2025 IFSC World Cup Season Debrief: What's Next?

It's now been a month and a half since the World Championships wrapped up, and I've had a lot of time to reflect on my 2025 season. I took four weeks off of climbing and training - I tried my best to sit on the couch that whole time but that didn't really pan out.

But on that rest month, the question was simple: what am I missing?

I'm successful at World Cups, but not overwhelmingly. I make semi-final rounds, but not reliably. I'm confident on some boulders, but not all of them.

What do I need to do?

I ask myself this after every season, and the answer is slightly different each year. To answer the 2025 version of the question, let's take a look back at my season.

China

The season started... with a delay. In March, I tore my hamstring sprinting and the recovery timeline caught me by surprise. Apparently hamstrings are stubborn muscles that refuse to let go of things when you hurt them.

The injury completely threw off my momentum in training, and I couldn't climb on it for a good two weeks. In December or January, this wouldn't be the end of the world, but at the end of March, just weeks out from the first World Cup, this was bad news.

I was back on the wall at 60% hamstring capacity a week before the Chinese World Cup, but the risk of re-injury was too high at that point, and I withdrew from the competition.

Montréal

About three weeks after I made the call about China, there was a North American Cup event at my home gym, Rose Bloc, in Montréal. This was the perfect opportunity to ease back into competing and test out my comfort levels with the hamstring.

With almost two solid months of physiotherapy behind my belt, I was cautiously optimistic about the event, and the rest of the season.

To my surprise, I was able to compete in all three rounds of the competition without even thinking about the hamstring, which was 50% luck of the draw with the boulders, and 50% solid recovery.

I ended up winning the event - my first North American Cup win, and was finally back on my stride, ready to compete in Brazil.

Brazil

Brazil

Two weeks after Montréal, I was off to Brazil for my first World Cup of the season - better late than never!

My qualification round was shaky, and I nearly missed semi-finals. I qualified in the last spot - 24th place.

What was almost a terrible start to my season turned into my favourite event all year. In semis I left everything on the wall and was a hand away from topping all four boulders.

Unfortunately, as is the story of my life, I didn't clench any of those tops and ended up in 11th place. It was a great result, but knowing that any one of those tops would have put me comfortably in finals was tough.

When I finished my round, I knew I climbed well and that's the most important thing. I had never felt so capable in a semi-final before, and for that I was excited.

USA

Contrast that to the Salt Lake City World Cup.

This time, I climbed quite well in the qualifications - moving onto semis in 12th place. But something about the semi-final boulders really didn't speak to me, and I dropped down to 24th place after the round.

The semi-final was a high-top round, meaning the bar for finals was multiple tops. In Salt Lake City this year, three tops with low attempts got you into finals. Athletes down to 16th place had multiple tops, which, if I'm not mistaken, was the most tops in a semi-final round all season.

I say this to contrast my score: one zone.

While every semi-final is a huge achievement, part of me wants to etch this one out of history.

I missed the first crucial top and couldn't recover mentally or physically. It's not like me to admit I don't have a chance of making finals during a round, but when you hear the audience erupt for the athletes before and after me, topping each of the boulders, you can't help but understand how your ongoing round compares.

But as soon at the event was over, I shook it off, forgave but never forgot, and flew home.

Czech Republic

A week at home and I was off to Prague for the annual Czech World Cup. Like Salt Lake City and later Innsbruck, Prague has been a fixture on the IFSC calendar. This year was my third consecutive year attending Prague.

In 2023, I was a couple of spots out of semis. In 2024, I was a couple more spots out of semis. In 2025 I was one spot out of semis.

I felt good in the round. I got three tops and four zones which typically can sneak you into a semi-final round, but I took one attempt too many to get my extra zone, and I broke my streak of semis this year.

Especially coming off of a disappointing round in Salt Lake, I was looking to get that taste out of my mouth in Prague, but unfortunately I was a touch short.

At times like this, I have to remember where I came from. I used to fly to World Cups knowing I would place somewhere in the low 60's. It took me five World Cups before I got my first top in a qualification round.

Placing in the top 30 is a good result.

That is to say I wasn't crushed by the result, not that I wasn't determined to make the next semi...

Switzerland

The Bern World Cup was a career-best qualification round. I finished second in my group and third overall with four tops and five zones in my round. Comfortably into semis is one way to put it.

It was an indoor venue, the boulders felt straightforward, and I didn't waste any time getting them done - three flashes and one on my second try.

When finished my round and walked out from behind to stage to find Zach, the only thing you care to hear is whether you made it or not. With four tops I was confident, but you can never be certain. Zach had his phone out with the results app open, and he looked up at me and said second place.

I couldn't believe it at first. I knew I did well, but I expected that other climbers would have had similar or better rounds; Certainly that more climbers would have topped the boulder that I didn't manage to do in my round.

But it was true - second in my group, third overall.

As soon as he said this, I immediately thought to Brixen, Italy, 2023 where I placed 5th overall in the qualification round. I think about that round a lot, and now I'll have to replace that slot in my memory with Bern, Switzerland, 2025.

The rest of the competition wasn't quite as exciting as the qualifiers. I finished in a respectable 15th place.

Austria

A week and a half later was the final Boulder World Cup of the season before the World Championships in South Korea, three months later.

