23.05.2025

Successful first German University Championship in Bouldering in Tübingen

The first German University Championship in Bouldering took place in Tübingen on 17 May 2025.

The event was organised by 20 Bachelor of Science students from the project seminar ‘Conception, organisation and evaluation of sports’ under the leadership of Dr Verena Burk in cooperation with Ingrid Arzberger (Head of Tübingen University Sports) and the B12 DAV Bouldering Centre Tübingen. 

The competition day officially began in the morning with an opening ceremony. After welcome speeches by Prof. Dr. Oliver Höner (Director of the Institute of Sports Science at the University of Tübingen), Dr. Gundula Schäfer-Vogel (Mayor for Social Affairs, Order, and Culture of the University City of Tübingen), and Benjamin Schenk (General Secretary of the German University Sports Federation, adh), the dance group Saltantes from the University of Tübingen delivered a performance.

The competition then started with the qualifying round during which the participants had five hours to complete as many of the 40 routes as possible. The top eight female and eight male boulderers advanced to the final. In the final, competitors faced four different routes, with four minutes allocated for each. Scoring was based on the number of attempts and the progress made on each route.

Nele Stadelmeier from the University of Stuttgart won the women's competition. Mia Knandel (TU Munich) and Magdalena Schmidt (TU Munich) took 2nd and 3rd place, while Moritz Welt from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg lived up to his role as favourite in the men's competition. Samuel Frank (University of Hanover) finished second and Jakob Aberle (University of Tübingen) third.

There was also an exciting programme for the numerous spectators with a hanging challenge and an estimation game with interesting prizes. In addition, a quiz evening, a barbecue followed by a party and a punting trip on the Neckar were organised for the participating athletes.