A climbing competition ("comps") is usually held indoors on purpose built climbing walls. There are three main type of climbing competition.

• Difficulty: competitors climb the same route one after the other. The winner is the one who reaches the highest point on the climb; if several competitors reach the top (or the same high point) the time taken may be used to determine the winner. Alternatively, some difficulty competitions involve a number of routes. Each route is assigned a point value based on difficulty. Competitors climb as many routes as they want, and their score is derived from their top few completed routes (with the exact number of routes differing between competitions). If a tie-breaker is needed, the numbers of "falls" (attempts) is counted. Some competitions limit the number of attempts, others do not.

• Speed: on two identical routes, competitors race each other to the top. The first to reach the top wins.

• Bouldering: Competitors work through a series of boulder problems on either a time limit, or an attempt limit for each problem. Points are awarded for completing each problem. In a tie-break situation or where limited attempts are allowed then points are awarded for the fewest number of attempts required to complete the problem. Bouldering competitions at higher levels usually have isolation to ensure that the competitors cannot see the problems before climbing them.

Sometimes climbers must climb the route on sight. This means that they are not allowed to see other climbers on the route, or receive any form of advice (beta) from other climbers, and have only a limited amount of time to visually inspect the route from ground level. (Otherwise later climbers would be able to learn from previous competitors' mistakes, giving them a considerable advantage.)

In addition to competitions, festivals such as the Phoenix Boulder Blast and the International Climbing Festival (held in Lander, Wyoming) are a gathering place for rock climbers from around the world. They feature trade shows for climbing specific merchandise, clinics from world-renowned climbers, and parties.

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