By this point in my season, I'm tired. The European leg is always packed with weekend-to-weekend events, with not much breathing room (and 2026 is even more packed!). By the time we land in Austria for the final event, I'm ready to compete and go home.

Innsbruck always takes place at the end of June, and for whatever reason, this year's event was a scorcher. I think another career-record was set here in Austria - hottest qualification round.

The women went in the afternoon after the men, and by 6:00pm, the time I went out for my first boulder, we must have been pushing 35 degrees.

I made some technical mistakes in the round, and Innsbruck is known as the most unpredictable, stacked event on the calendar, but this year I really fell victim to the conditions.

I finished the event in 46th place, and this one was disappointing, frustrating, sad. Honestly, I can't remember leaving the Innsbruck World Cup with many other emotions. Innsbruck is tough for me, for a lot of reasons, but this year was the hardest by far.

My result in Innsbruck was one of the reasons I decided to compete in the World Championships. I just couldn't leave it at that.

South Korea

Fast-forward to September, I was in Seoul for the final event on the IFSC calendar. - the World Championships.

All summer, I was preparing for the hardest round of the year. My last World Championship was in Bern, Switzerland in 2023 and I distinctly remember a very low-top round in qualifiers, which is virtually unheard of. The Bern World Championship was certainly the hardest qualification round I've ever competed in, and I was preparing for the same feeling in Seoul.

Looking back, Seoul wasn't all that different than the average World Cup round this season. I got three tops, four zones and the boulders didn't feel much different, style- or difficulty-wise, than any of the other events.

I ended up pulling a Prague and missed semi-finals by attempts. It was a few more than in Prague, but I was still playing in those razor-thin margins.

While I was happy with my climbing at the Championships, it was a lot of work to train all summer and travel to Korea for just one event. I really felt like I wanted one more World Cup after missing China and performing poorly in Austria, so I pushed for Korea to balance out some of the low points of the year.

But if I were to do this whole season over again, the World Championships would probably not be on my calendar.

What's Next?

When I think about my goals in climbing, I think of two things: consistent semi-finals and finals.

In 2022, I made 1 semi-final, 0 finals.

In 2023, I made 2 semi-finals, 0 finals.

In 2024, I made 3 semi-finals, 0 finals.

In 2025, I made 3 semi-finals, 0 finals.

When I look at the raw numbers, I technically failed at my goals. I made three semi-finals again, not four, and I still haven’t made a final. Sometimes looking at the numbers, I'm a little disappointed by my results this season, but I have to remind myself (and Zach reminds me all the time) it’s about what actually happened.

I was one spot - one attempt - away from a fourth semi-final. And in Brazil, I was the closest I’ve ever been to making a final round in my career.

To me, result goals are a bad idea. This year, I had certain result goals that were audacious, and when I didn't achieve them, it put a retrospective cloud over the season, when in fact I had an incredible season.

Making finals, increasing the number of semis I'm in are still "goals" for the season, but they need to get out of my headspace, full-stop. There are more important, process-oriented things I need to be thinking about this season if I want to make those background goals a reality.

So what's changing for 2026?

First of all, no result goals. I don’t want to compare seasons based on numbers anymore; I want to compare them based on performance. In 2026, my focus is on climbing well, staying composed, and ironing out the small mistakes that separate a good round from a great one. I’d rather measure success by how I execute, not by the number that happens to show up beside my name.

In my off-season, I'll be relying heavily on Zach, who watched me compete in four World Cups in person this year, and all of the semi-final rounds. He has seen first-hand where I fall down compared to the field, and together, we'll be able to zero-in on my weaknesses.

For 2026, I also have a bigger support team than ever before. My coaches Zach and Libor are all-in, and are prepared to give me more attention during my off-season training than ever before.

MacLachlan College is our biggest champion this year, giving us the opportunity to coach and lead the country's first high performance climbing program, while giving us the space to pursue our competitive climbing goals to the fullest extent.

Rose Bloc continues to support my and Zach's training with access to their world-class gyms and financial support for our travel and training expenses.

We also have support from Team Quebec, providing us with training facility access just 2 minutes down the street from our house for strength and conditioning work - greatly reducing our time in transit to the gym and giving us an extra hour a day to recover, relax, and work on our other projects.

Unparallel Canada is coming in so handy providing me and Zach with cimbing shoes, a hidden expense that makes a huge difference in our lives.

And we thank Destiny Athletics, Clevo Climbing, AirBnb, Climber's Rock, Flash Focused, Okami Escalade and all of the gyms in Montréal that have come together for National and Provincial athletes in Quebec to offer us free access to their gyms. Some of the gyms we have and will continue to climb at in Montréal this season include:

Rose Bloc
Bloc Shop
Allez Up
Le Crux
Cafe Bloc
Canyon Escalade
Beta Bloc
...and more!

And of course all of our YouTube viewers, paid supporters from Patreon and our blog, and those who have purchased chalk bags and shirts from our shop.

Heading into next season, it’s not about reinventing anything - it’s about sharpening the small things. Adapting faster on boulders that don’t immediately click. Managing fatigue across those long European back-to-backs so I can perform at my best every round. And working on those specific moves that keep giving me trouble internationally.

I'm so looking forward to next season and seeing how much progress I can make over this off-season, which has officially begun!