Cirrus@Austlit

In 1992, the Climbing World Finals event in Birmingham attracted around 5,000 spectators to watch 24 males and 16 females compete in two separate competitions for prize money. In this entertainment spectacular, super-fit young athletes climbed walls using artificial hand and footholds, racing against the clock to determine who would claim the title of the world's 'best' climber. In the same year, climbing appeared as a demonstration sport at the Albertville Winter Olympics. And also in the same year, the first indoor climbing gymnasium in Australia opened its climbing wall. There are now around 80 operating around the country under the auspices of the Australian Indoor Climbing Gyms Association Incorporated.