Climber Development - Senior Team

Mountaineering Ireland support climbers at the Performance stage through the Senior Team programme.

The main target of the Senior Team Programme will be to achieve finalists at European Cup level and support climbers that reach the potential to compete for semi-finals places in World-Cups / World Champs. In the Olympic cycle of '28 the focuses is to qualify for the Olympic Qualification Serie and to gain selection onto the Irish Carding System at International level.

Climbers will be supported with the following interventions:

Strength and movement diagnostics
Up to eight domestic training days/weekend
Up to two team training camps per year towards targeted competitions
Integrated Strength and Conditioning Programme
Regular planning/monitoring/review meetings face-to-face with the Head Coach.

There are three tiers within the senior programme:

Olympic Potential Team (OPT) – Climbers with proven top level experience eg Semi-final World Cup – aiming for a medal or top 8 in 2025 European Cup or Semi-final place in the World Cup. Members will be specifically prepared for the next Olympic under the responsibility of Head Coach (4-year perspective)
Senior Development Team (SDT) – Climbers who have the potential to move to OPT within this four-year cycle and onto the Qualification Series for Brisbane 2032
Senior Training Team (STT) – Climbers who show the potential to move to OPT within a limited time and are good training partners within the team

Performance is measured through competition results and against the IFSC ranking system.

Potential is measured against the same standards. Climbers will be expected to improve year on year.