Ever since Golden resident Jessica Perez saw ice climbers in action in Denver six years ago, she knew she wanted to try the sport for herself.

“I was pretty inspired and kind of blown away by it,” Perez said.

On Saturday, Perez got to compete with athletes from around the world in Longmont at the Ice Climbing and Dry Tooling World Cup. Held at Longmont Climbing Collective in east Longmont, the event marked the first time the city has hosted the competition, which is governed by the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, or UIAA.

Denver hosted the World Cup in 2019, which was also the last time the event was held in the United States.

“For it to come back is really special, because where it all started was in Colorado, for me,” Perez said. “I finally get family and friends to watch me, too.”

The Longmont competition brought 86 athletes from 15 countries together to face off in lead and speed climbing categories. The World Cup continues into Sunday and will culminate in an awards ceremony.

LCC’s outdoor climbing wall, which faced a snow-covered Longs Peak on Saturday, was used for dry tooling. Athletes scaled the wall’s routes with their axes and crampons; some even hung upside down to reach the harder holds. Ice climbers had a separate ice pillar for their sport.

Athlete Kendra Stritch, who lives in Minnesota, has been participating in the Ice Climbing World Cup tour since 2012. Stritch will also compete at the World Cup’s final stop in Edmonton, Canada, in March.

“We’re still a small sport,” Stritch said of ice climbing.

“It seems like this is being well-supported here in town. That’s our goal. We want you guys to be excited.”The USA Ice Climbing Team had the most athletes possible at the Longmont competition: nine men and nine women. Athletes could also rest and mingle inside LCC, which Stritch explained isn’t the case for other World Cup venues that are entirely outdoors.

Stritch said LCC’s outdoor wall could become the only permanent dry tooling structure for roped climbers in the United States, as long as LCC dedicates some of the wall to dry tooling.

“This is a big step forward in facilities for us,” Stritch said. “Having a roped facility where we could train could really be a big upside for the U.S.”

Those not competing this weekend enjoyed WinterFest, the free festival at the competition. Local sponsors and vendors had booths for guests to visit, all within view of the climbing wall.

More than 1,800 tickets were issued before the competition kicked off this weekend, according to the LCC.

“It was always our dream to have a World Cup in Longmont,” said Bryan Hylenski, co-founder and chief executive officer of the Climbing Collective. “Everybody said, ‘No, you can’t bring ice to Longmont. You can’t bring ice climbing here.’”

While this is the first time Longmont has celebrated ice climbing at this scale, it won’t be the last. LCC entered a five-year deal with the UIAA to host the event, so next winter should see world-class athletes return to the city for more climbing.

“We are all incredibly proud of what we’re doing,” Hylenski said. “We want to do this for the next five years.”

For Sunday’s schedule, visit climbingcollective.co/winterfest-ice-climbing-world-cup-2025.