The name of the World Championship mascot is … Rocky!

Over 10 days, the “Climbing” universe in the BEActive Zone offered numerous activities for everyone, making it one of the highlights of the BEA fair. The fair took place in Bern on the grounds of the World Championship Location Partner BERNEXPO from 28 April to 7 May 2023.

Bouldering on the World Championship logo block or climbing on the speed wall, the “Mur Elephant” or an inflatable climbing wall – there was something for everyone interested in climbing and the offer was gladly taken up, as was proven by long queues at the walls. In addition, the focus was also put on the topic of paraclimbing, as people could try out climbing with disabilities for themselves.

While the Swiss Alpine Club SAC drew attention to their activities and environmental issues with an animal track game, the topic of sustainability was also addressed with the help of the World Championship Supporter Edelrid. Children, in particular, enthusiastically made key chains or other decorative elements from climbing rope scraps – but adults also had fun at this station.

Regina Grill, who is in charge of the World Championship side events and, thus, for the appearance of the IFSC Climbing World Championships Bern 2023 at the BEA, draws a positive conclusion after the fair:

“The BEA was a complete success for us. And not only us, the World Championships Sport Climbing 2023, benefitted from it but the Swiss Alpine Club, the mountains, the climbing gyms and the sport of climbing itself just as well. In the end, I could look at beaming faces every day. We are now looking forward to more pre-events and, of course, a great World Championship in August.”

Naming of the mascot

The chamois, the mascot of the IFSC Climbing World Championships Bern 2023, made its first live appearance during the BEA and mingled gregariously from the start to promote the World Championships. On the last day of the fair, after a month-long competition, the mascot finally received its name – and the choice was rather clear: Rocky. This fits perfectly to the chamois, which loves to climb in rocky terrain.

The naming of the mascot was accompanied by an entertaining programme. Not only Matthias Holzgang, Vice-President of the board of the association “WM Sportklettern 2023”, but also athletes from the Swiss national teams were present. Sascha Lehmann and Andrea Kümin were on site to answer questions as representatives of the elite team, while Amruta Wyssmann represented the paraclimbing team. After the event, all three of them were quite busy as the children on site did not want to leave without an autograph and picture.

The mascot will now continue its tour at various side events of the World Championships and events of the SAC.

Photo: pinkmilanimaging.ch/Fritz Moser