Japan's Sorato Anraku is eying an unassailable lead in this year's World Cup bouldering competition, and could clinch it with a win in the penultimate event in Bern, Switzerland. The 18-year-old has won an astonishing three out of four bouldering competitions this year, and boasts a healthy lead atop the men's leaderboard.
The women's competition is far more open and has had a different winner in every round. France's Oriane Bertone won last week and joins American Annie Sanders and Japan's Nakamura Mao in pursuit of gold.
Read on for our preview of the fifth bouldering round of this season's climbing World Cup, which includes the schedule, information on how to watch the competition, and who to look out for on the wall.
Ones to watch
Sorato Anraku has been almost unstoppable this year. The teenager won the season opener with a near-perfect score of 99.7 and has gone from strength to strength in the months since, snatching a record-equalling three bouldering golds in a row.
Anraku leads the 2025 table with over 400 points more than anyone else in the competition, and would be unbeaten if it weren't for an inspired few climbs from France's Mejdi Schalck in last week's bouldering event.
The upcoming event is likely the last chance for anyone else to stake a claim to the 2025 title, as an Anraku win would give him a near-unassailable lead.
Schalck, 20, built on a promising season with victory last week in Prague, and will be keen to repeat the feat to keep the competition alive before the final round in Innsbruck, Austria, at the end of the month.
South Korea's Dohyun Lee is also in with a shot after a consistent bouldering season. Before Schalck's victory, Lee was the only climber to come close to beating Anraku, finishing just 0.4 points behind him in round one.
This year's women's bouldering competition has been a more open and exciting series, thanks, in part, to the absence of two of the world's best all-around climbers.
Slovenia's 45-time World Cup gold-medalist Janja Garnbret is taking time off this season to rest, while World Champion Natalia Grossman is recovering from long-term knee injuries.
Without them, there's been a different winner in every bouldering round of the 2025 World Cup.
With four different victors, there's little to separate the table heading into the final two rounds of 2025.
France's Oriane Bertone won last week's event thanks to a strong showing in the qualification and semi-final rounds before organizers cancelled the final due to dangerous weather conditions.
Bertone has enjoyed the most consistent season of anyone in contention, and lost out on gold in the second bouldering event of the year by just 0.1 points to her compatriot Naile Meignan.
Japan's Nakamura Mao and American teen Annie Sanders will also fancy their chances in Bern. Mao, 25, has years of IFSC experience behind her and won gold with a decisive climb in Salt Lake City, USA, last month.
At just 17, Sanders has a big future ahead of her and showed real promise with a fourth-place finish in the 2024 bouldering competition. Undeterred by her lack of experience, Sanders won a surprise gold in the first round of 2025 and has been in and around the medals ever since.
A second gold for anyone in Bern would put them in pole position for the prized series victory.
IFSC World Cup Schedule
Qualification
- 12am PT (June 13) / 3am EST (June 13) / 8am BST (June 13) Women's qualification
- 6.30am PT (June 13) / 9.30am EST (June 13) / 2.30pm BST (June 13) Men's qualification
Semi-finals and finals
- 1pm PT (June 14) / 4am EST (June 14) / 9am BST (June 14) Women's semi-finals
- 8am PT (June 14) /11pm EST (June 14) / 4pm BST (June 14) Women's final
- 1pm PT (June 15) / 4am EST (June 15) / 9am BST (June 15) Men's semi-finals
- 8am PT (June 15) /11pm EST (June 15) / 4pm BST (June 15) Men's final
What is the IFSC World Cup?
The IFSC World Cup is a year-long climbing competition that pits the world's best climbers head-to-head in lead climbing, speed climbing, and bouldering competitions.
It takes place over 14 different World Cup stages, held across the globe and throughout the year.
Points from each competition are tallied up, and climbers are ranked on separate leaderboards for each discipline. These rankings decide the eventual world champions.
How to watch the IFSC World Cup
There are loads of ways to watch the upcoming World Cup competition, with plenty of broadcasters and streaming services providing coverage.
Check out how you can watch where you are with our expert guide.
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