Christchurch's Uprising gym is always a great leg of the NIBS circuit. There is a large local base of keen and talented climbers and it is also a popular round to travel to from other parts of the country, with the lure of Castle Hill Basin nearby promising visitors a double treat. With the best route setters in the country calling Uprising home, there is always a really technical and challenging set for the climbers to test themselves on and the climbing, especially in the finals, is often of the highest quality of any bouldering competition in New Zealand.
Briancon in the French Hautes-Alpes sits at over 1300m in altitude and is a great July destination for the World Cup athletes to escape the heat of the European summer. The Briancon lead wall is one of the steepest on the circuit and the route setters really challenged the athletes at this event by placing volumes in the steepest terrain to simulate even steeper, roof-style climbing.