St. Paul, MN — August 2026 — It’s the biggest climbing competition in the U.S. Now, it has the largest cash purse in American climbing history to match.
Bouldering Project’s annual climbing competition, Boulderfest, culminates this fall with a Grand Finale in St. Paul, Minnesota with more than $80,000 on the line for competitors through the series’ stops. The Grand Finale winners will each take home $10k – the largest payout in the history of American climbing.
The 2026 Boulderfest marks an evolution for the series. Open competition has been standardized across all regional competitions for Women’s, Men’s and Non Binary categories. Podium finishers in each open category earn a cash prize and snag an invite to the first ever Boulderfest finale to compete with the best in the country.
The finalists from all nine cities converge on St. Paul for the finale on October 23-24 with a cash purse of $35,000 up for grabs. Additionally, the top 20 men and women in the World Climbing bouldering rankings secure an open invite to the finale. Top three spots in categories take home cash prizes.
“We want this to be the annual pro-tour of climbing,” said Kevin Jorgeson, Head of Product at Bouldering Project. “I grew up competing. I’ve watched the skill, athleticism, coaching and setting all grow to exceptional heights. Compensation for our competitors has not. If we want climbing to succeed as a sport, we need to make sure that the athletes who push it forward have a purse to match their skills.”
Boulderfest is an electric, all-day community celebration featuring an all-levels climbing competition, entertainment, music, food & happy hour, raffles, and open finals. It began as a community competition in Seattle and has grown to nine cities, making it the biggest climbing competition in the country.
For more information, tickets, and live streaming updates, visit the Boulderfest 2026 page. If you’re interested in covering Boulderfest, Kevin Jorgeson is available for interviews.
Competition Schedule
September 18–19: Minneapolis, MN | Tempe, AZ | Boston, MA | Salt Lake City, UT September 25–26: Austin, TX | Brooklyn, NY | Seattle, WA
October 2–3: Washington, D.C.
Regionals Each offer a cash purse of $5,250-$7875 depending on participant numbers. 1st Place – $1500, 2nd $750, 3rd – $375
October 23–24: St. Paul, MN | Grand Finale
Cash purse of $35,000.
About Bouldering Project
Founded in Seattle in 2011, Bouldering Project has grown from its initial location into a collection of thirteen gyms across the country. The company is an anomaly in the climbing gym space in that it designs and builds all of its walls in house. Equally as comfortable hosting Olympic athletes as introducing new climbers to the sport, Bouldering Project is committed to uniting communities through a love of difficult play.
CBJ press releases are written by the sponsor and do not represent the views of the Climbing Business Journal editorial team.
