of Overcoming and Hard Work
that every athlete must develop to reach their best fitness and healthy shape to achieve their sport goals and the value of Fellowship that sport climbing demonstrates in every contest during the visualization of the route, in which every athletes comments with his opponent how to surpass the difficulties of the route.”, says Marc Recasens, Operations Manager of Tenaya.

A new comer…
Last but not least, Luxov joins this pool of partners and becomes the IFSC Official Holds Partner. Luxov brings an innovative and prize-winning system of  interconnected, translucent climbing holds to the IFSC, and their new features will support the IFSC in its wish to organize events as not just competitions, but shows. “We at Luxov are deeply committed to increasing the visibility of this wonderful sport, and we believe that our partnership with the IFSC will further strengthen that commitment,” said Denis Garnier, President of Luxov. “We are very excited to see international champions using our products and taking full advantage of the digital features provided by Luxov. It is a fabulous opportunity to accelerate our development effort in regard to competition climbing.”

Joining forces to bring Sport Climbing to new heights.
Anne Fuynel, Marketing and Communications Director of the IFSC, expressed the following sentiments about the impact of recent partnership developments: “We are very honored to renew our partnerships with Kailas and Entre-Prises . Both companies have been very supportive in our ambition to be part of the Olympic Games and have helped us developing the sport worldwide. We are also very pleased to welcome new innovative partners that all share the same values. It confirms that our sport is growing fast and gets the support of companies in and out the climbing community. Our sport attracts the young generation, the sport presentation has been improved in order to attract a broader audience and deliver an exciting experience. All these innovative partners will support us in our quest to reach a new step.”

The IFSC is more motivated than ever to bring this sport to new heights and is looking forward to the decision of the IOC in August. For now, all eyes turn toward Meiringen (SUI) for the start of the climbing season on April 15-16th with the first 2016 IFSC World Cup event.

INFO: IFSC