UIAA's world events will not take place until 2022 ©UIAA

The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) has announced that there will be no ice climbing world events taking place in 2021, with them all postponed to 2022.

This comes after the UIAA Ice Climbing Commission released the 2020-2021 UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour calendar in August, but has had to reverse its decision to keep the calendar.

"When the calendar was released, the Commission also added an advisory that the feasibility of events taking place was dependent on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic," read a UIAA statement.

"Now some three months on, the Commission - with the support of the UIAA Executive Board and Office - has considered the current situation and the potential developments over the coming months in great detail and due to the general uncertainty and ongoing international restrictions in place has made the decision to postpone the World Tour until the 2022 season."

The World Tour covers World Cups, World Championships and associated rankings.

UIAA also stated that its world events should only be held if they can be global, suggesting it was not possible with travel and quarantine restrictions currently in place in most countries around the world.

Ice climbing events will be regional in 2021 due to COVID-19 ©UIAA
Ice climbing events will be regional in 2021 due to COVID-19 ©UIAA

Instead, the UIAA plans to run regional events where the UIAA Ice Climbing Commission can work with local organisers and athletes to ensure events can go ahead in a safe manner.

This includes the hosting of the UIAA Ice Climbing Tour des Alpes - which includes two European Cup events and the Ice Climbing European Championships.

The Championships are currently set to take place in Champagny-en-Vanoise in France on January 22 and 23.

The Ice Climbing European Cup events are currently scheduled for January 29 and 30 in Saas-Fee in Switzerland and from February 5 to 7 in Malbun in Liechtenstein. 

For the Tour des Alpes, athletes must provide a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of registration for the first event.

Another negative COVID-19 test within the past 72 hours must also be provided for any subsequent events.

Elsewhere, a decision has yet to be made on the World Cup and the World Youth Championships originally scheduled for the end of February and the start of March in Russia.

This decision is now expected to be made at the beginning of January.